She sat down next to me, leaned in, and smiled wide. Behind black-rimmed glasses, her eyes showed kindness and welcome. Her outfit was simple but chic, cozy, and effortlessly cute -- a lightweight sweater over black leggings. Five minutes passed quickly as we caught up on life, diving right in and skipping past the casual chit-chat. And then ...
Morning dawned with salmon streaks across the indigo, and in the first seconds of the day, the heavy cares that had been weighing on my heart were forgotten. The slate was wiped clean and filled with infinite potential for goodness. And then I remembered. I remembered the worry that had been gnawing on my soul for months, and reality came ...
I don't normally have a hard time making decisions, at least not when it comes to the big ones. I have all manner of thoughts, ideas, and convictions about those things. With me being a firstborn, super independent type, I'm good about knowing the direction I want my life to go in, but many times God has other ideas. I'm totally okay with that. His ...
I was people watching as I sat in the parking lot waiting for my husband to run in to pay for our gas. I saw a group of men get out of their lawn service pickup and start making their way to the doors. One man in the group ran ahead of everyone else specifically to open the door for a woman coming from the other direction. In that moment, I ...
Praise the Lord from the earth, all sea monsters and ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and cloud, stormy wind that executes his command, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, creatures that crawl and flying birds, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the ...
Summer is in full swing, and I'm stuck finding the balance of being a fun, spontaneous, and carefree mom and struggling with the daily challenge to purposefully engage our children's hearts and minds amidst their expectation of total relaxation and lots of screen time. Yes, our kids have more free time on their hands, and I have lots of work ...
Last fall, I started a youth group at our little country church. I was excited and planned a bunch of fun and meaningful activities for the kids. That first night, I stood under the white steeple, waiting and praying for the kids to show up. Only seven teens came; two of them were my own. I was a little deflated. I questioned my abilities to ...
My in-laws bought a beautiful SUV with pristine paint and not a dent in sight. They came to visit us for the weekend, and my mother-in-law needed to run an errand. She offered to let me drive. I promptly backed the aforementioned SUV directly into a trailer parked behind it. I cried. My mother-in-law might have too. In the moment after the ...
“It’s here!” I exclaimed to myself in the parking lot of the post office. My wedding cake topper was finally here! Planning a wedding has a lot of joyous moments – finding the dress, picking your bridesmaids and the venue, planning your future with your fiancé. And while all that was special for me, finding the perfect cake topper was an extra ...
I am afraid of the ocean. I’m afraid of its unpredictability, the way the waves never come in the same way, the way it changes so quickly with the tide and the wind. I’m afraid of its depth and its expanse, the way I can’t see down to its floor or see its end beyond the horizon. The ocean has moods that change with its color, and out of fear, I ...
