On:
In: Grace, Uncategorized

At the first hint of fall in the air and the calling of the blue jays telling me it’s coming, excitement begins to bubble inside of me. It’s almost time for Jesse Tree… time for the season of quiet (or not always so quiet) waiting. In hot and humid Papua, Indonesia one year I picked up a Jesse Tree book from another expat family’s yard sale. I had never heard of the Jesse Tree and so I read with curiosity and a small searching for a way to make Christmas feel like Christmas two degrees below the equator. I had no idea that it wouldRead More →

On:
In: From My Garden, Uncategorized

This mum… about two years ago, I was given the start of a mum which had been divided from another plant. It was a very small piece. I planted it in my own garden but in two growing seasons it had not done anything but survive, and barely at that. Yet each year I have watched its mother mum across the street growing and blooming like crazy. Late this spring when I moved a border into the full sun, I made room for the mum… only I managed somehow to divide the little spindly thing into three plants and wondered if they’d make it soRead More →

On:
In: Grace

“I’m bad at finding your gum but I found you a living room set.” “You found me a living room set????” I received this text from Ron at my desk last Friday. “Better. It’s a gift if you want it.” “What!?? Who?” The response was… “God”. Texting turned into quick emails and he sent me a link to a picture of the furniture. I liked it so much and knew it would look perfect in our dragonfly blue family room. (Really. That’s the name of the color.) Just the fact that one of the main colors in the pattern was red hinted to me thatRead More →

On:
In: Adventures in Learning, Taking After My Father, Uncategorized

Sixteen years ago! It’s hard to believe it’s already so many years ago that our family spent six and a half months in pre-mission-field training. The first, very long two months of our training were spent in Valley City, North Dakota, living in a college dorm with our family. The last four months were spent in Waxhaw, North Carolina. It was such a loooong six and a half months. But also a nice, long time to learn more about God’s love and faithfulness! Not long after, I wrote the following story in a newsletter… The fall of 1997 at JAARS in Waxhaw, NC was aRead More →