Redemption of Mother’s Day: How to Heal Your Hurts
About two hours after Mother’s Day ended, my mother died in her bed of a massive heart attack. She was 65. Mom called her doctor, only hours after I talked with her the morning of that special day. He told her to get to the hospital ASAP after hearing her symptoms—profuse sweating, vomiting, shoulder pain. […]
Finding Meaning & Hope in Life’s Burns
On a sunny spring morning with nearly no breeze, I stood in the still-dormant grass of the ditch just a half-mile up from our home. I watched that old, white farmhouse burn. Flames swirled orange out of every window and door. I felt the heat on my face from across the street. Our 25-year-old son […]
How I Planted A Garden of Joy
Last week, I planted a garden. Not just any garden. Not a garden for me. But the garden ended up being for me, in a way. Maybe for you too? Here’s the start of my story. Please join me over at Different Dream Living for the conclusion. I have this friend around my age. […]
Pieces of Eden: How to Find Joy in the Midst of Grief
This morning, Nick found the limp body under a young pine by the horse riding arena. Rose stood at a distance, guilty, while Nick examined the fawn. Lifeless. Still warm. How can a dog I love so much do such a terrible thing? We’re not in Eden anymore. I am sad. The poor doe who […]
How To Be “Best-Dressed” This Christmas
Fifty-four years ago, a little girl with reddish curls sat beside the Christmas tree. She wore a blue corduroy robe with white piping her grandmother had made. A poodle with hair curly as hers smiled for the camera. Then, ripping the wrapping off a certain package, her blue eyes grew wide. Inside, she found her […]
The Wedding That Eclipsed the Eclipse
We stood on the concrete driveway, two of our three grown kids and me. Anna and Nick stared up at the cloud-covered sky as our bare feet soaked up the warmth from the sun we couldn’t see. I looked around. The grass seemed greener. The swallows flocked together. The temperature dropped. Though not completely dark, […]
Abundance from Dependence
What do you do when your dreams aren’t coming true? What do you do when your heart breaks from the ache of wanting something so much and it looks like that one dream may never be yours? Like Hannah who wanted a child. Desperately. So what did Hannah do? Instead of lashing out at her […]
Foreign Affairs and What’s Right With the World
Terrorist attacks. My two sons and my husband are heading to London and Paris in two weeks for a WWII trip . . . I pray. I reflect . . . I put a poster board together for him Saturday, the day before he walked the aisle. The day before he took his seat among […]
Over the Edge
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 Soon, I will watch the swallows nest in the barn, hatching naked in cups of twig and […]
What Has a Strong Hold on You?
How do you define “stronghold”? I used to think strongholds were just negative. Because most strongholds tear down and destroy. There’s only one Stronghold who laid down His life for us so we can have True Life now and forever. Jesus is the One-and-Only we can turn to, run to, cling to who will surely […]
When You’re Faced with The Unexpected, Expect Joy
Life consists of lists. Surely, we can all list our stresses. Surely, we can all list our joys. We can offer a litany of complaints. We can offer our lips to give thanks. Our loving God invites us to cast all our cares onto Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Truth is, […]
My Second Best Christmas Gift of All Time
Of course, the best Christmas gift of all time is Christ himself. On Christmas morning, I received my second best Christmas gift of all time. We’d been to church on Christmas Eve and seen and heard all the kids dressed up as Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds and a bunch of shaggy, smelly sheep. We’d […]