Finding Joy on the Journey in Faith, Family, and all Things in Between.
I hope to God in 10 years I disagree with some of my blog. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't love being wrong. So why would I want to be wrong now? Simple. If in 10 years I agree with everything I've said at 34 years of age, that will mean I've learned nothing, grown little, and have closed my mind and heart to being pliable. If I had a blog in my twenties, and thank God I didn't because … [Read more...]
My kids ran everywhere. Racing the shoreline and dipping their toes in the shallow pools that collected when the tide went out. Sun, hot and foreign to the Oregon coast danced on my bare shoulders. Our coast is a fickle mistress, quick to turn frigid in wind and wave. So when she beckoned at 80 degrees with full sun I scoured the internet for a rental house and last-minute deals. We packed for … [Read more...]
It's been quiet around here lately. My mind full but my heart empty. I write close and soul deep and sometimes my bone marrow dries, the stuff where words settle in and gush onto the page with each pump of my heart. So I went to Jumping Tandem with weariness in my bones. With the ache of the overtired. A bit frustrated at the grace I'm trying to walk around in and sometimes find myself … [Read more...]
Writing lends itself to a process. There are stages and maturation of story that mimic the seasons of pregnancy and birth An idea implanting, as it germinates somewhere deep inside you. Hardly even aware of its presence and the role it will have in the rest of your life but it's forming and coming together. The rocky sway of sickness as it takes hold. The clutching of your sides and the tilt … [Read more...]
I went to a writers conference this past weekend and found my people. The people who love words and story. The people who feel creativity and imagination are divinely inspired. Within the diversified lineup of speakers, were a few I wouldn't have purposely chosen to see. For instance, William P. Young, who was a brilliant speaker and by all accounts a lovely, humble man, wrote The Shack, a book … [Read more...]
I had another post planned for today but then life happened. And I realized this is a huge part of the writer's struggle. Life. Because just as the post forms in your mind, the thoughts coming together and the words harmonizing seamlessly, you are called upon to wipe your toddler's butt and swoosh, the perfectly aligned sentence just got flushed. And then the chore of pulling out your laptop … [Read more...]
For the rest of her life she will be my little girl. My only girl. In a week, she will be 8 years old. Today, she clung to me in a moment of high strung emotion uncommon for her. As her sleepy eyes welled with tears and she pushed her face into the curve just above my hip, into the fleshy part of my side, the spot where she curls herself into when we snuggle for story time or she bruises her … [Read more...]
So I wrote the post. The hard one. The one that had sat in my soul for years but never put into words. But this was my chance. Somehow it felt easier to post it on a friend's blog. God and suffering. She had asked me to contribute a post. She loved the way I wrote about the pain and the beauty. I said yes. I would be honored. And then I thought of the suffering in my life. I paused over … [Read more...]
If church should look like family, and family connects over bonds made, blood shared, vows taken, and years lived together, how do we become family as a church? How do we find the home where our hearts settle into community? In most churches, we sit in rows or pews, or folding chairs facing forward. We may engage the message and punch out notes on our YouVersion app or in the torn off section … [Read more...]
She curls her body into mine, as tightly pressed as she can get. She is all flannel nighty and honey shampoo and girl. And my words get softer as the story grows. I can never tell her stories and expect sleep. Once there were words spoken over her and her eyelids would flutter and weigh with slumber closing softly to the world but now she waits for each sentence and grasps holds, fighting back … [Read more...]
Remember that time I went to The Influence Conference and I was all insecure and awkward and God had to sit me down and talk some sense into my very pathetic attitude? You don't? Oh well then, never mind. Ahem. I am part of a wonderful community of women on the Influence Network and I'm joining in a little link up today with members of said network. Here are a few things of the get to know you … [Read more...]
Today, I've am amazing honored to guest post at two beautiful blogs. My friend, Tanya is a beautiful soul whose constant journey to find the glory in the midst of suffering and to see God's hand in it all blesses me. I knew that this particular piece of writing would be safe with her. It is part of my story and it may seem silly but I needed to write it almost as much as I need a bit of … [Read more...]
In honor of Alia's Dress for Change Project, I went to the salon on Friday and got the cut and color you voted on. I went a tad shorter because my ends were so frizzle fried. When she cut off the end of my ponytail and held it up, it looked strikingly similar to roadkill. Glad that's not on my head anymore. She filled my head with enough foil to pick up a few satellite channels and I … [Read more...]
Five Minutes on Ordinary I must have refreshed the page a hundred times. Staring at the number that wouldn't budge. Stomach clenched and churning. What started out as lofty ambition, a stepping out of my comfort zone to fling wholeheartedly into a project I passionately believed in, was leaving me with fear of failing spectacularly. I had a lot more to raise and my voice seemed to be thinning … [Read more...]
I can't scroll through my Facebook feed without several posts about a charity or a good cause popping up amidst details of silly things my friend's kids did, comical Pinterest pictures with sarcastic one liners, and high scores on Farmville. Each call to justice link beckoning me to like, and share, and join in the collective chorus of voices who should care about that specific need. … [Read more...]
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