This weekend marks 8 years since my mother passed away on July 12, 2011, and as with any major life event, the anniversary brings a time of reflection and assessment. It’s been quite a ride: highest highs and lowest lows. My time of paralyzing loss was followed by new normals, daily adjustments, and new vision….
I’m grateful for the reset button that comes naturally every January 1st. Here are some of my goals for the new year.
A Simple Man and a Timeless Truth I’ll never forget the day Grandpa taught me how to use the drill press. I was a girl of about 11 spending a warm summer day at Grandma & Grandpa’s, just down the road on our family farm. Grandpa was doing some carpentry in the garage when he…
Mom ran across the kitchen floor, arms and fingers stretched out in front of her aimed at the sky, “Rain!” “Beautiful Rain!” Rain is beautiful to a farmer. Nothing grows without it. Mom’s sweetcorn depended on spring showers, and we hadn’t seen it for a month. The sweet kernels we sold at our roadside market…
Have you ever had something you wanted to say, but your words got in the way?
I think we’d all like to break our mirrors and throw them away at times. They help us and they hurt us. Ultimately, sometimes they control us. Recently I had the opportunity to talk to teenage girls about friend drama, or perhaps more accurately, girl drama. I hate it when people stereotype what girls are like, myself…
What if Donald Trump is elected as the next President of the United States? What if Hillary Clinton is elected as the next President of the United States? On November 8th I will go to the polls and vote, just as I always have since I came of age. Then I will be glad it’s…
My favorite day of all time was August 9, 2014. Glacier National Park had been on my bucket list for many years, and we were there! I was with my family in the midst of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. My dream of hiking the Alps faded into the background at Glacier. I…
I’ve been in a little bit of a funk for a few weeks, struggling with some decisions and change that came into my life. Maybe, if you’re like me, you struggle in times of change too. You wonder whether you’ve heard God right, wavering as to whether the current change is related to a lack of listening,…
In a little over a month, our daughter Katy will leave to spend her fall semester studying in Italy. There she will complete classes for her Biblical Studies major, including studying the Italian Reformation in the land where it all took place. After that, she hopes to spend another semester in Germany and Switzerland during the 500th anniversary of…