…declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…” – Jeremiah 29:11 This is a scripture a lot of Christians quote to encourage one another of God’s goodness over them. And it’s good. It’s truth. He does have good in mind for all of His […]
(Moment of Surrender – written May 29, 2015, on the way to Hawaii with the #thegraveswolds) Prostrate in the back row of United flight 1296 to Kona, I settled in at 34k cruising elevation and had some time to reflect, breathe, and soak in the silence. Ryan and Daddy were well taken care of, sister […]
In this short series I’m going to share some things I’m passionate about, but don’t change the core of my message nor are they central to who I am, meaning, in the light of eternity, I don’t find my identity in these things. These opinions, though strongly held, are ones I love talking about with […]
(I am working on listening to God, sitting with Him, closing my eyes and opening my heart to whatever I sense He is saying to me, and then hopefully putting into practice, if you will, the life He downloads into me. My series, “Practicing His Presence” comes from the title of a book called, “The Practice […]
Mother’s Day 1987, my Mom chose where we went to church that Sunday. We had been going to a great Catholic church for years but moved away and just. could. not. do. the local Parrish as it was D. E. A. D. and I mean, dead. No pulse. Dry as a bone. Even the priest […]
As a writer it’s easy to be misunderstood because of the very thing we love: words. The lack of facial expression, voice inflection, and physical contact is lost when only words are on a page, yet sometimes a writer is able to convey a story, transporting a reader into the heart of it, something written […]
Today’s prompt over at Lisa Jo Baker’s blog is “writer.” Each Friday she throws out a writing prompt and encourages writers to do what it is we do in our heads and hearts all the live long day: write. And that just for 5 minutes. Sometimes 5 minutes is all we have to do what […]
I worked at a college for 5 years in the field of Student Development. It was a fantastic job where I worked around the clock, always on call, constantly interacting with college kids, both listening and sharing, always learning, students and staff wrestling through life struggles and conflict, developing and imparting leadership skills every day […]
I wrote this blog post about a month ago…and, well, March 15th is the day after the day after tomorrow. Today a friend posted a motivational word photo which read, “Don’t be Afraid of Change.” Umm, we are on the precipice of change, like uber, major, big time, anything goes type of change, and I, for […]
“In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And finally it moved to America where […]