Pieces of My Heart

If you have been reading for awhile here, you know I occasionally reference things my grandchildren have taught me. I find they are in the background of my mind most of my days. It’s no surprise when I sit down to be quiet, what is in the background comes to the fore. Today when I…

Giving Voice to my Grief through Writing

  I dabbled at writing a diary in high school, but that diary disappeared along with the one I started my first year in college – the one where I carefully noted every interaction with any boy down to the detail of what was said and done so that someday I could return to said…

From Uninvited Guest to Friend

Oh, Hello Grief. Here you are, a little early. Tomorrow would have been my brother’s 56th birthday“ another bittersweet day to celebrate without him. This will be the seventh time since he lost his way in his beloved Montana Mountains and died of hypothermia. I was hoping you wouldn’t show up this year. That’s the…

Jesus has you. Everyday. Always

Jesus, I was hoping you would have something for me here at the beach today. You often do when I take time to look up, look down, look around, but I didn’t do a lot of that kind of looking today. While I found myself restless in my body, there still was a peacefulness of mind…

What Beach Glass Is Saying to Me

Sea glass, also called beach glass, is any glass that has eventually found its way to a body of water that has a sufficient combination of surf, sand, and stone to naturally tumble, smooth, and frost the shard into a genuine gem.” Sea Glass Journal.   While sea glass is processed by the salt water…

Finding God in the Goodwill Women’s Bin

Last week I posted at ThePerennialGen.com- sharing how I found God’s provision in the least expected and the most unlikely of places.  He does things like that. I was sitting in my chair mending the lace insets in my bras because I could not afford to buy new ones. Without warning, I burst into tears…

A Prayer for Those in the Second Half of Life

Last Saturday, I was asked to write and give an invocation at the  PerennialGen Workshop in Wheaton, ILwith the theme, “Growing Sage (wise) in the Second Half of Life”. Perhaps you will relate to this prayer I prayed for all of us there that morning. Oh, God, our  help in ages past All the ages…

Back On Our Feet

“I found him in bed when I came to visit this morning.” Kathy, my dad’s case manager was on the phone, calling from his apartment during her once-a-month visit. “Usually he is downstairs waiting for me. I think he may have broken his hip when he stumbled and fell  in his room this morning.” It’s…

More to Forgive

This morning is my first article at The PerennialGen – Growing Deeper Roots in the Dirt and Light of Midlife. A year ago I discovered Michelle VanLoon, a writer in a few suburbs northwest from me and co-editor of ThePerennialGen. Our connection has been a delightful one and an encouragement to me, personally. We have…

Thoughts for A New Year in April

I wrote this December 20 and here it still sits as a draft:) I do things like that. I thought, “I could wait till next December 29 and it would still be true,” but it’s true now April 23, 2018. I suspect some of you may relate to it also. If it does, I’d love…