This past weekend was Valentines Day. So many people have different opinions on the holiday. Some love to show their special someone how much they mean to them on this day. Others feel more single than ever. Still some just see it as a holiday that Hallmark invented. I personally love the holiday….I always have. The splash of red and pink as you enter any store for the preceding month just makes my heart happy. I have to resist the urge to buy all the little knick knacks that are advertised. I always buy my employees little Valentines, hoping to make them smile just a little bit at the gesture. Sometimes I get…
-
-
#ThisIsReal
So it’s been a while since I’ve used this outlet I love so much- writing to you guys. I recently found myself on a break that I didn’t know I needed. Sometimes God pulls some things out of you that you didn’t realize needed some work. Or maybe you did, but you didn’t realize exactly how much work was needed. This past year has been a learning season for me. And sometimes you have to stop and be quiet in order to learn. I’ll share more of this part of my journey at another time…promise. I’ve been itching to write again, but felt like I didn’t know where to start. I…
-
Camp Letters, a T-Shirt, and a Lesson In Humility
“Oh, I’m so glad she liked them! I’ve always sent little notes to the kids when they go to camp and I didn’t want Audrey to be left out.” I overheard this statement from Brandon while I was washing dishes and instantly felt the frustration well up. You see, the girls were at church camp, along with Audrey, a little friend of theirs. Every year our girls go to camp, I make sure that both Brandon and I write notes that the girls open each day of camp. Because this was Audrey’s first time at an overnight camp and she didn’t really know the rest of the kids, I wanted…
-
Sneaky Weeds: How the Devil Trips Us Up
One of my favorite things about summer time is watching my flowers and plants grow. There is a strange satisfaction in watching something that I planted grow into something pretty or delicious. There is even more satisfaction when I get to cook my produce! Sometimes I’ll just go stand and look at my garden and just admire the progress. I would say I’d go out and water it, but we’ve had so much rain this summer, that I think I’ve only had to drag the water hose out there twice so far. There is one garden chore, though, that I particularly dread. Weeding. There is no easy way to weed…
-
Grace In Life’s Messes: Hope for Blended Families
I want to take a few minutes to talk about something that is pretty close to my heart. I hesitate though, because I don’t know the answers the majority of the time. Most of the things I write about, I haven’t perfected and probably don’t do well; but I at least know what I’m supposed to do, how I’m supposed to act. But when it comes to this, I don’t know. And if I’m really honest, the fear of failure here is another reason that I hesitate to start this dialogue. A dialogue about step-parenting and blended families. It’s so rarely talked about, but so real life. There isn’t a…
