I’ve just recently begun an attempt “update” this site and in the process I’ve come across many broken links, etc. But, I’ve also realized that this site may still be a valuable service or resource for women—for mothers, grandmothers, wives, homemakers, sisters in the Lord. That’s what’s prompting the writing of this post… I think this site still matters. 🙂 This may sound self-aggrandizing, but that was not/is not at all my intention. In the late 90’s, with the proliferation of instantly(!) available information, bulletin boards, email, lists, news and all sorts of websites, I began gathering/bookmarking what I considered…
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Next Chapters… there have been many next chapters in life. Generally speaking, I don’t think I’ve realized I was in a next chapter until I was pretty immersed in it. When we put our beloved Snohomish farmhouse on the market three and a half years ago, I don’t know that I was aware a next chapter had begun. And because we didn’t move away immediately after the sale, the awareness still hadn’t set in. Unfamiliar with the neighbourhood, I had to pay strict attention to new landmarks, street signs, etc., for many weeks following the move away from the farmhouse.…
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Have you stopped to consider that even when you’re floundering, or feel as though you are, God is still present, still at work on your behalf, still working all things together for good according to His mercy (His great-great mercy!)? That is, for our/your good and His glory (His great, great glory). Throughout these last few years I’ve surely seen day to day proof of this. His mercy. His great, great mercy. His great mercy *even* in my floundering. God’s not thwarted by our floundering and He’s not thwarted in our striving. He’s not thwarted or diminished in our thriving.…
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Longing to run, but afraid to fail, that’s the story of my life. I’ve let this blog sit idle for so many months, it’s hard to imagine that for years I regularly wrote blog entries. But I love to write. I write nearly every day—just not here. Mu husband’s asked me to write… just write. Every day, just write. In this step of faith season, I was reading in the Word the other day… I read Hebrews 12.1, which says, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,…
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Many times I have stated or thought in times of trial: The arm or the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save – nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. I say this in the face of difficult situations, disappointments, poor health, wayward children, losses, financial reverses or adversity, and, among many other things, despair. I resolve to watch for the Hand of the Lord. Have you ever sought to understand or answer: How long is the arm of the Lord or how great is the hand of the Lord? And if we cannot begin…
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Drinking from my saucer bcz my cup’s overflowed. But that doesn’t mean regretful things don’t resurface and flood my mind from time to time. And my mind surely is flooded these days. From March 2014 ATI / IBLP Tangled Web The ATI / IBLP Mess Unpacking The ATI / IBLP Baggage More ATI / IBLP Freedom Blue & WhiteAnd then, a year later I wrote: Sincerely Wrong. The IBLP-ATI YearsIn addition to reading/hearing about our children’s reactions, I imagine after I watch the Shiny Happy People documentary, more will be brought to mind. For now, grief and regret…
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Or so we said whenever someone visited and was hesitant to jump in… I’ve never figured out the exact purpose of this blog, the direction I wanted to steer it or the specific content I’d write or curate. But, one thing I know, for a couple of decades now, I’ve been drawn to write, drawn to share, drawn to connect near and far with sisters in the Lord who find themselves in the midst of the garden of life: growing and thriving, in the day-after-day busy, in the hustle and bustle of family, or in the looking back wondering where…
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The first verse of the beautiful hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus: “O, soul are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?” is a line that resonates with many of us in various seasons or from time to time, I’m sure. Maybe you’re in such a season or are facing such a time right now. Maybe you’re coming out of such a season or space of time and on the other side you’re seeing the answer to the weary, the trouble, the darkness: “There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!”…
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For a few months we had been inching toward the sale of our home. One year ago today was the first of three days of showings. We’d been blindly taking steps forward, guided by the unseen Hand. Now over twenty five years ago we were looking for a home that would be just right for our growing family. “Looking” is far too weak. We were searching, yearning, praying for such a home. We searched and searched—drove around day after day looking for that forever home. It had been suggested that I make a list of things I hoped the home…
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In the late 70,s/early 80’s my husband and I were involved in a couple of multi level marketing companies/programs. What we experienced in those days is still being used of the Lord to guide us today. We had no idea at the time that our thoughts and ideals were being shaped by some teachings that were anything but Biblical. But it all sure seemed to be at the time. And then it didn’t. We were never positive enough, The Power of Positive Thinking, PMA or Positive Mental Attitude, were a couple of buzz phrases of the day, and positively, we…