One Bird
I put out the fresh birdseed, and the blue bird arrives to feast. It’s a day I want to remember: I’m grading essays at the kitchen table with coffee mug full and candles lit. Children rake leaves into a pile in front of the big oak whose trunk separates into a perfect platform for jumping off. I […]
Fingerprint Animals
My daughter asks if we can make “fingerprint animals” as an art activity. She brings out her little stamping pad and paper, and she’s off to create! It’s so precious and simple. You can watch all sorts of youtube videos and explore so many Pinterest accounts with little scenes made of fingerprints. Imagine zoo animals, underwater […]
I Was Warned But Didn’t Listen
Three years ago, I blogged with joy about how we turned Velvetleaf into a beautiful indoor arrangement. You remember the story: My mother and I discovered this unwanted, invasive, terrible weed in the pumpkin patch at the fruit farm. We created the most lovely bouquet. I boasted about how living with flair meant turning the obnoxious weed that […]
Morning Light: 3 Promises from Scripture
I gaze out as the morning sun rises through the Weeping Cherry. It’s new and hopeful as I turn to God. I find this as I read Psalm 21 where David praises God: “[You have] made him glad with the joy of your presence. . . through the unfailing love of the Most High, he […]
When You’re Redirected
Today’s the day! Around 10:00 AM, this little blog will redirect to my beautiful new author website designed by the team at Moody Publishers. What a great new verb! Redirect means to send something to a new place or in a new direction. Have you ever in your life been redirected to an unexpected place for an unexpected purpose? Most of […]
Humble Pie
I’ve been praying about how to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus instead of myself in the midst of so many exciting things like radio interviews, book sales, and letters from readers. It’s easy to think highly of myself and forget that Jesus has accomplished everything through me (Isaiah 26:2 and John 15). Whatever fruitfulness […]
These 40 Years
In Deuteronomy 2:7, we read this: “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” It’s true! It’s true for me and you! […]
The One You Feed
Last night, I heard again the Native American tale of the two wolves that Billy Graham once popularized in his 1970’s book on the Holy Spirit. The most original source I could find comes from the Nanticoke Indian Association’s website where they account “The Tale of the Two Wolves.” They write: One evening, an elderly […]
The End of an Era: The Last Boo Platter
One of my all-time favorite Live with Flair moments came on October 28, 2010 when I posted on Your Most Memorable Act. In this post, I saw the way God combined words, writing, and motherhood in this Boo Platter that became the stuff of elementary school legend. For years, the children begged for the Boo […]
Always a Little Something to Help You Live with Flair
When my husband travels, we fall apart. We do. Nobody sleeps well, and we just feel out of sorts. Even the cats rebel against his absence. So this morning, after a sleepless night, an angry daughter, and rebelling cats, I was in no mood for flair. And I had a headache. Woe is me! I […]