Baby Grace in real life
Loss is always hard to bear. Always. Death is not a welcome visitor, even years later it gnaws at our emotions just thinking of the day. Thinking of our last interactions with a loved one, the last time we uttered the words, “I love you.” Heaven comes too soon it seems. Always too soon. My…
Does fear own you? Does is dictate how you live your life, what you do and don’t do? Does it keep you up at night replaying the what if’s of your day? Mary knew fear, and we do too. It seems to stem from outside sources, but real fear comes from within. Satan, the forerunner…
My husband is a great listener. I am amazed over and over again at the way he listens. To my nonstop ramblings, to our kiddos stories, to a team of high school soccer playing girls laughing and singing and dancing. Not me—it’s something I have to work at. When our pastor challenged us to read…
On my birthday every year, I have a few birthday wishes. High in the sky dreams I hope to receive or accomplish. After reading about Mary Ingalls and her birthday wishes this week, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus. Did Jesus have birthday wishes when he lived on earth? Does He have them now…
Every December we get a fresh Noble Fir tree. All the other decorations around the house—the wreaths and stockings and mercury candleholders—are second to the pine boughs glistening in the front window. It’s the official start to the Christmas season for the Lee family. In years past, I’ve had grand visions of the most beautiful…
As Christmas inches closer, love is on my mind. Not my love of pine branches in our living room complete with twinkling lights and glass balls. Not how much I love watching my favorite movie of the season—White Christmas—for the umpteenth time. Not the cranberry tea pot with liquid love simmering on the stove. It’s…
I’ve been reading through the Psalms for months now. One song a day—sometimes lament and sometimes praise. The honest pleadings of real people, with real problems, it’s just what my heart needs. It gives me permission to feel all the feels, to voice all the questions stirring in my soul, and cry all the tears…
The power of words, we can bless and we can curse. All from the same mouth, even the same breath. I’m not pointing fingers at either side, just sad to see all the political bashing. All the hate for people who think, believe, look, and vote differently than we do. Jesus called us to more…
Jealousy is a monster. It’s green with envy, forever hungry for more. And it’s addictive, especially in our tech-savvy world. No longer is jealousy a face-to-face reality, it lives in our back pockets. It has devoured so many moments of joy, so many days and weeks and years in an endless game of comparison, always…
We’ve all got them, various landscapes in this thing called life. Ups and downs, mountain peaks and deep dark valleys. There’s some short stretches of flat prairie-land, times when the seasons just rolled on by without us even noticing. What I’ve found over the last few years is that I am all about the ups…
