Once upon a Saturday morning, the house chores held a conference and elected me their leader. While rushing through chores, I noticed a theme unfolding in my living room. All day, our napping kitten, Noelle, scooted herself around, warmly snuggled in the patch of sunlight beaming through the window. As the sun moved across the sky, so Noelle moved across…
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Hope for the Hard Days
Air-conditioning blasted through dusty moving van vents as we pulled away from our southern roots, yet the farther north we drove, the more those vents burned high with heat. Our choice of sandals and shorts proved naive, as 1300 miles later, our new city welcomed us to a sky-show greeting the likes of which we’d never known: snow flurry confetti…
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Free Bird, Caged Song
Dawn awakes, stretching bright limbs wide across the eastern sky. So much energy displayed for such a still moment in time. Willing my spirit to believe in something other than the warm bed I just crawled out of, I rest in the calm of my rocker and behold this masterpiece inching its way up the horizon. Soft light trickles onto…
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Valley of Blessing
We looked like a normal family. On weekends. Every Friday night, my husband’s plane would land, and we’d cram all manner of family life into two insufficient days before Monday barged in with the next flight out. Week after week, month after eight long months. Weekdays were a crash course in “single-mom” life for me as employment changes split our…
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The Ministry of Hard Things
As the sun whispers its rise in the window behind me, I lay in bed praying for strength to start another day. All too many mornings lately seem to inherit yesterday’s tired spirit. Begging the energy to put on my big girl slippers, I make the bed, brush my teeth, and wake my son as I head downstairs (all while…
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Surviving on a Diet of Prayer and Tears
Slumping deep into his chair at a corner table for two, he ate waffle fries alone on a holiday evening. The sun laid down quietly in the window behind him as snowy hair fell against a face that spilled secrets of sorrow. Vacant eyes and a somber spirit caught my heart. The people-watcher in me wondered about his story; I…
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