simply me and jeans

My niece recently sent me a photo of my Daddy and I from Thanksgiving 2011. My heart had a quick, and bittersweet response. I smiled at how happy we both look and at the pride of being his daughter, but tears welled up in my eyes over how much I miss him.   I’ve been thinking about […]

Who am I? That’s been a reoccurring question lately. To try and describe myself is daunting.  Probably because one description of who I’ve been since childhood is a “people pleaser.” The thought of making a bad first impression or misrepresenting myself is a real thing.  It’s much less a thing than it used to be, but it’s […]

People often ask if I got what I was looking for out of my trip to Scotland but I’m not sure how to answer that question. I was never sure what I was looking for.  I struggled with whether to go in the first place and almost backed out a few times because, let’s be honest, […]

I remember the day I stopped misspelling “desert” and “dessert.” It was 2nd grade and my teacher said, “You don’t want more time in the desert, but you always want more dessert. Right? So, dessert has more S’s just like you would want more dessert.” It’s 50 years later and I haven’t forgotten that lesson. […]

I float through the dark as hoards of shadows crash into me. Pushing me every which way until I lose sight of light…of land…of life.  With one hand I search for something solid and with the other I swat away faceless figures. The disoriented and futile fight leaves room for more shadows to creep into […]

Someone asked me a question today. Where is Jesus when you pray? Is he next to me?  Across the room looking and listening? Nowhere to be found? On a throne next to his Father? Hanging on a cross? Within my heart? Do I even believe he really exists and hears? I realized that He’s usually […]

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 and empty platitudes aren’t helpful when they make it seem like the “faithful” don’t suffer. To give voice to things that could make people feel different or […]

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. […]

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 […]

It might have been 20 feet long and 10 feet wide but there’s really no way to know.  The eyes of a child see things larger than they usually are simply because everything is larger than they are. It wasn’t my favorite place to go growing up because I was the youngest, the only girl […]