My 101-year-old grandmother said that every year passes by faster than the one before. If that’s true then it won’t be long until my birthdays start to feel like a jet-fueled revolving door!

Maybe that’s why I enjoy writing.

Butt in chair, fingers on a keyboard, nothing left to do but reflect.

No, it’s more than that.

I get to savor. [Read more…]

Truth. I’m a Mary Poppins wannabe. Who isn’t?

I mean seriously. She has a no-nonsense, common sense take on life. She travels via umbrella. Her carpet bag is the bomb. And she’s a “cup half full” kinda gal. [Read more…]

Of all the secret hide-aways nestled in the sprawling multi-acre camp, the spot that called me was the fence. Suzie, our retreat hostess, made the gentle offer,

Find a quiet space where you can spend time with Him.

The camp that held the retreat was beautiful.

A lake.

A creek and tumbling spillway.

Wooded paths and hidden chapels.

And yet it was a long fence line that offered the warmest invitation. [Read more…]

Today I am sober in my celebration for where I live, the country in which I was born. I’m grateful that I can say,

I am an American.

That rolls off the tongue so quickly. But I want to slow it down. Repeat it for the precious truth that it is.

I.      Am.    An.     American. [Read more…]

Sometimes the hurt and the hard in this life just feel like too much. Am I right?

Sometimes we reach a point where emotional turmoil has continued for so long and runs so deep, it bleeds into a physical aching. We wear it on our faces. We carry it in our bodies. We reflect it in our choices.

Maybe that’s where you are right now. [Read more…]