Embrace What God Allows I almost titled this post, “Embrace the Unembraceable.” When I landed on embrace as my “one word” for 2024 last January, I thought I knew what it meant. Embrace new encounters. Say yes to new adventures. Welcome new friendships. And, of...
Please Don’t Say That! Last week another hurricane hit Florida. Yet another powerful storm, this one bringing the added danger of record-breaking tornadoes. We endured Category 1 winds in my hometown, but not the Category 4 and 5 originally forecast. Worse than...
Storms of Life, Trust, and God’s Sovereignty Hurricane Helene roared up the west coast of Florida and left devastation in her wake across several states. Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton blew up in the Gulf, sliced through Florida, and left more devastation...
How Do You Respond to Adversity? There’s something refined about a tea party, isn’t there? Perhaps we enjoy tea parties because they help us push pause in our crazy, schedule-driven lives. We wait for the water to boil, the tea bag to steep, and our stress...
The Megaphone of Pain Pain exploded throughout my knee last week. I’ve been barely hobbling with the help of a walking cane. Treatment has not helped . . . yet. But I have a choice: I can wallow in self-pity or I can learn from this experience. As C.S. Lewis...
Three Steps to Look Up! “Look where you’re going!” My mother’s words echo in my memory. I had my share of scraped knees as a child, often because I did not look where I was going. “Look where you’re going” is good advice. Whether hiking through a forest or...
Overcomer or Overwhelmed? This has not been an easy week. An anniversary of loss I’d rather not remember, yet it’s impossible to forget. A reminder of my husband’s greatest season of victory in the face of what the world would call a season of deepest defeat....
Feeding Hope I welcomed the end of the dry season as the rains started up again. Not yet with the regularity of the full-blown rainy season, but we can tell it’s coming. And not a moment too soon. My garden was wilting. But my schedule caused me to put watering...
Recover Stolen Peace Heartache consumed Margarite. A mature Christian in her mid-twenties, she had struggled to accept a series of significant losses. In the span of three years, five people close to her died. She understood grieving was a long-term process,...
Waiting in the Shadow of Tragedy Confession time: I don’t wait well. I’m impatient for good times to arrive. And I chafe under the burden of suffering while waiting for it to end. I’m guessing I have lots of company. Waiting is difficult. It’s hard enough when...
Embrace What God Allows I almost titled this post, “Embrace the Unembraceable.” When I landed on embrace as my...
Please Don’t Say That! Last week another hurricane hit Florida. Yet another powerful storm, this one bringing...
Storms of Life, Trust, and God’s Sovereignty Hurricane Helene roared up the west coast of Florida and left...