Two weeks ago, I blogged about living out your values. Then I decided to turn this into a multi-part series about living out your values by taking each of my values and talking about them. My values are faith, family, friendships, health, writing, work, and...
The conversation began about a piano. And misplaced values. A couple of weeks ago, my husband texted me from work and asked me to see if friends of ours wanted a free piano from one of his co-workers. They declined due to a lack of space. I relayed the message and...
I have a confession to make--sometimes trusting God is a challenge. Last week, I was stressing about our finances. But here's the thing--we have money to pay all of our bills. We have a roof over our head, two nearly-new vehicles to drive, good jobs with wonderful...
Over the weekend, my husband and I attended his company picnic at an amusement park. Visiting the park without our sons or our granddaughter was a different experience. After enjoying a buffet of food from the picnic, we rode a handful of our favorite rides, walked...
After a difficult July, my husband and I have taken a much-needed vacation to get away from the daily stresses in our busy lives. We've rented a yurt for the week at a nearby state park that we visit on a regular basis. While we are not new to camping, our aging...
Over a decade ago, a friend mentioned how prayer journaling strengthened her prayer life and subsequently, her faith. I was intrigued and asked about her process. Her technique was quite simple—she chose a lined journal, dated each entry, and instead of praying...
A couple of weeks ago, I awakened with a slight pain in my jaw that grew stronger as the day progressed. It became quite severe and necessitated a trip to our local walk-in clinic because my dentist was closed for the weekend. My face had swollen so badly that I...
A week or so ago, I helped my brother with an errand. As we headed back to his house, we talked about living boring lives. He said my life wasn’t boring because I had a fun job, wrote books, and traveled (not so much in the past couple of years). Then I decided our...
Last week, my husband expressed his displeasure over the skyrocketing gas prices. A friend shared her anxiety about running out of baby formula. Then I skimmed news headlines that left a heaviness in my chest that I struggled to shake. By focusing on what was...
I’m going to be honest and say April was a bit of a challenging month for me. But it didn’t start out that way. In fact, I had high hopes for April. My faith was strong and my well of joy quite deep. I had met my book deadline for March 31st, and I expected to spend...
