My grandchildren went back to school this week. Dave started his faculty meetings today. Students will return to college campuses within the next few weeks. Even after over 40 years, starting school in August still feels foreign to me. Growing up, we always started after Labor Day. August still feels like summer to me, and the temperatures where we live agree. If you live outside the United States, when does your school year start? I'd love to know. What’s Been On My Heart This week, my mind...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Home. It's a beautiful word, isn't it? What images come to mind when you hear it? For me, home meant Dave and I sinking into our own bed for a few days before we jetted off to see our kids and grandkids for one more visit before the fall season begins. Four lovely days. Their pool. Family not only visible but touchable. Something our hearts needed. What’s Been On My Heart Life is an adventure. Never stop learning and growing. Over the last month, God has shown me so much about myself, about...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Alaska is beautiful, again. It's also had a few challenges, again. That's how life goes. You and I get to enjoy tremendous beauty alongside difficult circumstances, often in the same afternoon. Dave and I got home yesterday evening, tired and grateful, after thousands of miles by land and sea. God sustained us the whole way: he blew our minds with his creation, and he carried us when we had no energy left to take one more step. You'll spot some of what we saw in the photos below: an airport...
22 days ago • 1 min read
Alaska does not disappoint. We've had a stretch of uncharacteristically sunny, temperate weather this past week, and I've been collecting pictures from every stop along the way. Sometimes, when you least expect it, God pours out even more blessing. What’s Been On My Heart This week, being surrounded by all that beauty put a question in front of me I couldn't shake: what if I'm not equipped for what's ahead? Maybe you've felt that too. You approach a situation feeling less than adequate. Then...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Dave and I stood at our window on July 4th, watching a thunderstorm roll over the city like a held breath finally released. Lightning split the sky. Torrential rain flooded the streets below us. Then came the fog, thick and low, swallowing the skyline whole. We could hear fireworks somewhere inside it, but we just couldn't see them. One weather forecaster put it perfectly: the clouds changed colors, but nobody got the whole show. Disappointing, sure. But thank God for a livestream from...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
This week, America turns 250. The Semiquincentennial, now there's a mouthful. 🎆 We're celebrating some birthdays in our house, too. Dave turns another year older on July 3, and our daughter-in-love Emily celebrates on the Fourth itself. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than that. And I will confess: I become an absolute child at a fireworks show. Wide eyes. Audible oohs and aahs. Zero dignity. Every single time. Photo by Roven Images on Unsplash There's something about the way they...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dave and I stopped into a favorite old-time soda shop on our trip last week. The kind of place that still makes hand-scooped shakes, malts, and sodas the real way: actual ice cream and a long spoon, because it's so thick you need the spoon. We indulged. Completely. And sitting there, I kept thinking: it's these small things. Memories you've made before and choose to make again. The particular joy of being close enough to someone to share something ordinary together. Connection you can only...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Have you ever walked into a room and felt like everyone else got the memo, and you didn't? Last week started there for me. That hollow, slightly embarrassing feeling of being the odd one out. Not excluded exactly. Just off to the side. But God had other plans. By the end of that same week, Dave and I had found a whole new family. Complete strangers became beloved people, right in front of our eyes. Once again, God proved himself faithful in the most unexpected setting—a cruise ship, of all...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Dave and I are here this week serving with Inspiration Travel, and this place never gets old. Towering mountains, quiet water, air that feels like a gift. Getting to serve others as they experience it for the first time? Pure joy. Here are a few pictures. Would you say a prayer for us as we serve this group? We'd love that. ❤️ What’s Been On My Heart Early one morning, Bible open, I found myself back in Psalm 119. Verse 160 leapt off the page: "The very essence of your words is truth; all...
2 months ago • 1 min read