Good Friday Hope
Who would have imagined there’d be Good Friday hope found in a Kalanchoe? Winter over, it was recently time to purge the gardens for replanting—strip brittle bean vines and pull up dried tomato plants, uproot any remaining beets and harvest several ripe spaghetti squash. What…
When Wounds Are Buried Deep
I’m not what most would call adventurous. I’m a homebody. I like to play it safe, appreciate routine, cleanliness, and order. Recently, however, I stepped out of my comfort zone. My husband and I were invited on an excursion to Brimstone—an ATV recreation park in…
The Art of Invitation
It’s an art. Yet, in our busy lives, we miss it, or perhaps we purposefully choose to ignore it. God demonstrated it in his desire to be in relationship with us–calling out “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9) to Adam and Eve that they might walk…
T.I.M.E.–Take It / Make Eternal
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven … [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of [humans] … (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11–NIV). Time. Is it just me, or does time…
If You Give God’s Girl a Bible
For an opportunity to win a prize (Not a cookie!), please follow the crumbs to the end. ********** There’s a sweet children’s book our littles loved called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. This story by Laura J. Numeroff tells of a mouse who simply…
Lessons Learned from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
I am both proud and humbled to introduce my guest for this week’s Penning Pansies. Carol is my cousin, but usually we call each other “God sisters.” Her mom was my Grandma Helga’s sister. We share a Finnish heritage, a love for words, and, mostly,…
Letting the Light In
The other day, my girl and I drove to school in gray chill. My heart, too, felt the grip of cold. I turned up Pandora–choosing Hillsong worship, hoping the music would thaw my sullen spirit. I grappled with a grumbling attitude–pointed out several of Allie’s…
2020-Hindsight for Hope in the New Year
Twenty-twenty Hindsight–(n.) seeing clearly, with full understanding, a situation or event only after it has happened. 2020–a really, really hard year; a thing of the past. One can only have twenty-twenty hindsight once he or she has stepped into a new situation. Like stepping over the…
Seth Cook–Joyous Giant
On this third week of Advent, what better time to share some good news that brings great joy? Introducing our friend Seth who–though only 3 feet tall and a mere 25 pounds–was a JOY-GIANT! (Please read to the end to discover a link where you,…
Bethany–Missionary in Birkenstocks
She was most at home in bibs and Birkenstocks. Maybe that’s one reason I felt so kindred to Bethany. Like half a dozen others, Bethany Enloe would enter my room on Thursday afternoons–shake off the dust of an 8th grade school day before kicking off…