grow

  • Wait

    Wait

    In early December, I bought five amaryllis plants for three friends and I to plant in pots in our kitchens. I kept two for myself, and even as I made that choice, it seemed superfluous. The amaryllis bulbs were meant to teach and remind us that God works under the surface, that He can make…

  • Hope in Growth Under the Surface – (in)courage

    Hope in Growth Under the Surface – (in)courage

    I’m no gardener, but this past October I planted tulip bulbs in the ground and shared more from the batch with some dear friends. As winter approached, I bought amaryllis bulbs, planted two in pots, and gave away still more. I wasn’t looking for a new hobby, and I don’t revel working in the dirt.…

  • Becoming

    One day when my kids were very small, I was talking to my mother about a new habit of mine. Even though I took several daily walks with the kids during those busy years, I had begun getting up really early and walking by myself before my husband left for work. I used the time…

  • Living

      Yesterday, I was driving home and found my street the color of clay, flooded with a couple of inches of water, and police officers on the scene. It seemed there had been a water-main break, and it compromised both the road and the water source for the surrounding houses. In the hours that followed,…

  • Process

    I am running so super slowly all over town, and even though it’s mortifying, it’s by design. All of the best advice I’ve heard about increasing mileage is to extend your longest run of the week by time, not distance, and to run it as slowly as you can bear it. As I meander through…

  • Joy

    Nothing in my circumstances changed, but I could feel something shift, some tiny glowing ember in my spirit today that was new and yet something I recognized from long ago, like an old friend. I felt it grow stronger as I saw the faces at church, so grace-filled and kind and good. I felt it…

  • Leaves

    When we think of Fall, we think of the leaves “changing color”, but that’s not what’s happening at all.  They are shedding the green, and revealing the bright and beautiful colors they’ve been all along.  But how many of us think of it this way?  We’re so used to seeing the green.  From the minute…