Today I marry my pictures with Crowder's song, Come Awake, because I've been listening to this and I just can't explain to you how much it helps me. All I can do is post it here for you and hope somehow you feel it, too.Regarding the pictures, I just walked around the house, inside and out, looking for life. And I found it! I was so surprised to find it--all this living among the dead.So, if you will, just push play, then scroll down. Are we left here on our own? Can you feel when your last breath is gone? Night is weighing heavy now. Be quiet and wait for a voice that will say... Come awake! From sleep arise! You were dead, become alive. Wake up! Wake up! Open your eyes.Climb from your grave into the light. Bring us back to life.You are not the only one.[...]

Blogs are funny things. They don't exactly portray life the way it really is. I mean, usually they don't. Because blogs are full of pretty pictures and fun adventures and things like that and we're not likely to post the ugly stuff. We don't like to put pictures of our messes up for the world to see. We'd rather just record the smiles or the nifty crafts and we don't much talk about the yelling part, or the wrestling part, or the part that's real and still hurts. But, those parts are important, too. And maybe they're even more important because we all need to know that we're not alone in our struggles. And there's just so much strength in knowing you're not alone. So, it's important--this kind of living with the walls down. It's a brave sort of living, a risky sort of living, but it's the [...]

 If the winter doesn't go away, and keeps coming at you with all it's wintry, winterness, don't get discouraged.  Just get your sled.   And get your sister. And find a big hill. And try to point yourself in the right direction if you can.But, if that doesn't work out as planned, just hold on.And keep holding on. And yell for help if you need to.And if you can't move your arms, just yell louder.Someone will surely come.Eventually.Like, a neighbor.Or a stray cat.Or a wandering crow.Someone or something will come.Just keep yelling.And then get back on your sled and do it again.Just don't forget to hoot-n-holler.Because fun intensifies to the ninetieth degree when you hoot-n-holler.And when you can't move your legs, just yell.And keep yelling.Someone will su[...]

Sometimes when I'm tucking Gideon in to bed, he wants me to tell him a story. And so I run back through the memories in my mind to try to find one, because the best stories are always the true ones, the ones that happened at a real time in a real place. And it's hard for me to push through the muddled mess of recent things like groceries lists and task lists and heavy thoughts from the day, so I just start talking about when me and "Uncle Dave" were little and before I know it, a vivid memory comes dashing toward the front like an old friend.The other day, I began something like this...When Uncle Dave and I were little, we lived on a river. And every once in a while, Pa would ask us if we wanted to go on a boat ride and we always said yes because we always wanted to. And so me and Pa and U[...]

Last weekend, our little town had this big event. They closed off our main street and made a huge tubing hill. And apparently everyone and their brother was gonna be there so we decided that we should probably go be there too. So we went. And when we got there we had to laugh because there was the hugest, longest line and the hill wasn't as slick as it should have been and the police officers and fire department folks were having to pretty much push people down the hill. Now, how sweet is that?So anyways, we decided it wasn't worth it to stand in this line because our hill at our house would be much faster so we told Gideon he could stand in the street with us and play in the snow. I mean, we wanted him to have fun after all this effort we went through to get there, so we couldn't exactly [...]

 Gideon's been saying some funny stuff. And if I don't write it down I might forget it. So, I might as well write it down here and share it with you.Regarding snow, yesterday he looked out the window and exclaimed, "Hey Mommy! Jesus is shoveling all the snow away!" And though I didn't see Jesus out there with a shovel, I did see the snow was melting and it made us very happy. And today as we were getting ready for the library, he grabs his hat and says, "I need this so my hair won't get cold. And if it snows on my head, then I'll be safe." And I know this is probably more than you wanted to hear but today he said of Rascal, our kitty, "Hey Mommy, Rascal needs to go poo-poo. I'll hold her hand and say, It's okay, Rascal. You can do it. " And at lunch I told him that I loved him, even [...]

Photo creditSo, while we're in the desert, we visit this zoo and aquarium. We always do that when we go to new places--it's just our thing, we love zoos and aquariums! I think we're drawn to God's art. And as much as I love the zoo animals, there's something even more spectacular about the aquariums. I'm absolutely mesmerized by sea creatures. Photo creditAnd by mesmerized, I mean that I'm utterly spellbound. I could stand speechless in front of a seahorse for the longest time. And I have. Just speechless. And when words do escape, the only thing I can get out is this quiet whisper, "God...You are amaaaaazing." And then something in me wells up and I nearly turn into this psycho girl who just let's loose with this crazy laugh and I have to restrain myself from shouting out to whoever's nea[...]

We go to the desert and I'm amazed at all the dirt. There's just so much dust and rocks and grit in this world. And here we are walking around on it. All of us. I watch them walk up the sandy trail and it grips me. Something about this change of scenery makes my heart stand still and I can't stop thinking about how He loves us. How very much He loves us. I'm amazed by this and it's almost as if I could see His love come running as we walk around on all the dirt.We sit in the sun, beside the cactus and the brush and it's humbling, really.I mean, we've erected a lot of structures from this stuff. We stack our bricks and make our buildings tall and grand and we build big cities and there we do such important things and we get big heads and ginormous egos.And yet when reduced, it's all just sa[...]

 I'm pluggin' along here, though I'm tired. I've been tired for days and can't seem to shake it. Maybe I should'a been listening to my mama when she told me to take my vitamins. But, it's not too hard to plug along when you have something to look forward to. Our little family gets to get on an airplane soon and head to Arizona to see my family. I'm so looking forward to that- spending time with them. Oh...and being warm. And wearing flip-flops. And a t-shirt. And being outside. And seeing cactus. And some sand. And palm trees. And maybe eating some rattlesnake fries somewhere. Right now we're covered in snow and I like snow, except the part where you have to drive in it. Last night we ventured out and I was on edge because it was comin' down thick and blowin everywhere.  Bu[...]