When I was just a little girl, like a wee little thing, I had a different mom and dad. And they were kind to me but they had hurts and they had addictions and they didn't know  how to take care of themselves, much less a wee girl and her little brother.I mean, they tried. They hung on to us for several years, but things kept slipping and they kept falling and failing and they mustered up what strength they could, but they just couldn't make it work and they couldn't make it right. And so the policemen came over and over again, and took us away and my mama cried in the back of that police car, hands cuffed and she told me that she loved me. And I knew in my little heart, as I looked up at her, tears streaming and mascara running, I knew that she really did love me. She just couldn't ma[...]

Today we colored eggs. Not because it's Easter, by any means, but because this mama is an artist at heart, and if I'm not creating something, anything, I nearly go bonkers.The other day, my mother-in-law gave me this flower magazine from Gurney's. The plants were too expensive for me to buy but I enjoyed looking at all the colorful pictures. And then I decided I couldn't just toss those pictures, I had to make something with them. So, I sat in the kid's floor with the scissors and cut and cut and cut. At first Hope and Gideon joined me, but after about five minutes, they were bored. Nevertheless, I continued to cut out flowers while they fought over craft scissors and used up way too much Scotch tape and sucked on the washable markers. Sometimes I revert to a six year old. I even yelled wh[...]

The wind blows today. I hear it in the hollow of my chimney, the way it rushes through the emptiness and makes that haunting noise.My tall grass beside the patio rustles and bends. Those pines sway and the tops of them wave. A shimmy shake. I sit on the couch while little ones rest and read the craziest thing.There's this guy named Ezekiel, and he's a servant of the Lord. God's hand was on him and one day He shows him something he'll never forget. Ezekiel finds himself in this valley and it was full of bones. I mean, they were strewn everywhere, and they were dry and bleached by the sun.I pause and think about the words and I can picture all this in my imagination. That dusty valley out in the middle of nowhere. Heaps of bones. I feel dry inside. I keep reading. God asks Ezekiel a question[...]

Today is my mama's 60th birthday, and since it's not really polite to reveal a lady's age, please don't tell anyone I said that.  My mama has been a good mama to me. She's taught me a lot of things. She's very logical and concrete in her thinking, and since I'm very random and un-concrete (or whatever the opposite of concrete is) in my thinking, we've been good for each other. I mean, we've kind of driven each other nuts before, but there was this glorious day when my sweet mama came to this amazing realization. We've been much better friends ever since. I remember her coming to me and saying something like this: "Maggie, I think in a straight line and you think in a wiggle. Now, it's not wrong to think in a wiggle, it just takes a lot more time to get from one place to another." And [...]

Hey, guys, there's something I need to show you.First of all, welcome to my backyard. See way out there between the playground and the shed? There's a woodpile out there. Well, I just wanted to inform you that that's where I'm gonna plant my garden this year. I'm very excited about that. I really like my woodpile. And when we moved here, I was so happy to buy a house with a woodpile because it made me feel like I lived out in the country. And long before we had a kitty, I daydreamed about a kitty sitting next to my woodpile. And now we have a kitty and she does that. She sits by the woodpile and on the woodpile. But, the woodpile has to go because it's all rotten stuff and that's where I'm gonna plant my garden.I don't think I can express this enough--I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT PLANTING A[...]

 I'm in a rather talkative mood, and since there aren't any grown-ups around to talk to, and since my dear children have settled down for their naps, I thought I'd talk here to you. Although, I do realize that I will be doing all the talking and you will be doing all the listening, but I figured you wouldn't mind. The other night some friends invited us to a local basketball game. And even though we didn't know any of the players, we went because Gideon really needed to experience a basketball game. And I was really surprised, but we all had fun.  My favorite part of the basketball game was not the basketball part. Much to my husband's dismay, I don't really care about the basketball part. But, I did like watching all the teenagers and listening to the band. Teenagers are absolut[...]

I had this random memory the other day. And it was a funny memory. So, I thought I'd share it here with you.One time, when I was still living at home with my parents, I was pilfering through the garage. And I don't know if you've seen my Pa's garage, but there are so many treasures in there. Just so many. It's mostly full of golf clubs, but there are a few other things like old books, and old dishes, and old socks, and old tools, and old clothes. Oh, and at the time, there were like a ca-trillion of those plastic gallon ice cream buckets, just in case they were needed to store various other old things. (No need to google the number "ca-trillion". I just made it up.)Photo creditActually, my parents have cleaned out their garage like 5 times since then, but I'm pretty sure it's still full of[...]

A long time ago, before stars filled up the sky or before there was a sun to make the day bright. Before there were little acorns growing up into oaks or there was an ocean teeming full of mysterious living things, there was God. And He was thinking way ahead. About you. About me. About all of us.And He knew we would need rescued. And that He would rescue us. And He knew how He would rescue us. And so He sent Himself as a great Rescuer. He sent us Jesus. And this Jesus brought the world grace. And grace is the stuff we need to live this life. To live a life that's holy. A life that's set apart.And so through Jesus, He gave us this grace as a gift. Not because of our works. Not because of our struggle and strive to measure up. Because we can't. And we don't. Every day we fall and we get sou[...]

 Early I awoke when the morning was still dark. I stepped outside to greet the day and thank the God who filled the sky with stars. The stars, they shined all clear and bright and blinking. I had worried in the night, because the world is not as it should be and that makes my heart break. I'd tossed and turned and thought and prayed and so I stood out there tired and quiet, the cold making me come alive. And later when the sun came up over that one hill, that hill that grows tall with corn in the summer, the one I see out my front window, I spied something beautiful. Sometime in those dark, cold, quiet hours, He'd been making art on the Jeep while I found sleep. And when the God who fills up the night with stars makes art, I always go out to see. I wondered at His handiwork. Had [...]