Seldom do I make big public sweeping goal announcements for things such as weight loss, a dream job, a project, a specific hope, etc. I’ve learned from experience that I tend to fall off of wagons like that. Instead, I prefer to make my announcements after they’ve come to fruition, an act of tending, trusting, and yielding such things before … Read More
#WinningAtLife
What does winning at life look like, really? In a culture of hashtags, most of us are familiar with #winning or #winningatlife . Sometimes these little community builders are used in jest or sarcasm and others, they are used as an honest cheer for small and great victories alike. I’ve used both. Plugging in the crockpot AND turning it on? … Read More
God Really Does Set The Lonely In Families
I know about being lonely. Life’s loneliness can feel so overwhelming, can’t it, my friend? I know what it’s like to be without a dad this side of Heaven. I know what it’s like as a young woman to feel the burden trying to assume the role of the “man of the house” when there was no man left in … Read More
The Struggle Is Real
Do you struggle? Well, if you have breath, we both know the answer to that question. Of course you do. I do, too. Everyone does. They didn’t come up with #thestruggleisreal for no reason. Life is full of friction that constitutes a daily struggle to do things… to do the right things…in the amount of time we’ve been given each … Read More
The Value of A Tribe
Nashville. We called this area home for 3.5 years and as quick as we blew into town, we soared out when my husband was offered a full time job as a professor back in Virginia where we came from. I left kicking and screaming because I wasn’t done. There were so many wonderful people and places we were deeply connected … Read More
This Stuff is Real
I’m not a theologian. But I am a Christ-follower. Long before I chose Him 29 years ago, Jesus chose me. I was 4 when I decided to follow Jesus. It wasn’t a complicated decision. I hadn’t been into drugs or come from an abusive home or anything like that. My storyline of following Jesus had a pretty steady baseline until … Read More
When God Doesn’t Stop The Storm
Storms. That’s been the common theme of most news cycles the last week. For many of us, we’ve been on the edge of our seats, petrified for our loved ones, their homes, and our fellow mankind in general. Our pastor and his wife thought they were in St.Martin just to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Turns out, they were there to … Read More
When You Almost Miss God’s Gift
This past June we set out to my husband’s home state of Ohio. A year and a half prior, he swore we’d never return to the Buckeye state if we could help it. We had lost too much there… especially him. So much of his life’s story now has tainted memories because an extremely close family member, as it turns … Read More
What to Do When You’re In Familiar Places, But New Territory
It might be a bit pre-mature for me to write this. But I’m going to anyway because my heart is full of hope. Our little family has the opportunity to soon return to a place that held the title of “home” in our hearts. It’s where roots were planted long long ago before we ever knew each other. Yet, this … Read More
When God’s Time Table Is Different Than Yours
I remember how upset I felt on May 18th four years ago. My husband and I were silently grieving our way through failed fertility treatments. No one knew but us and maybe one or two close friends. Not even our families. We were doing our best to put on smiles to celebrate a family graduation, but inside, our hearts were … Read More