Finding Joy on the Journey in Faith, Family, and all Things in Between.
In honor of Valentines Day and our epic love affair, here's a post from last year that still captures it all. I love you, Josh. Dear Josh, It's May and someone is in love. The sun is hot and glistening on my naked shoulders. I am fresh, with a face like clean linen, shining eyes and dark lashes low and inspired. You smell like romance. Red roses without the … [Read more...]
Five Minutes on: Bare We loved in that bare shouldered way of a man and woman. Of shared breath and space and warmth. I was a girl, really. Only nineteen, not even old enough to drink champagne on our honeymoon. He was twenty, broad-shouldered and ready to carry me into our life. The weight of it all still light as he carried me across the threshold and we laughed and tried to maneuver … [Read more...]
I didn't cry much after you passed away. In all honesty, I felt a flood of relief as we sat watching. The nurse leaned over your hospice bed, cold stethoscope pressed to your chest, not needing to be warmed first. Your breathing had been labored and rattly, then shallow. Mom and I sat, sides touching on the couch, and when the nurse rose, draped her stethoscope back around her neck and … [Read more...]
We packed the minivan, your dad and I. Loaded it up free of all things pertaining to you kids, because although we love you, this was our time. To claim each other like we did before we were blessed with you. And that simple task spoke volumes. On one side, the crab nets, fishing poles, and surfboard. All things adventure and recreation. And the other, office boxes filled with used … [Read more...]
Now that you are old enough to realize that marrying daddy is not a real possibility for you, and you are starting to ask questions. "When did you know you loved daddy?" "How did he ask you to marry you?" "Did you have boyfriends?" I want you to know about true love. The romantic kind, the kind between a man and a woman. The kind that I wish for you someday. I will answer all of those … [Read more...]
It’s a #FiveMinuteFriday! Where a beautiful crowd spends five minutes all writing on the same topic and then sharing ‘em over here. 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in … [Read more...]
Dear Josh, How many times do these lids droop heavily and the frustration floats steady like a prisoner's cell cut through the throw pillows and down comforter separating us? Your back to me and I hold this scripture in my mind, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and I see the sun sloping low and I close my eyes and sleep. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. The marriage 101 rule … [Read more...]
Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays. We set a timer, throw caution to the winds and try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. 1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt- no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before … [Read more...]
I was planning on finishing up my post on Blissdom but upon arriving home, I was met with a nasty stomach bug. Think of this post as a five-minute Friday. I didn't edit or over think and I'm still as sick as ever so this may or may not make sense. Josh had been gallantly holding down the fort while I was in Nashville. Nehemiah had thrown up all over our bed the night before I flew out so I … [Read more...]
Write for 5 minutes flat-no editing, no overthinking, no backtracking. This weeks word is Delight: Go Judah's been doing a grammar program with Classical Conversations this year and we have pondered and classified and diagrammed the complexities of the English language. Which line does the object compliment noun go on? Is this a subject, verb transitive, direct object, object compliment … [Read more...]
He tells me I'm beautiful. Whispers it to me as we snuggle on the couch, smooths back my hair. I look down. Fourteen years and I still doubt these words. Maybe doubt them more now than ever. I don't see it. What he says he still sees. What he pleads with me to understand and accept. There is a comfort now. An intimacy born out of long years filled with sorrows etched deep, joy brimming, and oh, … [Read more...]
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God..." (1 Peter 5:6) In May, we will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. We didn't arrive here without bumps and scrapes along the way. I married Josh at 19, he was 20. I look at wedding pictures and can't believe how young we were. Poor man had no idea what he was getting himself into. I carried wounds etched deep and had … [Read more...]
I love Sir Ken Robinson, one of the great thinkers of our times, who talks frequently of creativity, education, and inspiration. Author to a book called The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything , it speaks on harnessing our individual passions, pursuits, talents, and ambitions, and channeling them into our life's work. He also speaks with a charming British accent and I swear … [Read more...]
I'm idealistic. I am inspired. Unfortunately, I am NOT a good multi-tasker. I can do one thing well. What thing is that, you might ask? It's whatever I am most focused on at the time. I can home school my children and teach them in ways that make their little minds open and swell and burst with information and excitement over things learnt and tried. I can disciple them and bury God's … [Read more...]
Her ring has worn a groove onto her finger. Years of wear have etched themselves into that hand. The same hand that carried me as a baby, put band-aids on my ouchies, cooked and fed me, turned the pages on the books that would birth a lover of the written word, and consistently pointed to God through her faithfulness. The same hand that filled syringes, cleaned up vomit, produced warm … [Read more...]
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