Paying Attention
There is a fascinating video online designed to test your awareness. (You may view it at shorturl.at/dBJS4) In the video, there are eight basketball players, four dressed in white, four dressed in black. You are challenged to count how many times the white team passes the basketball. The first time I watched it, I felt proud. I had counted correctly. What I missed completely was the guy in a bear costume moonwalking through the center of the group. I couldn’t believe it. I had been so focused on watching the white team that I missed the bear. On the walk to…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
