Count it all Joy
Counting it all joy comes from James 1: 2, which says, ” Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” It is so…
2025 Gratitude Month Prompts
Every year since we were married (making this year #46), Jim and I began a practice in the month of November to think about and name the things for which we are grateful. There are a lot of things that are hard and overwhelmingly evil in the world, but we, as believers, are commanded to…
My Coda
In music a coda is the satisfying elaboration at the end of a piece of music that offers a sense of resolution. If I got the chance to have a final word, I am not sure I would have the wherewithal to come up with all the right words in the moment. But I am…
Remembered and Celebrated
I am not one who typically dwells on the past nostalgically. I have never gone to one of my high school reunions and I do not make scrapbooks. While I love sharing memories and looking at pictures, I choose not to live life looking in the rearview mirror often. I am not saying that nostalgia…
Grace Eddies
Grace eddies. It swirls. It makes all the difference. It changes everything. I know because I experience it constantly. I am reminded repeatedly how hints of grace keep showing up in surprising places daily. The intellectual knowledge of grace is not enough once a person has experienced the practical reality of a life shaped by…
Sunrise – Sunset
Last week I was visiting with some lifelong friends, and we were watching the sunset along the shore in Oceanside. All along the beach people were coming outside to watch the show. One of my friends, with a glint of the fading sun in his eye, stated, “Why do we all do this? It happens…
HBD Dianne Brouwer
While many people have left their fingerprints on my life, there are a few people who have actually altered my DNA. Dianne Brouwer, you are one of those people and I am a different person because you have been in my life! From the beginning of our time in Scottsdale, I watched with admiration how…
Thankful Lists – Nov. 17- 23
Nov. 17 Places I am grateful to have been 49 states // This year – Germany, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia Hungary, Czech Republic, England (Oxford, Cambridge, London), Alabama // ISRAEL // Spain // Salzburg, Austria// Hawaii with Jim, Band, DFB, My Fam // Barbados // Having lived in extreme weather, living in a place…
Thankful Lists – Nov. 9-16
11/9 Friends – YOU (whoever reads this and have called me friend in life or virtually, on Instagram or facebook: I know I will miss people by making a list with names, but I want to give a grateful shout-out to my friends – you are my treasure! You: I’m grateful for people who still…