What if we stopped complaining? It’s a simple question. Maybe a bit naïve. Maybe even overdone as a sermon topic. But I’ll ask it anyway—what would change in our days, our relationships, and even our thoughts if we truly stopped complaining? This post comes from something we tried during our Sunday school time at the…
When I was a little girl, Christmas was basically over once we ate our big meal and opened all our gifts. In fact, my dad used to start taking the tree down pretty much as soon as we cleaned up all the wrapping paper. (To be fair, we had a real Christmas tree back then…
Once a week I sing with a community choir that rehearses inside a local church’s sanctuary. The building is relatively new because it was reconstructed after a fire, but it has several features that harken back to a Gothic cathedral. Sweeping timber arches spread across the lofty ceiling like the hull of a ship. Three…
Before I planted my garden this summer, I read a book about homesteading. No, I’m not becoming a farmer. Frankly, my husband and I are too old for a new venture like that. Initially I wanted to learn about ways in which I could apply some of the homesteading concepts right here in the suburbs;…
I just got back from the beach. It was a quick, five day trip to Florida. As usual, I went prepared with a book, my journal, and my laptop. I ended up not using any of them. Since two of our five days were spent traveling there and back, we had a total of three…
I’ve been doing a lot of work lately. Hard work. And I don’t mean manual labor. I mean the difficult work of sitting with your feelings, examining them, and processing them. In my last therapy session, I had such a breakthrough moment that my therapist gently encouraged me to write about it in the hopes…
A few mornings ago I was sitting on the couch enjoying my first cup of coffee while my dogs were snuggled on my lap under a cozy, minky blanket. The house was quiet; I watched the sun get higher in the sky as it shined through the trees and into my windows. I thanked God…
There are many things I wonder about at this time of year. I wonder about silly things like what it would be like to go “a wassailing” or what the words of “Good King Wenceslas” really mean. And then I wonder about more serious things like what Mary’s family must have thought when she told…
Perhaps you’ve heard of the great thermostat wars…the battle each household must fight over who controls the temperature of the house. We fight that one in our house, but we have an additional battle– the Christmas lights fight. I love Christmas decorations. I go all out. I have lights all over our house, and not…
For the past several years, I’ve been expanding my creative outlets and thinking about what it means to create. Those of you who know me would probably say that you’ve always considered me to be a creative person, but I never saw myself quite like that. I think that’s because I was comparing my creations…
In Part 1, I mentioned Job and his three friends who came to sit with him during his time of intense suffering and grief. For seven days and nights, they ministered to him with their presence. But soon, they began to offer Job their opinions on why he was experiencing these tragedies. I imagine that…
I’m convinced that most people today conflate the concept of manners and respect, and I do not believe that the two are the same. The Oxford online dictionary defines manners as “a person’s outward bearing or way of behaving toward others.” Think of it like saying “please” and “thank you,” “yes ma’am” or “no sir,”…
I was asked to write a devotional for a ladies group–“Growing in 2024.” Here’s what I came up with. (Rather, here’s what I think God helped me write.) If you know me even a little, or if you’ve read much of my writing, you know I love trees. It’s difficult to pinpoint why I love…
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