I woke up in Asheville on my birthday. A few months ago after we stayed here, Other Half asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, and I said, “Go back to the Grove Park.” I didn’t even want a present. I just wanted to sit on this beautiful rock porch (not nearly … Continue reading How the Monkeys Saved My Birthday
2 Kings 8:6 My moods lately have been so unbelievably unpredictable. Some days I wake up full of hope and excitement, looking forward into the clear blue sky of possibilities, and other days I wake up and feel like I can’t see beyond my next heartbeat. The cycle of loss, grief, survival, repeat has drained … Continue reading Weekly Devotion: Give Back Everything that Belongs to Her
You might not know this, but Benjamin Button is a funny kid. Sometimes he seems quiet and aloof, and he prefers video games to human interaction, but underneath it all the kid is hilarious. Case in point: back seat conversations in the Jeep. So you have some background, we have this rule in our house. … Continue reading Where Babies Come From
Reading: Isaiah 26:3; Matthew 8:18-20 I have recently discovered something. My love for predictability and stability are completely at odds with the life of faith that we as believers are called to live. This might be something that you have always understood, but it was sort of an epiphany to me. I mean, I don’t … Continue reading Weekly Devotion: Imperfect Circumstances, Perfect Peace
Here’s something I’ve recently discovered about myself: When I am sad or overwhelmed or afraid or any other emotion that would cause me to gravitate towards comfort, I watch my favorite old movies or shows. I’ve never really done this before that I’m aware of, but lately my entire family is forced to tolerate this … Continue reading Hiding in Other People’s Stories
My dad needs a liver transplant. He has been on the transplant list for a long time now, what actually feels like forever, but is actually just since July 2019-ish. My family and I have gone through the excitement, the hope, the fear. And then a lot of other things happened that seemed not fair … Continue reading What It’s Like to Wait for a Transplant
I cried in front of my kids this week. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it’s a big deal to me on a couple of different levels. First, I remember about 10 months ago going to talk to a friend about how trapped I felt in my grief over losing … Continue reading I Cried in Front of My Kids This Week
I have been moping. I have been fighting against the things in my life that I don't like. I have been sulking. In the process, I stumbled across this devotion I wrote a while back, and it was so encouraging to me. It's from Genesis 9:28. In the HCSB it says “Now Noah lived 350 … Continue reading Weekly Devotion: Then He Lived
This week I had some things to do, exploring new opportunities, trying to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up, or maybe more accurately, who I’m going to be when I grow up. When I’m on the verge of something new, there’s always this double-edged sword that sticks itself straight through … Continue reading Grief, Fear, and New Beginnings
The water is moving faster today, lake currents driven by the wind and the temperature change and the recent rainfall that we thought might drown us all. It was comforting to me. Comforting to see a visual depiction of how I feel. On the outside, I go to work and I come home and I … Continue reading Ramblings of an Anxious Mind
Setting Up Stones 