I am here. And I see. I see the discouragement that seeps in through the cracks of your doubt. The times you question whether you’re able to be used by Me at all. I see how your tired head bends in the dark and longs for more hours in each day. How you stay up in […]
Mended :: When All We Have to Do is Surrender {Week 8}
There was a time in my life when I was unwilling to surrender. The noise of my desires and the chaos of the details left me spinning like a top. Disoriented and alone, I grew more and more discouraged each day. It was as if I was in my own rowboat, saying goodbye to the […]
When You Need to Believe There Can Be Beauty After Pain
It is only in the after, that we might see any beauty at all. After the snow melts. After the rain has come. After the bulb spends months in the dark cold of the ground. After the leukemia, and the chemo, and the central lines … the hospitalizations, and the procedures that swirl life right […]
Mended :: When You Need to Remember God Loves You {Week 7}
Sometimes we’re mended little by little as we stop and choose to see all the ways He loves. I awake to kids arguing and yelling … punching actually. And as I investigate why this is happening, it becomes no surprise why punches were thrown. At seven and eight years old, April Fool’s Day is a […]
Mended :: Providential Purpose {Week 6}
Angie Smith continues to bless, as we make our way through her book Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole. This week we’re discussing chapters 17-19 and continuing to wrestle through the steps of being mended. We are made complete amidst tragedy, redeemed through failure, and comforted by a Savior who understands every detail of our […]
In Case You’re Wondering What They Will Remember
We say goodbye to her just five months after her 90th birthday. And it is ever before me that life really is a vapor, a mist that is here for a time and then gone, vanishing like steam rising in the air. He plays his guitar and we lead the music and sing “It Will […]
Mended :: For When You Wonder if You Can Be Forgiven {Week 5}
There was a time in my life when I honestly wondered if I could be forgiven … if I was worthy to be near God or near the cross at all. And in the most dark and isolating moments of it all, I feared God would stop loving me. For years I told others all about […]
Experiencing Joy
The times in life when I experience the most joy, are the times I sense God’s pleasure. The times I’m close to Him, reading His Word, journaling my thoughts, and sharing with Him my heart. The times He multiplies my efforts as a mom, filling in the gaps where I lack, and showing me there’s […]
For When You Know You Need More Rest
Rest has become a foreign stranger to me and I’m not quite sure how much longer I can survive without her. It’s been so long. Sleep evades me and a heightened sense of urgency is ever before me, as every single minute of each day is utilized with little to no margin at all. And […]
Mended :: The Root of Brokenness {Week 4}
I grow up on a farm … a farm with lots of weeds. I wish I could say I don’t have much experience with them, but that would be a lie. The truth is, I spend many afternoons in that central-San-Joaquin-valley sun pulling countless weeds, and I never, ever enjoy it. In fact, it seems […]









