Between the seasonally-grassy yard and the narrow porch walkway facing our NorCal single-story ranch-style home we have a border of three white floribunda rose bushes, Valentine’s Day gifts from my Guy many years ago, that bloom May through November, spring through fall. Every summer, as blooms explode among the greenery, I commit to bi-weekly dead-heading; … Continue reading Bloom Your Beauty
Category: Gratitude
9 Prayers to Squelch Pandemic Panic (aka, anti-anxiety prayers)
A few weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place, I knew I needed a different kind of spiritual discipline, one that focused my creative writing on Scripture God could use to lift me out of the sudden onset of anxiety. I began searching God’s Word for promises related to anxiety and fear, and what I needed … Continue reading 9 Prayers to Squelch Pandemic Panic (aka, anti-anxiety prayers)
Unexpected
How are you holding up during the pandemic? I don't typically experience anxiety, but I have during the five weeks the San Francisco Bay Area of California has been under shelter-in-place (SIP). Some days, or at least some hours, I'm fine, and others not so much. I do typically seek out gratitude, and this discipline … Continue reading Unexpected
Lent 2020: Walking Like The Wise Men
The three Wise Men...rode their camels across endless desserts, up steep, steep mountains, down into deep, deep valleys, through raging rivers, over grassy plains, night and day, and day and night, for hours that turned into days, that turned into weeks, that turned into months and months, until, at last, they reached...Jerusalem. During our church’s … Continue reading Lent 2020: Walking Like The Wise Men
Lent 2020: The Wonderful Stories
All day they listened to stories about the wonderful things God had done for his people….How he rescued them -- no matter what, time after time, over and over again -- because of his Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. Stories are my favorite. I love to read. But during scary … Continue reading Lent 2020: The Wonderful Stories
Lent 2020: Receive
I’ll take this emptiness...and I’ll fill it up! Out of the darkness, I’m going to make light! And out of the nothing, I’m going to make...EVERYTHING! These lines specifically refer to God’s original act of creation. Yet God continues to create, every minute of every day as we experience them. Sometimes we feel empty, dark, … Continue reading Lent 2020: Receive
Lent 2020
I’ve been reading, studying, digesting, listening to and learning from the Bible over my entire life. I’ve been glad and mad, confused and convicted, by its words. I’ve had conversations and arguments with God and others about what it says and doesn’t say. I’ve read scores of books about the Bible. I’ve attended Bible studies, … Continue reading Lent 2020
Reconnect
I graduated from a small, private, liberal arts college in Santa Barbara, California, in the early 90's. During those college years and for a while after, I lived with a fantastic group of gals. This weekend, for the first getaway since graduation, nine of us gathered in Santa Cruz, California, to reconnect. In so many … Continue reading Reconnect
Exact
The one-word writing prompt—exact—reminds me that I am not one for exact-ness. Numbers require precision, and I am a Word Girl who prefers not to deal with numbers. Even when I’m looking for just the right word(s), I could be convinced of any number of synonyms that would carry the meaning and lend a nuance. … Continue reading Exact
Ponder
I read today’s one word writing prompt yesterday—ponder—and woke in the wee hours pondering the word, chewing it, twisting it this way and that. It reminds me of wonder, only one letter different, and the comparison delights me as word play often does. I see ponder in neon flashing through the dark night, leading me to … Continue reading Ponder