Bake a Cake. Invite Someone.
Today my youngest daughter baked a cake from a box and filled the batter with blue and red sprinkles. She then flavored icing with strawberry flavoring. We’ll keep it chilled in the refrigerator and then decorate it with blueberries for a festive 4th of July dessert. The important point: the simple cake is for that […]
The Purples
You Stand There, Cheering
I’m learning to release my teen daughters more and more–to give them space–and let them figure out life on their own. It’s just like when we taught them to ride those bikes without training wheels: you run beside them for a while as they pedal (while you’re holding the seat steady with your hand), and […]
It Work: My Apricot Tree
A Message on Hope
My latest podcast might be my favorite! It’s on God’s guarding presence of hope. Enjoy!
Where You’re Going
Lately I’ve been thinking about what it means to lead people, and the concept strikes me that leaders obviously know where they are going and wish to take others along with them. I think some of us shrink back from leadership because we think leaders are loud, bossy, controversial, clever, the most intelligent, the most […]
Time to Reflect on Where You’ve Been
This morning I reflected with a friend about the last few years. Because a milestone approaches in her life, it’s the perfect time to reflect. Here are my top 10 questions to let you pause and reflect before embarking on the new adventure. Maybe it’s a graduation, a project completed, marriage, a baby coming, a […]
The Spirit of Adoption
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the Spirit of adoption as described in Romans 8 below: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we […]
Imperceptible Changes
I love time lapse videos. They reveal imperceptible changes. I love how, in my own environment, flowers open, grass grows, and children transform. Even I’m changing in imperceptible ways. We are growing. We are. I like to remember this when I think that nothing’s happening. I look over at the water lily in a cup […]
3 Quotes from Hannah Whitall Smith
As I catch up on some of my devotional reading today, I find myself once again so encouraged by Hannah Whitall Smith. She writes three things that strengthen my heart and I pray yours as well: #1: God will manage everything concerning us. “Trusting, therefore, simply means that when we have yielded, or given, ourselves […]