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The Gift of Relationships

Chasing Joy

Held

Feb 27
3 min

Held

Today marks the one-month anniversary of the unexpected passing of my brother, Joe. He was nine days past his forty-second birthday. The Lord called him home sometime during the middle of the night on a seemingly ordinary Saturday. Death almost always feels like a thief, especially when it steals the young or strikes without warning. It is traumatic for those left in its wake, and it has felt like a different level of grief to navigate. In the days following my brother's deat

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Loving Others is Never Wasted

Jan 2
4 min

Loving Others is Never Wasted

The bell on the door chimed as I entered the local florist shop to purchase a bouquet of flowers. The aroma of fresh cut stems filled the air and graced the floor in the area where arrangements were carefully put together by skilled hands. It was a time when many local small businesses were struggling to stay afloat, a side effect of the pandemic plaguing the world at large. Sadly, I knew it wasn’t the case for this shop. Instead, the local florists were bombarded with busine

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Realigning My Heart

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Walking the Path of Acceptance and Grace

When You Feel Buried

Oct 10, 2020
4 min

When You Feel Buried

During my incarceration experience I walked everywhere. It didn't matter that I fractured my ankle after rolling off the top bunk in the middle of the night. Still I walked, and I did so with a limp for the longest time. We looked like a colony of ants wearing shades of blue on that compound of two-thousand women. And it wasn't a pretty shade of blue either. Not like cobalt or ocean or turquoise. Perhaps no shade would have been pretty fashioned as a state uniform. My body ac

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Gardens and Wellsprings

Sep 19, 2020
3 min

Gardens and Wellsprings

This was the summer of our failure... garden failure, that is. My husband and I started the season of spring with the best of intentions. We carefully prepped the soil in which we would plant our peppers and tomatoes. As we did so, we envisioned the harvest of vegetables we would reap in the thick of summer. We were delighted when squash and sunflowers also germinated from whomever tended the garden plot before us. Our best intentions soon fell short. Long work hours, combine

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When You're Feeling Small and Insignificant

Aug 29, 2020
4 min

When You're Feeling Small and Insignificant

When I was a little girl, I took piano lessons from an older gentleman who had a calming voice, and serene presence. He was patient, gentle, and kind in his critique and instruction. I still remember him telling me how to position my hands on the piano keys, arched and soft like I was holding a bubble in my hand. With confidence, and the eagerness of a young heart ready to learn, I looked forward my lessons with him. When he retired, the person who attempted to fill his shoes

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Your Cries Have Been Heard

Aug 8, 2020
3 min

Your Cries Have Been Heard

Glancing to the side as I rode in the car, I suddenly, and without warning, asked my husband to hit the brakes. I nearly jumped out of the car as it was slowing to a stop. Across two lanes of traffic, I ran with hair still wet from the my shower. I hesitated for only a moment, wondering, What if it isn’t her? What if she doesn’t want to be found? But I went anyway, frantically running towards my friend. It had been weeks since I last saw her. Weeks had passed since she stoppe

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Peace Be With You

Jul 18, 2020
4 min

Peace Be With You

On more than one occasion his apartment caught my attention as I drove past. He was often out front cooking on the grill, surrounded by beautiful sunflowers that towered near the height of the building. Some token Bird of Paradise plants and an array of cacti in various sizes were scattered about as well. It was one of those houses that looks out of place amid its current surroundings. The tropical oasis was in stark contrast to the bleak landscape of run-down buildings, hom

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Obedience & Joy

Jul 2, 2020
4 min

Obedience & Joy

For years now, I have kept a journal of my spiritual journey with God. In it I record what I’m learning from the Bible, what I’m learning from others and all sorts of prayers. It’s a place I go to get my heart out with him, to face my fears, share my joys, deal with my messy emotions and celebrate successes. It’s like a written account of doing life with God. This past week, I went back over my old journals. It was fascinating. There were many answered prayers, many requests

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When My Heart is Overwhelmed

Jun 27, 2020
4 min

When My Heart is Overwhelmed

In recent weeks, I have found myself feeling like a car in neutral sitting at a traffic light. The light has turned green, but I don’t seem to be able to move forward because my creative tank feels stagnant. I think we can all acknowledge that recent weeks have felt increasingly difficult amid the pandemic. Add to that, the heaviness of racial tension that has boiled over across the land. Plus, it seems like our country is becoming ever more polarized. All of this has left me

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Past the Darkness

Jun 11, 2020
4 min

Past the Darkness

Note: I wrote this a few years back, but it seemed particularly salient right now. I hope it speaks to you in the circumstances you find yourself in. My daughter told me the other day suicide has now grown past the murder rate. Essentially, we’re killing ourselves off faster than others can kill us. I found that deeply disturbing, yet somehow I wasn’t surprised. I have met so many, many people who have lost faith in everything this world sells us – money and wealth, fame, l

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Tending to the Heart

Jun 6, 2020
4 min

Tending to the Heart

A short time ago I was feeling like a mess and had no idea what I needed. Maybe it was a side-effect of the quarantine from the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps it was the dreary weather and the excessive rain that comes in the Spring. But there I was, feeling all out of sorts. If there is anything that life and experiences have taught me, it is that feelings can be both our most loyal friend and our greatest enemy. Or as a friend says about feelings, "They are great passengers an

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Find Answers

May 28, 2020
3 min

Find Answers

Finding answers can be tough. Blessedly, God is very good at helping us find them, and He provides us a roadmap to wise solutions in the book of Proverbs. There are some real jewels in there! I've learned to pay close attention to the If/Then statements, as in "if" you do this, "then" this will be your outcome. The first step for each of us is very clearly laid out in the book's beginning: LISTEN. Man, that can be hard for me! I get so caught up in the demands on my time

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Trusting the Process

Bravery in COVID-19

Be Where Your Feet Are

Aug 4, 2019
3 min

Be Where Your Feet Are

By MARY GEISEN I’m a detail girl. Give me an outline of what is happening first, second, and third and I’m a happy camper. I like surprise gifts, but if you told me that I was leaving tomorrow on a trip to a destination unknown, I might freak out. I want my feet firmly planted and a list to check off when I complete an item. There are times I run into trouble when I am so forward-focused. I want to know the plans but end up losing sight of what is happening at the moment. I f

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