Love around us
Under the Tuscan Sun is a great movie about a writer named Frances who, after learning her husband was cheating on her, gets away to Italy for what was supposed to be a brief tour. Instead, she impulsively purchases a run-down villa. The movie is about the unique challenges and beautiful people she encounters as she restores the home and her life. When Frances first came to the villa, she dreamed she would have a wedding and a family one day at the villa. Towards the end of the movie when she is discouraged, someone she loves helps her see those dreams did indeed come true – not for her as she had originally hoped but for those she loved. A dear friend has a baby in the villa. Frances hosts a wedding celebration for one of her employees. It is such a beautiful moment in the film. Love comes in many forms and expressions. If you are only looking for…
Begin with the Tangles
When I was younger, I used to cross-stitch. Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches in a tiled, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. It can be tedious and easy to get all your threads twisted up or to count wrong and mess up the picture. In those moments, instead of learning from my mistakes, I would place the unfinished pattern in a drawer and move on to a new project. Over the years, I gathered quite a collection of unfinished projects in that drawer. There was a little Native American girl and boy pattern I still feel guilty about to this day because I never finished. The stories they could have told had I finished cross-stitching their mouths. I heard someone once say, No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Starting over is more than shutting something in…
A Prayer for a New Week
A new week is knocking at the door, while last week is still sprawled out on my couch. Piles of stuff clutter home and heart and mind. Lord, it feels like there is never enough. Never enough time to rest, to think; Time to play, to breathe. To get it done. To be. Lord, it feels like I’m never enough. Never enough for family, for work; For friends. For me. For You. I’m in a race I never wanted to run, a race I don’t know how to quit. Help me slow my pace, God. Help me match my breathing to Yours. Help me thank last week for her gifts and lessons, and welcome this week for her possibilities. I don’t need to be enough. I just need to be Yours. I don’t need to be enough. I just need to be Yours.
My Word for the Year
If you’ve known me at least a year or more, you may know I do a word-for-the-year rather than resolutions. It works much better for me to think big picture about the journey I want to walk in the year ahead rather than mapping out a final destination or a sense of arrival points along the way. You can read about past words here, here, and here. For me, resolutions tend to function like blinders. I end up missing many of the surprising ways God wants to show up in my life. A word, however, tends to function more like a filter or lens. I look around with some intention, but I’m much more open and free to respond to the ways God and my word may show up as I live each day. My word for 2020 is FOCUS. I have a tendency to coast in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong – I’m a hard-worker, and…
WHY LENT BRINGS ME JOY
There is no better feeling than taking off a belt or pants that have been painfully restraining you all day. So, let's stop pretending or sucking in our spiritual stomach. Let's be real. We're a mess and in need of a Savior.
Puzzled Lessons
This past weekend we received an abundance of snow. While nine inches fell at my home, some nearby were blanketed with over 14″ from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. It is a winter wonderland here and I love it. We weren’t surprised by this storm, so I took the opportunity on Friday to go to my parent’s house and borrow a couple of puzzles from my mom’s stash in the basement. She has a collection of puzzles she purchased for her mom when she was in the senior care center and I’m cheap. Free puzzles! I decided a potential snowstorm was the perfect opportunity to tackle one of the larger 1,000 piece puzzles. Yes, I live an exciting life. Full stop with the jealousy, friends. Choosing Joy My word for 2019 is submit, to abandon outcomes to God. One practice I’m attempting is to do more things that bring me joy while abandoning any outcomes or expectations. (I decided this…
Planting Seeds
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Nelson Henderson I’ve always loved this quote. I have a deep affection for trees even if I don’t go around sniffing them like my friend, Heather. Hoisting my hammock among the trees and resting in the cool, comfort of the shade is one of my favorite activities on a warm summer’s day. Give me some chocolate ice cream while I sway in the wind and I’m in heaven. Maybe my tree-love is why I love this quote, but I think it may also be the hope that things we do now can make a difference for someone else long after we’re gone. It is the beauty and power of a life well-lived – a life on whose shoulders others stand, a life that plants trees under whose shade we will never sit. What better way to spend your one wild and precious life? But trees…
When Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect
A brand new planner is a beautiful thing. Clean, crisp pages full of potential and possibilities. Everything is neat and clean and begging to be made into memories and moments. What will March 2019 hold? What adventures will I take in September? What will I reflect on in December? Who knows? All those stories have yet to be lived and told. While exciting, a new planner is also intimidating. I purchased a new planner for 2019 and it took me about two weeks before I wrote anything in it. I looked at it nearly every day but I didn’t know where to even begin. This planner is not just for calendaring. It is the Joanna Gaines of calendars. The last half is full of blank pages where you can dream, sketch, and track your passions. One search of #pashfam on the internet will overwhelm you with beautiful layouts and designs. Some invest a small fortune in stickers. Others have the…
Why I Hate My Word for 2019
I’ve blogged before about my annual tradition of choosing a word/intention for the year rather than making resolutions. It has been a game-changer for me in my pursuit to continually grow and learn how to become more like Christ each year. Here are my past words of intention: 2014: Courageous 2015: Freedom 2016: Today 2017: Health 2018: Awake This is my sixth year and usually, the words I choose are inspiring and positive – words I can find on shiny jewelry or flowery, hand-lettered prints for sale on Etsy. But not this year. I can’t imagine it will ever be cross-stitched on a pillow or etched into silver, hanging around someone’s neck. My word for 2019. My word for 2019 is …… submit. I hate this word. I hate it for the abuse associated with it over the years. In relationships. In the church. In the work place. It has been misused to justify oppression and, if there is one…
Christmas Year Round
A confession: A few years ago I started decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Don’t hurl snowballs at me. I wait as long as I can, but I never last until after the fourth Thursday in November. I adore Christmas. I love decorations and twinkling lights. I delight in music and holiday food. I have a real obsession/addiction with Hallmark movies. December is my jam. But it’s easy for me to camp in the shallow end of the holiday, missing what I really love about the season. More than other times of the year, I believe Christmas finds us closest to living the way Jesus calls us to live. Despite the holiday commercialism, people tend to be more generous in time and resources, giving to causes and serving their neighbors. We tend to be more thoughtful of others and cherish special moments with family. There seems to be more hope, peace, joy, and goodwill – not in fullness but more than…
