The Joy Of Being Sad

Good morning... "We travelled through dark moments together," writes Katherine May on page 120 of Wintering. "I won't pretend it was fun. But it was necessary all the same. We raged and grieved together. We were overcome with fear. We worried and slept it off, and didn't sleep, and let our timetables turn upside down. We didn't so [...]

By |2026-02-28T02:15:12-05:00February 28th, 2026|Everyday life, Fear, Joy, Sadness, Transformation|

Kay Warren’s Wisdom

Good morning... Yesterday was a magical day and night. For Christmas, I gave my sister from Ohio a trip to Atlanta to join me for Kay Warren's talk at Peachtree Road Methodist Church. After a full day of crazy flying delays, Cathy finally arrived yesterday morning just in time for us to change clothes, hop in the car, [...]

By |2026-02-03T00:18:30-05:00February 2nd, 2026|Community, Grief, Healing, Joy, Trust God|

Choose Joy This Week

Good morning... This week in class, we read aloud these words from the prologue of our book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. ****** Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in your life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from [...]

By |2026-01-23T03:12:43-05:00January 23rd, 2026|Joy, Pain, Spiritual Growth, Tragedy, Trust God|

Joy On My Parents’ Face

Good morning... This week we received handwritten envelops, one for Steve and me as well as one addressed personally to each of our four kids and our daughter-in-law. At ages 88 and 87, my parents are still sending out Christmas cards. Pretty amazing, right? I took this photo as I visited with them in Ohio earlier this month. [...]

By |2025-12-23T02:47:24-05:00December 23rd, 2025|Joy, Light In Darkness, Organic Growth, Peace, Trust God|

Our Secret Santa Shop

Good morning... My favorite Monday of the year is when we set up a Secret Santa Shop at PAWkids for the kids in the afterschool enrichment program. This past Monday was the day and my car was loaded down like a sleigh! This year we simplified our giving, relying solely on the donations of our Thursday morning class, [...]

By |2025-12-19T04:37:25-05:00December 19th, 2025|Abundance, Community, God's Love, Gratitude, Joy|

Fun With Our Parents

Good morning... After a crazy ten hour travel day for my seventy-five minute flight, my sister battled airport traffic to pick me up in Cleveland, Ohio. Happy to be together, we arrived around 11:00 pm at our parents' independent living villa in their senior living community. With their teeth out and their jammies on, our parents hugged us [...]

By |2025-12-09T04:43:30-05:00December 9th, 2025|Abundance, Family and Friends, God's Love, Joy, Organic Growth|

A Surprise Gift

Good morning... "Was that you walking down the street with a red tree last Friday?" asked a curious neighbor. "Yes. That was me," I replied. "The branches were cut from a large tree near the horse farm, and they were way too beautiful to be eaten by the wood chipper. So I brought them home." I was walking [...]

By |2025-11-28T03:12:04-05:00November 28th, 2025|Friendship, God's Love, Gratitude, Joy, Organic Growth|

Martha’s Happy Painting

Good morning... I've told you about Martha Kimbel, our friend who had taught beloved fitnesses classes at Northside Church for twenty-five years. Eight years ago her husband's Alzheimer's worsened and she needed to stay home as his full time caregiver. Two years ago, her husband, Chris, went to heaven. Martha feared her dancing days were over, but, in [...]

By |2025-11-21T09:56:34-05:00November 20th, 2025|Aging, Community, Holy Spirit, Joy, New From Old|

Puppies And People

Good morning... We each find our way with puppies and with people. Grounding ourselves with God, we each find our own way to feel, to form, to flourish. In yesterday's post, Meet Our New Puppy, I shared about our horrible first night together and how we began to find our own way to a nurturing rhythm with God. [...]

By |2025-10-15T04:26:21-04:00October 15th, 2025|Joy, Listen, Love, Spiritual Growth, Trust God|

Meet Our New Puppy

Good morning... On Sunday afternoon, I picked up our new golden retriever puppy, and brought her home to meet our family. My husband Steve is walking the Camino in Spain, (and the Camino was the first trip we shared as a couple as he started his new job leading adult trips), so we have decided to name our [...]

By |2025-10-15T04:31:23-04:00October 14th, 2025|Family and Friends, Joy, Loss, Peace, Trust God|
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