simply me and jeans

My Daddy taught me to love gardening and I think of him every year around Valentine’s Day.  Why? A couple of reasons. One is that he always brought me the first Narcissus bloom around this time each year. As we reminisced about that, I told mom that I was sorry he didn’t bring them to […]

Someone asked me a question today. Where is Jesus when you pray? A simple question but one that could have multiple layers to the answer. Is he next to me as I pray?  Across the room looking and listening? Nowhere to be found? On a throne next to his Father? Hanging on a cross? Within […]

As a runner,  I have four formidable enemies. A headwind kicks my butt. There are days I get dressed for a run only to walk outside, feel a breeze and turn around to head straight for the treadmill. Hills, although I’m more determined to conquer them,  also leave me wiped out. Heat is my nemesis and […]

For as long as I can remember, it’s been important for me to recognize and value the struggles of life.  To recognize that faith doesn’t mean ignoring pain or speaking empty platitudes that make it seem like the “faithful” aren’t affected by struggle, sin or sorrow. To give voice to things that make people feel […]

Sitting among giant cacti. Watching the sun set. The silence almost otherwordly. I hear some sort of bird flying by. It seems so out of place, as if it had lost its way in the world and ended up in the wrong landscape. I can’t see him but his song sounds familiar. I’d swear it […]

I don’t like to be wrong, but sometimes it’s worse to be right. I’m a worrier by nature. I routinely fear that the worst will happen so I’ve learned a tool that has helped me combat those worries over the years. I remind myself that our fears hardly ever happen. Being attacked by a shark, […]

Sun – Moon Spring – Winter Day – Night Joy – Pain It’s all life. It’s all yours. It’s all good. There’s not one without the other. No power in love without the possibility of losing it… Someday…Someway.. Even when it’s too early and even when it doesn’t make sense and everything seems like insanity. […]

My desk sits in front of our homes’ largest window. My front porch swing, two towering live oaks, my front flower bed and the livestock roaming in my neighbor’s pasture seem to be extra comforting as sunshine melts the evidence of this week’s snowstorm. Five days ago I sat here under layers of blankets watching […]

This is one of those posts where I’m telling myself what I know to be true and what I need to hear.  Just flat out preaching to my own heart with the hopes that I can stir up my faith. Because, truthfully,  I am so weary. This world seems out of control crazy and the consistency of […]

I try not to dwell on the fact that I’m getting older.  It’s hard to ignore when I can’t hold my tea without wincing at the stab of arthritis pain in my thumb or when my joints are stiff as I get out of bed in the morning. It’s hard to ignore when I scroll through […]