When the receiving of love has strings attached, then is it really love? Love is a Gift With no Strings Attached. In many of the gardens I visit, they have garden hoses, and for the last few years many gardeners have been installing retractable hose reels. They are quite a […]
Faith
Your pain is legitimate, and second-place prayers reveal the need, but first-place prayers must always come first, so we pray a simple prayer. Simple sounds easy. Requiring little effort. First place. It’s where we put the best, second-place things go behind first-place things. There is an order—first place, then […]
People can let us down. We let others down. But there is one that we can entrust our ‘self’ to that is solid and true. Deep knowing grows that makes us strong. I’ve been dwelling on a word lately. Entrust. Words carry power. They connect thoughts, memories, ideas, and wisdom […]
There is a kind of loneliness that feels like a huge void has been opened up, and you’re broken on the other side. But there is one that crosses the void to bring connection. I’m still trying to understand why they avoided me. They knew I was in a mess, […]
Fear can be like a shadow creeping up and over you, but what do you fear the most? Understanding what you fear the most can bring assurance. It was a simple wire bridge on a confidence course. Not very high, the three-wire bridge was a challenge for some and not […]
There is a comfort zone in the familiar, but there is a calling to step out of the boat and find a little something to stand on. There’s always a call to step out of the boat. The other day I was cleaning some items off a pinboard and came […]
We are happy to accept good from God, but what about trouble? There is something deeper available when we center on clinging to God. As a gardener, I work in all kinds of weather. Rain, sun, and wind – both light and strong. In the extremes, I complain. The furnace […]
We want change, and we want it now, but deep change requires the granting of space and time. So grant it to our self and others. It was all becoming too much. Pressure from others to ‘get over it,’ to ‘let it go,’ and ‘sort your life out’ was beginning […]
To demand or expect forgiveness is like a chess player trying to manipulate the board, but that’s not true repentance. Instead, repentance submits itself to the poetry of waiting, praying, and hoping. They thought they could use the Bible to manipulate and control. Verses were hurled, and they were told, […]
The only way there is through. To reap a joy, we sow a tear, but it’s work, hard work, so we don’t travel alone. We journey with safe others. I knew there had to be an ocean of loss behind the lifestyle mask they were wearing. For all the stories […]