Hello, friends! It’s summertime…a special time of year. Does it feel like it where you live? After a June mostly in the 80s—sometimes even 70s—summer came with a vengeance for us, with one day reaching around 117 in our area. We survived thanks to our three window unit air conditioners (which kept the […]
ACFW, Genesis Contest, Summer
Earlier this week, author Barbara Neal Roose, a fellow writer with Books & Such Literary Agency whose encouraging blogs and podcasts have really blessed me—check her out here!—posted a special blog in honor of her birthday. She shared her struggles with past birthdays, how the Lord has helped her come to rejoice over them, […]
Growing up, I loved celebrating the Fourth of July. Most years, my family would head to a nearby large, grassy park late afternoon. We’d watch the small-town parade of veterans and boy scouts and antique cars and children on streamer-bedecked tricycles. One year we even entered ourselves and rode on a “covered wagon” built […]
American History, Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July
My little sister graduated from college last Saturday. It doesn’t seem that long since she was graduating high school—in fact, I posted about it here. She seemed so grown up then, yet now, looking back, the eighteen-year-old Maren appears so young. Today she has a B.A. in Theater Arts, with […]
A bit of a 3rd day of Christmas gift for you, friends…thank you for joining me in some of these snippets from the Journey to Bethlehem yet again, and Merry Christmas! Joy to our dark and troubled world…our Lord is come. “How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given So God imparts to […]
Christmas, Jesus, Journy to Bethlehem
In case you didn’t know, I got married about six weeks ago. (See photos!) My beloved and wonderful husband, Anthony, and I have been busy settling, and you may see some changes coming to my website (and name) in the weeks and months to come. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure things don’t get too […]
Fiddler on the Roof, Sunrise Sunset, Weddings
The sermon series at church lately has been on, “How do we love?” Each week, the speakers have focused on loving a different group of people. When the focus has been on marriage and singleness, a couple of points especially stuck out to me. Marriage is good. Singleness is also good. Marriage […]
Enough by Jeremy Camp
Over the past few years, I’ve shared the “Journey toward Bethlehem” with you reader friends as we’ve explored what might have been in the hearts and minds of those very real people in the quiet, wondrous, incredibly human-and-divine miracle we celebrate at Christmas. The coming into this dark and sin-broken world of Jesus…for us. […]
Advent, Christmas
I was feeling good. My classes had gone well so far, things felt fine between my fiancé and me. After my last study hall for the morning, I clocked out for my break and opened Yahoo to check my email. And saw, “Breaking News: Active Shooter in San Bernardino, CA.” With beating heart, […]
Christmas, do not be afraid, mass shootings
I just finished my first week of teaching high school English. This job came about quite suddenly and unexpectedly—it really did seem a “God-thing.” I learned about the opening at a small private Christian international school near us only days after I realized I needed to find a new job—not because I didn’t like […]
