“If everyone valued home above gold, this world would be a merry place.”  Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies   Home is where we are welcomed, where laughter flows and prayers are offered around the table, where silly photos are snapped in the kitchen and grown-ups dance to music from The Nutcracker…

More thoughts from my Deck Time, prompted by ‘God in the Yard’ (Spiritual Practice for the Rest of Us)**, an ongoing full stop in the middle of my days. There’s a scientific rule, I think, about forward motion–the more intensely and quickly an object is moving, the harder it is to slow down.  Something like…

The Seattle rain is doing its October thing–pouring, puddling, splattering–and the cold gray world matches my mood. A windstorm blew through last night and fractured one of the oldest trees in town….an apt picture of the chasm created again by the world gone crazy with pain. Three hours north of me last Friday, a high…

This blog post is part of  Michelle DeRusha’s #MyFaithHeroine contest, in connection with the release of the book 50 Women Every Christian Should Know. Find out how to participate here.  ~~~~~~~~ I went into labor with my daughter Leah on a waterbed at my friend Biana’s (bee-onna) house 35 years ago.  I was watching the ‘Sound of Music’ and wanted to…

I love studying God’s Word, but I need help. And encouragement. Beth Moore’s Bible Studies do that. Our women’s group is going through ‘Children of the Day’ (I and II Thessalonians) right now and the words and Spirit are fresher than they’ve ever been. This week Beth challenged us to write a letter to a friend,…

Our summer was VERY long here in the Pacific Northwest and it’s been harder to find the beauty of red that I’m used to this time of year…So I really did have to hunt. (You can see my first two ‘Hunting for Red’ posts here and here.) this plant is called a ‘burning bush’ plant…

Perhaps the greatest tool of the enemy of our souls is to keep our addictions and problems in the dark. Actually, it IS his greatest tool. In Christian circles we have deemed it acceptable to talk about overeating and gluttony–there is Weight Watchers or we can enroll in Jenny Craig.  There are support groups for…

I’m recuping from a terrible cold and sinus infection, drowsing through the days with a head full of stuffed cotton.  Yesterday I started feeling myself again–Today? Well, I’m almost back to normal. Hallelujah!  I can go play outside. And it’s a beautiful day to play.  My friend Laura Boggess coined the phrase ‘Playdates with God’…

So I misplaced my wedding rings last week. And then I found them. After I stopped looking for them. Of course. Turned around and found them on my little outside table next to my favorite chair, where I’d plopped myself after a long day at school. I hate it when I lose things like that…