Seeking to be CONTENT in all things, JOYFUL in HOPE, PATIENT in affliction.
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us... Psalm 46: 10-11 Email after email is screaming at me: There’s still time to buy this!!! Last-minute gifts still available. Few things provide a sense of calm this time of year as the knowledge that you are done …
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1 Until just recently, porch pumpkins and Christmas cheer coexisted on our front porch. Unlike most of my neighbors and friends, I do not rush into the Christmas season. I like to ease into the idea, not unlike savoring the last of the Thanksgiving stuffing and gravy. This is how I’ve always done things, so this pause didn’t really strike …
I have lived almost my entire life thinking that I didn’t enjoy mangoes. This thought may have entered my mind in college. I tried mangoes at about the same time my roommate's boyfriend brought over some papaya. I am certain I don’t like papaya, but somehow my brain equated the two fruits. And so I have avoided mangoes as if they were liver. (Apologies to those who think liver is delicious.) My worldview, as far as mangoes are concerned, changed this year because of a humble potluck. A group of friends meet each month to share food, conversation and prayer for one another. It is a rich, satisfying experience. My friends are better …
I anticipate fall like some people look forward to a holiday. I love all things fall, although I find it a little annoying that retailers try to convince us that it is fall when the temperatures are still soaring and not one leaf has turned color. Don’t even get me started on the topic of …
There is something thrilling about waking up to a new landscape. Once it was unexpected snow in Flagstaff. More recently, it was the first blush of dawn on a snow-capped peak near the Oregon border. I can become mesmerized by the ever-changing scene outside my window when I travel. Train travel affords a fresh perspective …
"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." Joe Fox, "You've Got Mail" For weeks I have been blasted with back-to-school ads. Value packs of pencils, spiral notebooks, colored pencils and of course my favorite, the 64-pack of classic Crayons. The box still comes with a built-in …
They are cutting down the tree. The angry sound of a chainsaw makes me think of enraged wasps. As exhaust fumes seep in around doors and windows, the sound – not really the sound, but the knowledge of what the sound means – gnaws at my bones. This machine is not just ripping the tree away, but our peace. The peace it steals is the peace that a mature tree brings to a space. Sadly for this majestic, leafy tree, it was planted in exactly the wrong spot and was tearing up neighboring walls and garage floors. The landlord said it had to go even as he lamented the need for more trees in …
Today, I took a moment. Sitting in a mottled patch of sun, I tilted my head back and watched the breeze run its fingers through the top of a tree. I listened to birds twitter. Were they arguing? Maybe, since the pair tore past me at top speed a moment later. I felt the sun …
It is possible to grow and even thrive where we get tossed. After all, God knows where we are.
California typically rushes through spring in its frantic dash to summer. Bulbs bloom in February and are gone. Trees bloom and leaf at the same time. If you want to see wildflowers, you better not blink.This year, however, is very different. For the first time in many years, a cool wet spring is unfurling slowly.Buds form and pause, teasing us with what is to come. Wildflowers paint the landscape with wide brushstrokes of yellow, orange, purple. Bulbs – some of them …
SMALL MOMENTS FULL OF GRACE 