One winter, when in Maui, I gathered all my camera equipment in a backpack and wandered up a steep road to the local airport. Sunset approaching, I picked up my pace, hoping I wouldn’t miss an airplane in flight. I didn’t need to be anxious, for once at the local airport, all stayed quiet. I waited, and waited more, peering in the sky, staying on alert for rumblings of an approaching plane. Nothing came. Disappointed, I began my hike back but my attention was captured by still ...
A Lesson From our Wanderings
Nurture Yourself with a Simple Breath
Have you ever stepped outside, weary and worried, then taken in a breath and all feels okay again? Even grey skies, whipping winds, pelting rain, and frigid cold cannot abate the healing touch of a breath of refreshing air. "Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." Han Christian Anderson One morning, a thermometer reading of -50 Celcius lured me outside into a sunshine so bright, I slipped on my sunglasses before wrapping my wool scarf around ...
Small Changes to Care for Ourselves Well
"You don't seem so drained," he says. I pause, take a sip of my tea. It really does work, I think to myself. Why had a deprived myself of my morning routine? November is my one year anniversary at my job. After 17 years working from home, I thought I'd adjust to an office position easily, but my energy drained along with my intentions for 2022. Intention is my word 2022, so I deeply felt a weighing heaviness from incompletions. I'd become tired - all the time. I 'd also dropped my ...
Stay Strong to Live Long
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10 "Keep your bodies strong to live long for Jesus." Grace Fox, author and speaker Fall season is an abundance of pumpkin spice and everything that taste deliciously nice. From sugary spiced special coffees to pumpkin pies topped with sweetened ...
Five Ways to Stay Close to God
Today, when I write this, there are four weeks left of summer, more behind than ahead. My potted flowers that flourished rest now ’til their final slumber. In a leafy part of my garden, with sunflowers towering above, five pumpkins continue to deepen green on the soil. But once there were six. Without a healthy peduncle (stem) attached to the vine, a pumpkin will not survive. Everyday I water the patch, and one day, not too long ago, I moved a vine “to a better place” I ...
Breathing Yahweh
The summers I would visit my father at his care home, we sat outside on the enclosed patio decorated with hanging flower pots and garden chimes. Sometimes the smell of fried chicken would float our way from the fast food restaurant across the street. But my dad preferred donuts and coffee over chicken and french fries, so we sipped our coffee out of paper cups and wiped our sticky fingers on white napkins, as we commented on the going-ons in our world that day. Often lounging with us ...
