Where did happiness find you this week? What activities or tiny details in life always bring a spark of joy to your soul? What makes you giggle….chuckle….grin….full-out laugh? What brings you comfort when life brings the uncomfortable? Where does your soul find solace when disappointment dashes hopes & dreams? What waits on your soul with […]
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 […]
Bits and Pieces That Delight {March}
Our weather springs back and forth, teasing and taunting. Cold and cold. Wind and a blow of snow. Pivot. Sunshine and seventy-five degrees. Loveliness and a nod toward spring.Hard left and back to winter and cold and wind.Hmmmm.It must be March in Kansas. Chit-Chat Are you a Wordle-er?! I am and I love it. I […]
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, […]
The Pause and Hope of Winter
I sit behind the window glass, snug, tucked away from the wind rushing its way across frozen fields. The dishwasher sings a gurgly song and the wind chime sways a melody on the porch. The window above the kitchen sink frames snowflakes in a swirling dance. Heat wafts through the vents from the fire my […]
A Layered Life
Life happens in layers. We aren’t always told this. Maybe because much of the time we don’t notice, don’t realize, don’t know how to name it. “The days are long, but the years are short” is a perfect capture. I don’t miss stumbling about at night with an infant or toddler. I do miss baby […]
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 New Chapter + A Long Obedience
“The essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is… that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche 2022. In our way of marking time, a new Chapter opens. New months, days, many, many […]
Bits and Pieces That Delight {January}
I like lists. I like fun stuff. I like beauty. I like delight. I like books. I like quotes. I like stickers. I have several blogs or newsletters I enjoy reading which consist of lists similar to this. I’m bringing my own for any of you who, like me, love browsing this type of thing. […]
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 […]
I Was Happily Singing
“I was happily singing.” The words drifted from the backseat in petulant tones as only a put-out four-year-old could utter them. My laughter bubbled out as the words permeated our vehicle with the same petulance for a second time. “I was happily singing.” Nothing about the complaint seemed to indicate much happiness of singing. It […]
October Musings
I fully intended to post my October Musings last week.It didn’t happen. O B V I O U S L Y. Here we are at the very end of this week!This past Sunday evening, we hosted a hayride, and dips and chips, and a campfire for our neighboring young people. I spent a bit of […]
September Musings
Hey, hey comrade friends! Our September has shown up with some summertime temps. We had a few really lovely days and I flung open windows and the front door. The heat crept back however and…well you’ll see below I’m anticipating cooler days! Also, shall we talk about the wind?! It’s gusted a little too gustily […]
The Loneliness of Silence
“God invites us to turn to each other as ones in whom Christ dwells as living homes of God to confess His goodness until we begin to believe it.” ~ Emily P. Freeman I’d loved lifting the blind each morning and taking a peek at the new sunrise breaking across the dawn of sky,What had […]
August Musings
1. ANTICIPATE Hello comrade friends! This summer has found me quite stuck on an icy, delicious SunJoy from Chick-Fil-A and I’ve anticipated every chance I was near enough to get one. I’ve always loved Lemonade, but not sure when I became such an Arnold Palmer fan, or in Chick-Fil-A’s case, SunJoy. I love the name […]
July Musings
1. ANTICIPATE I was excited to see news about Annie F. Downs children’s picture book, What Sounds Fun To You? It releases in October and is available for pre-order. Emily Lex’s children’s book, Twirl, is coming in October too! Emily’s artwork is precious. She has pre-order bonuses right here. And one more for upcoming books, […]