My Thoughts and Stories
Personal Reflections and Fun Memories
As I reflect on my life, I realize how truly blessed I am. It was that time when I walked through great loss that I found many treasures. Though there was struggle and darkness through the way, I mostly saw light in the midst of pain. It is my hope in sharing what I’ve found that you too may be encouraged and inspired. God bless.
Every Day Can Be Trash Day
Tomorrow is trash day. Tonight I’ll empty the kitchen plastic and office paper into the recycling bin. I’ll move through the house and empty the remaining garbage cans into the regular trash bin. Early tomorrow, I’ll roll the bins to the street curb. I don’t want to...
Four (4) Ways to Recognize the Mindsets Sabotaging Your Relationships
Recently I listened to a podcast, then read an unrelated article and the next day heard an instructor warn how our self-limiting mindsets hinder our ability to connect with others. So how do you begin to identify which thoughts you need to transform, especially since...
Why a Growth Mindset is Essential
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck found, after years of research, that there is a huge difference in achieving what you want depending on whether you hold a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. As the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she...
Four Ways to Recapture Childlike Joy
Last month I spoke at a weekend retreat for Richfield Life Ministries Church. The Mistress of Ceremonies, Missy Dietz, shared the following story: The summer my daughter was four years old, she and her little sister, age two, spent day after sun-filled day playing...
I Can Do It Myself!
Growing up I loved to say, “I can do it myself!” It meant I was getting stronger, more capable and resourceful. I was a big girl. But as I savor my new planting of tulips and daffodils, they remind me I cannot do it all myself. In September, I excitedly bought a bag...
There Must be Something I Can Do
“For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 I like being in control even though I realize it is only an illusion. When I truly know I am not in control, I can feel helpless and hopeless. Before I can accept the truth, however, that I really can’t...
Pruned for Fruit
“My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” John 15:1-2, NLT When I drove past a nearby apple orchard in late winter after it had just been...
What Sucked the Life Out of Me
Two years ago, when I pruned a twenty-year-old Queen Elizabeth rose in March, I didn’t notice little sucker canes growing on the bush. I was busy with traveling and speaking, so it wasn’t until June I realized I had several long rose canes growing on the back of my...
Fallow Fields
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Isaiah 40:31a TLB I rarely see a field lie fallow anymore. Some of the fields around my home even have two crops a year—winter wheat and soybeans. Most farmers use the latest fertilizers to quickly replenish...
Moments of Hope
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5 NIV One cloudy winter morning at the end of February, I awoke with what felt like an ever-present ache in my soul. Not...
