The illusion bobs and bounces in a swirl of watercolor hues. Amidst teenage angst and insecurities and awkwardness, I believe middle-aged people have it all figured out. Life looks simple and easy. Effortless. Successful. Settled. Delightful. I’m not sure why this illusion beckoned me. Seemed believable. Goodness. I’d seen my mother burst into tears when […]
You Are His Masterpiece
Beauty in my week last week looked like…. Our local coffee shop + five lovely young women in our community who hosted a women’s evening consisting of ~ 🙏🙌💛☕🧁 faith + fellowship worship + words music + munchies coffee + conversation hygge + happiness @__grow.in.grace__ “Lord, I need you, oh I need you.” Our voices mingled […]
What Really Matters Now…..
What really matters now is linen overalls and Arnold Palmer and air conditioning…. What really matters now is ice and water and insulated jugs….. What really matters now is embracing the unexplained right next to the unavoidable and offering it all a measure of trust and hope and longing…. What really matters now is rambling […]
A Place For the Soul to Feel Safe in the Awkward Playacting of Life
You sit across from me on the cozy cerulean chair cushion, chatter, clatter, and espresso machine buzzing around us, your lemon-yellow kerchief corralling lovely curls.Me, legs curled criss-cross applesauce, snug on the vintage couch. My hands curled around a decaf cinnamon breve with whip while you sip a mocha complete with a lovely chocolate drizzle. My […]
Practices I’m Finding For the Word This Summer
I’d love to hear! When it comes to Bible reading and sitting with The Word in the Word, do you have one tried and true practice or do you find it shifting in different seasons, different stages, different ages? I find myself in the latter camp. Mine changes. {here’s another post about Bible + routine […]
Dear Me: Lines to the Person I Desire To Become
Compassion. Love. Hope. My fingers press against the words lettered in the journal in my lap. Why is it so much easier to heap condemnation, critique, and criticism on my heart, my mind, myself? And in so doing, really, I’m mired in myself. I may not admire myself, but self-absorption shows up in a myriad of […]
The Love of Jesus Looks, Feels, Sounds Like…
🌿 H A L L E L U J A H 🌿 He’s Risen Indeed. {full stop} The Love of Jesus looks like arms stretched wide, back laid bare, blood running down, thorns into scalp through tangled, matted hair. The Love of Jesus sounds like “Not my will, but yours, Father, only protect and shield […]
This Morning
I wonder where Barabbas is this morning? A bit of an unlikely character.He’d no idea his name would become notoriously etched in holy script. How many criminals and traitors, justly or unjustly charged, must have passed through Roman prison cells and swinging doors? I wonder if Barabbas encountered Jesus.I’m not enough of a historian to […]
I Give You Me
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your […]
There Is Always Someone To Pray For
There is always someone to pray for. Some days it’s your neighbor grieving her spouse.Other days it’s your son moving across several states.Your friend in the country above yours, sick with a stomach bug.Prayers for teachers in classrooms.Orphans who need homes and arms to hug them.Refugees resettling in your neighboring city.Politicians weighing decisions.Rejoicing as you […]
A Prayer For Those In Need of a Way Through The Waves
A bit of a preface, comrade friends………..Today I bring us a prayer. The words and heartcry were inspired by Ann Voskamp’s upcoming new book, Waymaker.In a bit of news, two-fold, I am part of an internship group with Ann Voskamp for the duration of 2022 AND our group was graced with an early manuscript reading […]
A Story With a Very Good Ending
Giants are no joke. Forgetting who God says I am is the absolute amnesia. Placing a guard at the entrance of my mind and card checking each thought coming to call is a practical these-are-the-facts safeguard. Giants of shame, worthlessness, failure, overwhelm, angst, anguish, regrets, frustration, lovelessness, contemptuousness, lack of belonging, patheticness, accusations, pain, grief, […]
Wherein There Are Morning Musings in My Basement
Morning in My Basement It’s messy and mundane, cozy and common. It’s questions and silence and answers apparently hidden deep away, far away, somewhere else. It’s musing and a small whispered prayer. It’s crumbs and coffee. A good read and The Way. It’s Red Sea Road singing on YouTube and a wood stove humming. It’s […]
A Prayer and a Blessing For 2022 For You
May this year shine bright with light and delight,With rest and good cheer and peace and hope near,With comfort in grief, with faith for belief,With a friend and a song,When the road becomes long. May encouragement come at the very right time,And strength be renewed for each mountain we climb,May sun warm your face and […]
Glory Through All Ages
God our Father ~Glory to you for sending your Son -the newborn King- to earth for us.Glory to you this Christmas.Long ages after his newborn cry split the sky.Glory through all ages. The Great I AmWho is and wasAnd evermore and always isAnd is to come. The Rock of all Ages,Come through the ages,For every […]
Helpful, Hopeful, Beautiful
My criteria for who and what and where I spend my time online and on social media has always held certain parameters. I named it more specifically in this way. What I’m following must be helpful, hopeful, or beautiful. We become consumed by what we consume. Every so often I reassess. What once was helpful […]
Wonders of His Love
Here’s the soundtrack I hope is playing when I exit earthside and enter heaven. I hope the instruments of heaven and the choir of voices are all in full chorus of “the Wonders of His Love” like the joyful and compelling rendition by Casting Crowns. What better greeting than wondering at His love as one […]
