Wonders
I remember one hot day putting a cloth in clear, cool water and wringing it out, watching the water sparkle and fall. It was so ordinary yet so beautiful! That’s how I want to live life – so well wondered that it’s like wringing out beauty in the deepest thoughts and most extraordinary experiences but also in the mundane parts of life and ordinary activities. To create. To think. To rest. To enjoy. To care. To gather. To know our Creator. To know ourselves. . . . To live a Life Well Wondered
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The Wonder of Cross-Stitch
Criss, cross, criss, cross… The steady sound of thread pulling through fabric is gently soothing as features form with each stitch and row. This was my first full cross-stitch that I have ever done and at first I was wondering if I would finish it in time and then I was wondering if I was just wasting time making a cross-stitch when I could be doing something else seemingly more productive or impactful. But with each stitchmy thoughts seemed to weave into the rhythm of the stitches and lead me back in time to memories and wonder. Criss, cross, criss, cross… I remember my mom’s sewing box, tucked away between…
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The Wonder of a Photo
How can so much be held within the delicate boundaries of a piece of paper? Dancing with light and depth, color and emotion, this paper can come to life – coax our heart and mind to laugh again, to cry again, to play again, to kiss again, to dance again, to hold them close again, to love again, to feel, again, that moment held within those delicate bounds. It is the wonder of a photo. A world of light and depth, color and emotion held within delicate bounds. As I stare at the photo in front of me – one from our wedding day – I can feel that moment…
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A Wonder of Anger
I am SO ANGRY right now, I can’t believe it. Why is this happening to me? Why did they do this? This isn’t fair. This is unjust. I don’t understand. Eeeerrrrrrr! I’m just so angry! Anger hates being misunderstood. It’s always happening to it. Written off with, “Oh, don’t be so angry,” and “It’s not good to be angry,” anger retreats deeper into us as it pushes away from those who said such things and pushes away from a God who seemingly wags his finger at us and tells us that we shouldn’t be angry. When it comes to anger, God can seem like one of the least understanding. Our…
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To the Delicate and Strong
The most delicate and beautiful of spring flowers are the first to show up after months and months of bitter cold and wind. In time they fight and sprout up through the dark, cold earth even through remaining ice and snow. And then guess what? They bloom. Perhaps more beautiful than the flowers that come mid-summer in the warmth and sunshine are those that flourish despite the bitter cold, in the bitter cold. They shout to the world that spring is here though the world cannot quite feel it yet. Delicate and seeming like they shouldn’t have come forth at all, through the most unlikely circumstances there they are radiating…
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The Keeper of Your Dreams
I have so many dreams. Dreams of what could be, what I could do, what I could create, what I could do with my creativity…it goes on and on. To be inside my mind when I am dreaming feels like soaring high above the universe with explosions going off everywhere and it’s just magical. Too trippy for you? That’s ok. Back to reality. I love to dream. But my dreams often paralyze me. Inside my mind they can run free and there can be hundreds, thousands! But as they approach the door to reality there is a massive pile up. A newsworthy, massive pileup. Just think of dreams trying to…
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COVID-19: Faithfulness in Murky Waters
There are many sad things included in this time of pandemic and many changes that are hard to swallow. If you are reading this now and are feeling sad or hopeless, anxious or fearful – that is hard and I am sorry you’re feeling that way. To many degrees I can never understand what you may be going through. But in my own little world, I am feeling some of those things. Matt and I have gone through a fair share of crises for being in our 20s (and I mean Matt mostly) and to some extent feel used to life’s plans getting flipped upside down. That is taking the…
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Fireworks Made for Wonder
Gazing up into a canvas of darkness, a small light – like that of a shooting star – can be seen tracing its way across the night. Up and up and up it goes. Eyes follow in anticipation, guessing at what form it will take. A flash! A burst! An echoing boom! And that small, lonely light traveling across the darkness bursts into a hundred, each leaving a glittering trail as it cascades down to earth below. A firework show is never without ohh’s and ahh’s and it’s no wonder why. Sitting below, watching a night sky light up and cascade down, so close it seems you can…
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Pruning Makes Me Cringe
Pruning makes me cringe. Why would you cut back something growing so wild and free?! When we were living in Asia there was always someone on the streets or on the campus pruning away – cutting back limbs, shaping bushes, etc. The place was immaculate in terms of gardens (not always in other terms.Ha!). It would frustrate me sometimes. In the fall gardeners would literally shake the trees until all the pretty oranges, reds and yellows fell and then they SWEPT THEM UP and took them away. . . “Wait, wait! Come back with my fall! (cry face)” Pruning makes me cringe and those gardeners took it too far –…
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Consuming Anxiety Consumed by Fire
A small light brought to life by the swift motion of a match, crackling logs of warmth on a crisp night, all consuming power sweeping through a forest…fire is gentle yet powerful, a place of safety and of danger depending on what it is consuming. One evening I looked into the flames of the gas fireplace, mesmerized by the way they danced and changed color, licking at logs that never burn up. It felt nice to focus on something and not let the anxious thoughts and worries that had consumed my mind that week take over again. I watched the flames repeat over and over – blue to orange to…
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Why Doesn’t Anyone Understand?
“Why doesn’t anyone understand?” The tears welled up in my eyes as the heart of my anxiety bubbled up into a question. I sat there unable to move and unable to stop the weight of worry growing in my chest. Stemming from the simple realization that we may not have done our taxes correctly the past year(s), the realization flowed quickly into the building anxiety over finances and the repeated questions in my mind of the fearful “what if’s” and “what could’s”. “Why is this such a big deal?” I asked myself. I tried to decipher my feelings and finally did as my heart asked: “Why doesn’t anyone understand? Don’t…
