When I was in 4th grade, I joined Girl Scouts. I didn't know much about the mission or what joining would entail... I just reeeeeally wanted to sell the cookies.
My involvement lasted about as long as the "cookie season," and that was enough for me. In that short time, however, I did learn that there...
Loss hurts.
We don’t have to gloss over it just to make it look like it doesn’t.
When we lose a meaningful connection—when life as we know it ends—our world changes.
We have to adjust.
This takes time and space.
Give it what it needs.
Let it be heavy.
Lean on the rock of Jesus Christ. Cry on His sho...
When a gift is given, there is a 3-part (minimum) exchange that takes place.
(1) The giver offers it, but the act of offering does nothing if it isn't (2) received, then (3) used.
...and ideally (4) the receiver expresses gratitude.
In other words, someone can give you something -- even the most exqu...
The last 48 hours at our house could be summed up with 1 word: unexpected.
Nothing major, and a good variety ranging from potentially-amazing to, "Oh wow. That actually happened."
At either end of the spectrum and everywhere in-between, we had expected something different. If we had been clinging to o...
I went to a workshop at a women's conference years ago, on the topic of the power of prayer. During the discussion portion of the presentation, an audience member shared a story of a "lightbulb moment" she had experienced. The simple gem she shared has proven useful to me hundreds (possibly thousand...
I was pretty proud of myself yesterday morning. I got dressed for church (with accessories, even -- which is a big deal for me), prepped my piano binder, made avocado toast for myself and our 6-year old, and actually got out the door on time.
Winning.
I rode calmly to church with the family because I ...
I watched an Instagram reel tonight of a woman expressing some very strong opinions about text messaging. She questioned why she feels guilty and apologizes for not texting back right away, when she never gave consent to be available at all hours of the day.
Her question made me think... "Huh. What e...
Yesterday concluded our mother/daughter NYC trip, and goodness did we have a great time. Our feet were like limp noodles; our bellies full of bagels, pizza, and cheesecake; our brains were on overdrive from all of the lights, sounds, and smells of the city... and we couldn't be happier.
As we waited...
Chris cut a tree down in our yard yesterday. It was quite a big project!
He fortunately had a chain saw to help him, but I kept thinking about how much harder it would have been (not to mention the huge amount of time added) to try and do it on his own, with a hand saw or an axe. It would definitely...
Fog looks thick and mysterious when you first approach it. As you move forward a step at a time, your visibility is limited, but you can usually see at least a little way in front of you. And it turns out that's enough. A verse of a favorite hymn comes to mind when I think about this idea:
Lead, ...
I spent some time at the ER this morning, getting tested and scanned because of a breathing issue I'm having (happy news is they ruled out all of the scary stuff and determined that it's just inflammation. <wipes brow with relief>).
Knowing how these visits can go, I brought a book along with me tha...
I'm working on a project right now that's requiring a lot of faith. It's the heaviest lift (motherhood aside) I've done so far, which is also bringing some stunning miracles to witness. Because of the heavy lifting, sometimes my brain and my spirit get tired and I hear thoughts like, "Who do you thi...
