Preserving Your Childhood: An Amazing End-of-Summer Activity
When I was a girl, one of my favorite activities was flower pressing. That’s right: Flower Pressing. I collected the most beautiful wildflowers from all over Alexandria, Virginia. I picked flowers from the neighbors’ spacious gardens (with their permission), and I wandered the woods and parks for anything I might put in my wooden flower […]
25 Things a Wise Woman Learned About God
Today I see that a wise woman, Judy Douglass, posts that she’s “celebrating 50 years of ministry and 70 years of life.” She invites us to view one of her favorite blog posts (and one of the most read) to commemorate this time in her life. She entitles her post, “25 Things I Have Learned About God.” […]
“Smiling. Wagging Its Tail.”
I’m standing in a little gift shop in July 2011. I had forgotten this moment until this morning when I found this entry. In this gift shop, I lean over to look at all the journals (journals are some of my favorite things). They each have a different poem written on the cover. I read […]
“Pull Yourself Together!”
This is a strange little statement: Pull Yourself Together. It’s been a hard day of learning about terrible deaths in the news, comforting close friends who grieve, and enduring a general weariness over evil and brokenness in the world. Years ago, I might sit in my minivan, tilt my chin up, and say, “Pull yourself together, […]
Fall Where It May
Today my friend remarks that she’s not responsible for where the fruit God produces in her life falls. In other words, her gifts might be of service at the king’s table or in the stables. God’s in charge of where and for whom. We don’t concern ourselves with this as much as abiding and bearing […]
What You Give Away Comes Back to You
On my walk today, (I wish we had been together, so I’ll just share everything I would have told you!) I think about the verse from Acts 20:35 (when Paul quotes Jesus) that claims, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” I start to wonder why this might be so. As I think about […]
The Path Will Follow You
I am having so much fun compiling all my favorite little devotionals from these past five years. I wanted to thank those of you have emailed from all over the world to encourage me in my writing. I’m just so thankful and my heart is full of love for you! I’m sitting with December 2012 […]
Even This By Faith: An Answer to Loneliness and Disconnection
I’m happily driving in my minivan (because all seats provide equal viewing of the universe), and I remember how pleased Jesus is by our faith. I remember Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith, it’s impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” I […]
Scatter Far and Wide; Some Will Take Root
The visit with the Bakers was wonderful! A special moment for me was when the daughter (“a face without freckles is like the sky without stars“–that one!) shared with me the list of my blogs she had personally saved to a file over the past four years. She’s a rising 9th grader now, and she’s […]
A Prayer for New Teachers and New Classrooms
It’s that time of year again when teacher assignments come and school supply lists scatter around my kitchen like late-summer dropped flower petals. We love school around here. We count down the days, pack backpacks, pick out special outfits, organize our desks, and begin dreaming of all the wonderful experiences we’ll enjoy and the new […]