Journaling
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Why I Write: A Grace Story
A Dream Come True Once upon a time stories filled a little girl’s mind. She’d sneak away with pencil in hand and write of daring adventures: of a young family braving the Oregon Trail, of a princess narrowly missing an assassination attempt, of a sibling duo who were superstars by night and students by day (this was before Hannah Montana, mind you). The little girl would steal her mom’s floppy discs and story after story began to fill her binders. She never did finish a full story though. Just after she’d get started, new characters from another time would introduce themselves. The binder was in fact, a binder of story…
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Why the Story of Abraham & Issac Isn’t a Barbaric Tale: It’s the Story of Mercy & Freedom
I still remember my mom reading me The Tale of Three Trees. It’s a children’s story about three trees who all had very different dreams. One wanted to hold treasure, the other dreamed of sailing with kings, and the last wanted to be the tallest tree in the forest. As the story continued, I remember leaning in as my mom read, all of their dreams seemed to be shattered. The first tree was turned into a feed box. The second, a little fishing boat. And the third, was just slabs of lumber. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Turns out all of their dreams did come true, just…
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Journaling Bible Giveaway!
Not too long ago my journal pages were filled with questions. I was at a point in my life where I seemed to have every dream fulfilled. I had a husband who loved me, one I prayed so long for. I had a precocious little boy, a child I had prayed so long for. I had a great job that worked with me when I expressed my desire to work part-time. I had it made. All my dreams had come true. And yet, there was this lingering sense of unfulfillment. Such guilt sat with me as I looked at all these precious blessings from God, but satisfaction still evaded me.…
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Lessons Learned on Horseback | Stay Close on the Trail of Life
Last summer Hawk and I took a trip out west for our anniversary. We hadn’t ventured far enough away to justify purchasing airline tickets since our honeymoon, so we saved and splurged a bit on a trip to Colorado Springs. As soon as I booked the trip, I started plotting our itinerary. When I discovered we could ride horses through the Garden of the Gods park, I knew it was a “must do.” Horseback riding was a first for us – other than birthday-party pony rides that didn’t really count. When we got to the stable and the instructors did a quick safety briefing, I almost chickened out. There were…
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In My Bag & On My Table | My Favorite Journaling & Study Tools
My husband and I fondly refer to our first date as The Inquisition. Neither of us were casual daters, he had only one prior girlfriend before me and I had zero before him. We were friends for almost a year before he asked me out – so we had a good idea about each other but we still didn’t know each other in that are we compatible for marriage way. Since we were friends, I remember telling my mom that if I was home by 9ish, it probably didn’t go so well. I didn’t get home until well after mid-night. From the get-go we started asking the hard questions. As…
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Slime Slinging and a Woman Named Damaris
My son recently discovered the joy of building blocks. He painstakingly gathers both pieces in his chubby baby-not-quite-toddler hands and angles them together to connect. Sometimes the ends don’t fit and he grumbles in frustration, but when they do, he looks up with his big blue eyes to see if anyone noticed. He’ll hold up his stack of blocks and smile, full of self pride. We cheer like any good parents…but then our hoorays turn into muffled giggles when the blocks inevitably fall apart and he wrings his hands in the most dramatic fashion to express his supreme dissatisfaction. Through the multi-colored building blocks, my sixteen-month-old has already learned a…
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The Bountiful Benefactor
My dad and I have this thing where we read the first sentence of a book to each other and then we rate it on a scale of average to awesome. If the first sentence grabs us, it’s usually a book that will keep us enthralled through the end. The more the suspense, the better. After deciding to officially read through the Bible, I cracked open the cover of my hand-painted journaling Bible to “In the beginning…” Genesis, the origin. And so begins the greatest story of all time. Suspense, romance, adventure that rival every Oscar nomination. Character development, twists and turns, poetic beauty that rival every New York Times…
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Tithing Your Time | A Free Bible Reading Log
I’m a wordy. I fell in love with books in middle school. I’d check out a stack from the public library and a stack from our church library and have them read in a week. I’d return them only to leave with more stacked tall. There’s a running joke in my family when my teacher mom literally said “You aren’t allowed to read anymore books” in an effort to discipline me. It was the only suitable punishment she could think of because my nose was always in a book. This love for reading eventually led me to majoring in English at college, where I discovered I would much rather write…
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My Great-Grandfather’s Well | A Legacy of Faith
The Bible sits on one of my mom’s bookshelves. It’s red, normal looking. Doesn’t have an interesting design on the cover. Doesn’t even have a name imprinted on the lower corner. I was ten when he died. My great-grandpa on my mom’s side. She asked to have this particular Bible after his death. Inside the cover is a pamphlet from when he and my great-grandma drove her to college for the first time. It may be non-special to look at, this red book, but it’s very special to her. Blue pen marks mar the otherwise pristine thin pages. They tell a story, that shaky script, of demons fought, of spiritual…
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Make Yourself a Plate
Your theology is very personal. Lauren Chandler’s statement has stuck with me in a profound way. These words, my journals, hold records of my theology, my very intimate and deeply personal wrestlings with God. Documenting this continuous journey of working out my faith by pressing deeper into communion with God. They chronicle so much about my fears and faith, my doubts and belief. They are my Ebenezer Stones, my Songs of Remembrance. I started my last journal 18 months ago with Psalm 40:5- Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell…
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Letters From Mom – Part II
June 13 – Week 28 Dear Baby, I’m pretty sure you’ve grown while your daddy’s been away for training. I’ve missed him. I think you have too. I think you miss his voice and large warm hand. We are officially in the 3rd trimester! 28 week today. It’s hard to believe how fast it has gone. You’ll be here so very soon. You’re not just kicking me now, you’ve started to roll more – doing those aliens type moves. The sensations are so cool and weird at the same time. I’m enjoying this one on one time with you. I’m not ready to share you with the world yet. You’ve…
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Waiting for the Rain
I don’t know the last time I’ve felt this vulnerable, I wrote in my journal. As soon as I stared at the words, I knew. I knew the last time I felt the way I was feeling. Because you tend to remember those moments. Feelings of Desperation. Unraveling. Confusion. When you feel vulnerable, really vulnerable, those moments seem to be imprinted no matter how hard you try to forget. For me, these moments seem to happen the most in times of wait. During times in the heat of the desert where you long for the rain to refresh. During times where the dark hours of the night linger and the rays of morning…
