Tag: gratitude

Sharing Stories Only You Can Tell

My mom died on February 4, 2023. Though she’d been declining over the past three years, when she left us it felt like a devastating earthquake, complete with aftershocks. Six weeks later, my sister organized a gathering Mom would have enjoyed: a garden party and lunch with her inner circle of dear friends. She arranged … Continue reading Sharing Stories Only You Can Tell

Add De-Light

Our Christmas lights went up the weekend before Thanksgiving, earlier than ever before. I noticed that a few neighbors had lights up and my heart sang in response. Holiday lights added delight and I wanted more. I also noticed that I couldn’t open a single email that had Thanksgiving in the subject line. As a … Continue reading Add De-Light

Gratitude as Joyful Self-Care

What book has made a lasting positive impression on your life? If you’re a reader, you know: some books are more than good. They’re life-changing. Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts has been one such book for me. Though Voskamp has endured heartbreaking tragedy within her own family, she found her way to gratitude and, through … Continue reading Gratitude as Joyful Self-Care

5 Healthy Habits for 2021

Last year I set a goal to drink more water. I wobbled for a while before the habit took hold. Initially, my skinny water bottle needed to be filled 4 times each day to meet my goal and I kept losing track - was I on bottle #3 or #4? Eventually, I recognized the bottle … Continue reading 5 Healthy Habits for 2021

Giving Thanks in An Exceptional Year

I always prefer to focus on gratitude, yet I hadn’t been feeling it this Thanksgiving week. So I posed a question to our community via Facebook: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wonder if you would share what uniquely 2020-related things you are thankful for? In this exceptional year, I thought we might move beyond … Continue reading Giving Thanks in An Exceptional Year

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

Advent 2: Be Content (2019)

Get a modest place and be content there... Mark 6:10 Jesus invites us to be content, an invitation we struggle to receive. The focus of Advent is our longing for the Savior, but instead we make it about longing for the perfect gifts. Santa may be making a list and checking it twice, but we … Continue reading Advent 2: Be Content (2019)

Be Where You Are

For most of the last eighteen years, our family has spent one week each summer vacationing in Pacific Grove, California, a NorCal coastal town nestled between Monterey and Carmel. Many years before our annual vacations began, while we were dating and newly married, Guy and I would drive from his childhood home in Santa Cruz … Continue reading Be Where You Are

Create Happiness

My One Word aspiration for January 2019 is to Create Happiness. A microcosm of life, this month presented both expected and unexpected happiness challenges. I know I’m living my best life when I am reading, writing, and cooking regularly; this month has been all out of whack on all fronts and the best I’ve been … Continue reading Create Happiness

Happy Thanksgiving 2018

What are you facing this week? Traveling or family coming in? Stay-cation with lots of local activities? Business/work as usual? Cooking, eating at another's table, dining out? Little about this week has been our family's version of usual. Q14 got an unexpected day off school, closed due to unhealthy air quality from the Camp Fire … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving 2018