In these days of shadow and light, evening dusk, sunshine bright, in these days where glad tidings collide with messiness and brokenness inside, in these days of reflection and deflection, noticing the intersection of past, present, and future pondered, in these days of gazing at gathering dust along the top tier of the Roman shade, […]
The Difficulty of Christianity
The ever and always paradox of a Christian. The tug and pull of formation. The desire to divert to least resistance. The difficulty we create for our very own selves. The challenge presented: pry our grasping fingers from this flesh we clutch, the control we crave, the constant desire of distraction. Stillness equates with lack […]
January Kaleidoscope
One full month of 2023 has ticked away. I love this idea of living as an observer of beauty. Paying attention to details. Noticing shapes and nuances. Giving gratitude for aesthetics and texture.Our lives are stories.Our stories are a constantly changing pattern made up of a mixture of excitement and pain, new and old, adjustments […]
Light Always Pierces Darkness
Palpitating. Pounding. Penetrating.Creeping. Crawling. Corrupting.Foreboding.Disturbed. Dismayed. Discombobulated.Anxious. Agitated. Apprehensive.Troubled. Snaking around and under and through.Shrouding everything it encounters.Sinister limbs lurch and reach.Fear pounds in brave chestsAnd courage claws surfaceward.Breath breaks in scant bursts. It wears oppressive doom as an accessory.A snarl, menace, sneer as make-up.Shadows as eyeshadow to overshadow.Spines tremble. We cringe. Hearts falter.Souls shudder and […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {December}
Friends in the Fog Sometimes the fog in the wilderness obscurs the beauty still abounding around us. At first glance a wilderness looks bleak. Feels forsaken. Even a deeper look brings confusion and lack of direction. Barrenness has a way of disorienting. Broken places pierce. Brambles, sharp with thorns, menacingly snarl.Our feet catch, knees buckle, […]
We Are Messengers
Our in-the-flesh experience begins suddenly. The world opens to us bright and cold and startling. We wail and blink, stunned by the suddenness, the shifting from warmth and comfort of a watery womb to an overstimulating awareness and newness. Lungs gasp air and breath pumps in, out, in, out. Legs and arms thrash and pump […]
Casting Your Character
“It’s ready!” the sweet barista sets the mug in front of me. Whip settles on the foam and caramel drizzle runs ribbons disappearing into the cinnamon latte depths. I express my gratitude, smile, reach toward the warm mug. I’m ready too. I lean in, toward the latte, toward conversation. Flickers from the gas fireplace combine with Christmas […]
Standing Steady
The branches bob, nod, rustle. Snow lays in powdered blankets accentuating green needles. Pinecones poke their heads above this winter coat. The pines spread their graceful skirts along the snowy path. A squirrel scampers around the trunk and a quick flash of cardinal red appears above our heads. In winter landscape or summer bloom, evergreens […]
Cradling Togetherness
It beckons. Draws with magnetic pull. Urges togetherness. Lights twinkle soft and pink mixes together with gold, silver, cream, amber. We gather in the room. We bring books and knitting and hazelnut coffee laced with cream. Miss Jackie sits outside, ears perked, eyes peering in the window. We grin at her, sip coffee, gaze at […]
Walk to the Waiting Manger
With a scraping, a scuffling, a bit of entanglement my son wrestles my Christmas tree down the attic stairway ladder. The fir branches engulf him, teetering one way and another. They poke from the flimsy plastic enshrouding them. Thanking my son profusely for his grunt work, I begin circling our tree, straightening branches, fluffing fake […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {October}
“Please Aslan,” said Lucy “What do you call soon?”“I call all times soon,” said Aslan.” ~ C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, […]
Wherein I Muse About True Devotion
True devotion in relationships is extraordinary. Not of the nature which wants to cover up faults or uphold evil or fan the flames of falsity. Rather, that which is true and beautiful and genuine. Heart-sharing vulnerability. Coming with open hands, carrying not agenda. I read a story once about a little girl who was her […]
Remain Galadriel
“Ding!” the bell warned the approach of the end of the line. Tapping out a few more letters, she briskly sent the carriage skating back to begin again. The ivory keys glided under her fingers as her thoughts flew furiously. Her eyes scanned the page, running over the questions she’d typed. Who are we when […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {September}
“Being scared isn’t really that much different than being scarred.” I read it on Ann Voskamp’s blog. It’s true. I nod my head. Read further.Tears prick my eyelids and squeeze at the corners. Scared and scarred both carry trauma and pain. Truth is, it doesn’t even have to be big or deeper traumas. It shows […]
The Illusion
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 […]