a planted life | learning to love
This is my neighborhood. We are people trying to get away from the city just enough to escape the rules and regulations, but not so much that we have drive too far to get to Target. We’re American consumers, blue-collar workers, homemakers, nurses, police officers, small business owners, veterans and retirees. Listening to Wendell Berry... Continue Reading →
When you shake a cup, what comes out reveals what's been in there all along. The global corona virus pandemic has brought out the suspicion, anger and conspiracy theories in many. I've been thinking about why so many of us are given to believing or promoting conspiracy theories. Folks who do so seem to be... Continue Reading →
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV Last summer, after a week long vacation with my family... Continue Reading →
I struggle with what takes priority in my life. Maybe you don't, but maybe you're like me and it's hard to decide what to do first, which direction you should be going, etc. I think about these things a lot. When I pray, I ask God all the time, "Lead me?! Show me the way... Continue Reading →
On Sunday morning, while I was singing with hot tears streaming down my face, moved by the conviction that I don't trust God's no and longing for Him to help my unbelief, some of my brothers and sisters in this faith were violently plunged into the presence of Jesus amidst the terror of bullets, blood... Continue Reading →
(photo credit)I've been sitting in the library for the past couple hours trying hard to answer a discussion question for my online class. Doesn't seem like a big deal. It's not. But what is is depression. Depression is a big deal. It's real. Real as Oregon fog blocking the view of a breathtaking coast. Maybe... Continue Reading →
I was listening to a podcast by HopeWriters today. They were talking about having a set aside writing day. It's ridiculous that I was so scandalized by the idea, but yeah, a writing day. I would like that. No, I would love that! Seriously an entire day to write. That would be better than a... Continue Reading →
I don't wake up full of vision and motivation. Actually, what motivates me most is the idea that my french press and single-origin coffee from Guatemala are just minutes away from awaking my senses with it's warm, toasty aroma. And on those days when I get my stiff, puffy-eyed body out of bed and make... Continue Reading →
Yesterday being Mother's Day, me being a mom and a having a mom and knowing moms and women who long to be moms and/or grieve the loss of their children, it was a day full of thoughts turned prayers.Yesterday also being the last Sunday in a series on marriage at my church, and me being... Continue Reading →
My sister once told me she believed God appointed to me the hard things I'm walking through because he is using my life to encourage other people to trust and obey him.I want that, but I also confess I don't.Part of me just wants a "normal" life with ease. No ongoing marital struggle. No conviction... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Faithfulness 