Those were the words she sent that immediately brightened this gray and dreary day here in the northwest. The rain started early and is staying late, and my body is slowly recovering from whatever knocked me down and out this weekend. It’s a good kind of day to snuggle up with a mug of tea… Continue reading So very blessed from Jake’s ‘YES’
Jake
Today marks three years that you’ve been gone Jake. Gone from this earth, but not from our hearts. I miss you every day. I see so many things I want to share with you, experience so much I want to tell you in a Sunday call, find so many reminders of you in my every… Continue reading Jake
joy in translation
“…The despair of that night was necessary so that, three days later, a reason for hope now, and fullness of joy later, could be offered to all.” Julie Ackerman Link, writing for Our Daily Bread, paraphrased this from John 16:33, and it resonated strongly (not just for the 33!) but in the timing of it,… Continue reading joy in translation
the Christmas boxes
As a military family, we moved a lot. Family and friends learned quickly to pencil us in, or risk whiting out their address books a dozen times or more. Sometimes we’d be given a weight allowance for those moves, and we’d have to spend time estimating how much a bike or a drum set weighed,… Continue reading the Christmas boxes
Dancing with Sam
It’s the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and America lost one of its true patriots yesterday. It didn't make the news broadcast, and she wasn't pictured on the front page of the paper, but her name was Kay Ballard, and she was our neighbor and she was our friend. She joined us for Thanksgiving this… Continue reading Dancing with Sam
what I find in the wanting
My husband wants a Christmas tree. More than that, he wants the sparkling lights and shiny decorations, the Season’s songs and silver bells. He wants to open doors upon festive faces, find baking ready for sampling, and seal up envelopes with love and good wishes. He wants all of this, the planning and anticipation as… Continue reading what I find in the wanting
jotted little notes
Last week I jotted a note that simply said, ‘write the joys.’ It was a reminder to myself, in the midst of a moment in need of the reminding. I often seek to search it out, but that day I realized it’s really much more about just letting it in. The reality is the joys… Continue reading jotted little notes
dark enough
My heart is so heavy today. The ache so deep and personal, yet the need to share it and hope that would somehow disperse it so inextricably linked. I’m hollowed out, and yet overflowing with grief. It makes no sense. These are the days when the heaving sobs come and they puddle me up on… Continue reading dark enough
Stepping into the Starting
Yesterday was tough. I spent time with two dear friends, back to back, both struggling in very different ways. My heart hurts so much for them. Their pain encircles my own, and I ache for where they are, where they’ve been, and what remains to go through. Their journeys are long and hard, brand-new and… Continue reading Stepping into the Starting
An entity unto itself…
This is what love looks like. Love rooted deep in years of determined friendship. Decades of friendship. The kind that sees and shares and survives love and loss and work and trial and tragedy and joy. What a privilege to witness, and what a joy to be part of! With decades behind them, there were… Continue reading An entity unto itself…
Finding My 313 