Last week, I planted miracles in the ground. Racing the coming thunderstorm, I spaded the earth and pushed them into the holes. With one eye on the lightning streaking through the black clouds, I covered them quickly, knowing the rain would soon do the rest. Little bits of dried up nothing. Barely a wilted green…
I grew up in the same little community my dad and grandpa had before me. I went to church with the same ladies who’d babysat my dad when he was little. We had shirttail relatives everywhere. Moving to a new town when I got married, looking for a new church, all in a community where…
You know the person that you always call when you have a question about healthy food? The one you call, not because they make you feel guilty for eating the way you do, but because they give you really good, helpful advice in quick, easy-to-follow steps? That would be my friend Trina Holden. When I…
Dear Mary Kate, Your daddy and I insisted on everyone napping Sunday afternoon. Then, we promised, then we could all plant flowers outside. We left the front door open (yay for screen door weather!) and knew you’d wander out whenever you woke up. We were working right by your bedroom window, not too quietly, at…
They try to be just like mommy. They write little tiny characters all over every square inch of paper, making a list just like mommy. They take half the clothes off the hangers in my closet, parading around in my shoes and shirts, looking just like mommy. They jabber away on their toy cell phones,…
Weddings make me cry. So do goodbyes. But goodbyes at weddings? They really make me cry. I made it through my own wedding day with a big smile and dry eyes. Except for that moment my childhood and forever friend, my guestbook attendant, came up to hug me right before the ceremony started. And when…
The sunlight streamed through the window on the first Saturday afternoon in April. My daughters and nieces were at my feet, the golden threads of their “Chinese princess dresses” glistening in the sun. Their antics were the only thing that kept me from needing to use the Kleenex I’d wrapped around my bouquet. To my…
They ring loud in my ears, the words that I just said. I bow my head, silenced in my shame. That tone, those words—unworthy of His name. I can’t take them back. I can’t erase the hurt, the pain. I can only pray that next time, the louder words will be His words, within my…
When our third little one had tummy issues and I had to go off dairy, people started recommending probiotics. But I didn’t know where to start. So I didn’t. Until a friend asked if I was interested in some water kefir grains. I’d only ever heard of milk kefir—and sour milk didn’t sound appetizing to…
On the warm summer evenings, it’s outside on the patio, nestled in the big wicker chair my husband got for me. Late at night, it’s propped up on pillows in our bed as I try to convince my little one to eat his fill before we all get some sleep. On Sunday afternoons, when our…
Nothing can run on empty forever. I can always tell when the gauge is getting near “E”. So why don’t I do something about it before I’m running on fumes? The empty sleep tank can’t always be helped. The ability to fill the sunshine tank depends on the time of year. And the quiet tank…
I never quite know when it will manifest itself, this ache of the shadowlands. Sometimes, it’s in the long days, the up-all-night exhaustion, the longing for rest. Others, it’s in the goodbyes and the distance. The never-quite-enough fellowship and conversation that leaves me longing for the time when relationships won’t be marred by sin, hindered…
The End.
The End.