• Faith - ThisBeautifulLife

    The Power of Music

    April 18, 2018 - By 

    Music. It tells a story, makes us smile, makes us cry, warms our hearts, consoles our hurts, tells our stories. That’s the power of music. This morning one of my daughters sent a text, a picture of her home’s front flowerbed: hyacinths and dozens of tulips just beginning to bloom. How sweet of the Lord to give her that gift — this is the first Springtime in her new home and so the various plantings done by the previous owner are just coming into view.  This is just an example of so many things the Lord has done for her.…

  • Devotionals - Faith - my story - ThisBeautifulLife

    His Grace is Enough

    November 19, 2015 - By 

    Are you having a difficult time seeing and believing that the grace of the Lord is sufficient for you — for whatever concerns you — for the circumstances in which you find yourself today? Do you long to know — to see and believe — that His grace is enough? [cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12.9[/cp_quote] * [cp_dropcaps]I[/cp_dropcaps]n seeking to rest in knowing that…

  • marriage - ThisBeautifulLife - Titus2

    Nancy’s “Beau-az”

    November 17, 2015 - By 

    Nancy's Beau-az, the wedding of Nancy and Robert Wolgemuth, witnessing the commitment they made to one another and the intended picture they represented. It was awe inspiring to experience the magnificent picture and the great-great blessing of the anticipation and hope we have for the ultimate wedding: the soon coming marriage supper of the Lamb.

  • Faith - ThisBeautifulLife

    Validation, Can You Relate?

    October 2, 2015 - By 

    The more time passes, the more I realize how much I need “relating” affirmation or validation.  It’s not that I need affirmation in order to do something so much as affirmation that what I’ve done (or am doing) matters. I find myself asking (either literally or mentally), can you relate? or know-what-I-mean?  Validation, kwim?  For the last month or so, I’ve been mulling over the thought of “validation” the need/desire for validation.  It’s sort of an assurance of being on the right track, or having done something well, or, in some cases, assurance that you’re not alone in whatever failure…

  • More Slices of Life - my story - ThisBeautifulLife

    Yesterday & Tomorrow

    June 30, 2015 - By 

    For the last fourteen years, I’ve had a day where I’ve stood between two days, looking back and looking ahead.  Today is that day.  Fourteen years ago when I looked back at that “yesterday” and ahead to that “tomorrow,” I didn’t know that I would come to call it my Bookends Day. I didn’t know at the time that a final chapter had been written… that the baby born on June 29th would be my last living baby. And when I looked ahead to “tomorrow” that day, I was amazed that my first baby would be twenty two.  Twenty two…

  • Journal - Planner - ThisBeautifulLife

    Just One Added Thing Journal

    April 10, 2015 - By 

    So the idea I wrote about yesterday… I implemented it and added one more thing to the idea:  Journal it!  Make an account of that next thing — every day — that one thing I added.  Accountability is a powerful tool. So is follow-through and accomplishment! So I have this notebook and will just keep writing the day/date and the item and I’ll keep a running number — honestly, I truly hope to see 266 things added.  Using this method *and* my This Beautiful Life planner journal, I will have a very tangible accountability tool/marker for this year.  I marvel…

  • Homemaking - Planner - Potpourri - ThisBeautifulLife

    Just one added thing each day

    April 9, 2015 - By 

    [cp_dropcaps]T[/cp_dropcaps]his morning as I sat at my dining room table, I thought, what if I did one new thing each day for the rest of this year, how many things would I be able to do?  How many additional things would be accomplished?  Two Hundred Sixty Six.  Imagine: 266 additional things.  Instantly, I’m reminded of the significance of the number 266 — an average pregnancy is 266 days.   Not anymore for this Sarah, but that’s a number I’ll never forget. I considered:  Purposefully learning and purposefully accomplishing one additional thing every day.  Adding one more step, situp, pushup, crunch, squat—-one…

  • Devotionals - Faith - Motherhood - Notable Quotables - Potpourri - ThisBeautifulLife

    Creating Inspired Moments

    March 13, 2015 - By 

    I have a few Starbucks aprons I’ve picked up, second hand, along the way.  One of them has a printed tape inside the top of the apron.  I’m assuming it was positioned there so that it would be seen (and intentionally read) each time the barista positioned the neck strap and donned the apron. As with many other aprons I have, I’ve worn this one many times.  Until recently, I never even noticed the black tape sewn inside the top band of that apron.  Thus, I’d never read the message intended for the baristas: We create inspired moments in each…

  • my story - Potpourri - ThisBeautifulLife - THM - Trim Healthy Mama

    THM or A Plan On The Shelf

    March 11, 2015 - By 

    October 17, 2013 I received my book… and I wrote about the THM journey here with additional entries following.  I wasn’t so much seeking to be a trim healthy mama as much as I was determined to be a healthy mama who happened to figure out how to be and remain disciplined and trim. I had such determination and such confidence.  And success, too. Life happened. And failure. This morning I’m cleaning up from a few different events in the last several days and all I see around me are large bowls, serving platters, large carafes, stacks of other dishes,…

  • Devotionals - Journal - my story - Slices of Life - ThisBeautifulLife - Titus2

    The Current Truth

    March 1, 2015 - By 

    I began working on my new This Beautiful Life journal/planner/notebook, and once again I’m stymied by my answers.  I see the designated spaces for specific answers and am reticent to write mine down. My tendency is to be very tentative about what goals I write (thinking if I write it, I’ll be committed to doing it).  One day I might only write a few goals — another day I might write down things that would take two lifetimes to accomplish.   My abstract sequential / concrete random thinking style seems to prevent me from ever making a definitive list.  Have you…