Some days I feel this stressful tension wrapping around my throat. Pressure to "get it all done" that chokes the life right out of me. The Cinderella song starts playing in my head:Cinderelly, CinderellyNight and day it's CinderellyMake the fire, fix the breakfastWash the dishes, do the mopping And the sweeping and the dustingThey always keep her hopping She goes around in circlesTill she's very, very dizzyStill they hollerKeep a-busy Cinderelly!Before I know it, I'm not happy anymore.  Golley-jeepers, folks, I just don't have time for happiness. No sirree--I've got way too much to get done. After all, isn't that what makes your life worth something? If you have a million things on your list and your knocking them out? So, I decide to put my head down and get to work. Knock it ou[...]

 A couple weeks ago, our computer died. And I admit, I freaked out a little. Because I really like our computer. Because I really love facebook and I love seeing what everybody is doing and hearing what everybody is thinking and I love new information and I love reading my favorite blogs and I love my email and I love listening to Pandora. So, when my computer died, I was thinking that I would lose touch with people and I wouldn't get to interact with "grown-ups" during the day and I would get depressed.  But, no worries...we had given Bubby a really old laptop that he could turn on and off whenever he wanted to, so when my laptop stopped working, I just took Bubby's laptop away from him. And I had a nice little chat with him to inform him that his laptop would be off limits[...]

Hi Friends. I just wanted to tell you something. I just wanted to say that I changed my mind--I'm not going to blog every week day like I said I would. (I'm a girl--girls are allowed to change their minds at least a few times a week without coming across too emotionally unstable, right?)Anyways, here's why: I had been thinking that I should write more often because I needed to be more disciplined. (And for a girl who doesn't even make up her bed everyday, being disciplined at something sounded like a neat idea.) And I was thinking that I should write more because that's the only way to have more "readers." I mean, successful writers have like a bazillion readers. And my favorite blogger writes every day so I was thinking I should probably go ahead and be more like her. I am now chuckling t[...]

  If there really is a God who always ever was, an uncreated One who created all things. And if there truly is His Son, this Jesus--the only Being who existed eons before He was ever born--a God-Man who's always been around. Well, doesn't that change everything?I mean, if there really, truly, no-doubt is a God who spoke and sent the planets spinning and the stars blazing. A Great Architect who marked out the foundations of the earth, setting the sky firm in its place. This mountain-sculpting, ocean-carving God, who arranged this whole entire universe, I just can't help but wonder if it doesn't just change everything! If God is real, then this knowledge has to change me. And it does. It penetrates deep within.Because you see, I stand here wondering if there is really anything else more[...]

I've been wondering some things lately. I've been wondering what it is about us that makes us so afraid to live naked, unmasked lives. You know, from showing our true colors? Like, who we really are...on our insides. I just wonder why it terrifies us so much to be exposed. Why it is that we worry so much about what people will think if they knew the struggles we face or the messes we make?Maybe it's our pride that holds people at a distance. Pride that says, "Nope--I'm doing fine. Don't need a thing." Pride that always wears the happy face. That doesn't let a person close enough to offer one bit of advice, for after all, we do have it all together. We're pretty good at appearing perfect, even when we're dying inside. Or perhaps it's shame we feel. The ugliness we see is hard enough fo[...]

Today I felt the winter blues, in a big way. I looked out my window and only saw shades of gray. Gray and lots of white. Empty gray limbs. Lifeless gray sky. Mean old crow. And a yard full of snow. (Wow...I wasn't actually trying to rhyme there.) Anyways, it's not that I don't like snow, it's just that I've seen an awful lot of it here lately. And I'm starting to forget what the world looks like in shades of green. Northern winters do have a way of making you feel as if they'll last forever. I started thinking that I need to get out of here! I need to go back to that beach and soak up some sun. I actually started to cry a little. And pray..."Lord, please help. I've really been missing the spring. But I know there's people out there that feel this kind of barrenness in their soul. They[...]

I love the snow. I love it because, unlike the rain, it falls so slowly, so silently, so gently. No hurries. Just drifting down, down, down...then rest.  Sometimes in the early morning, I get up to look out my window. I turn on the outdoor light and look up at the sky, just to watch it snowing. All is hushed. It makes me feel quiet inside.  When it snows, all the people have to slow down. And I like it when all the people slow down because it seems like, most of the time, everybody's always in a hurry. It feels like we're always just busy trying to get to the next thing. Sometimes I wonder if we've lost our way a little bit. Like, we think we're somehow more valuable or more important if we always have a next thing to get to. So, we fill up our whole lives with lots of things to [...]

It's hard being a girl sometimes. Or maybe it's just that it's hard being a human. You know, when your emotions are telling you one thing and you're sure it's not the truth, but you just have the hardest time not believing it. And don't you just hate it when you try to tell yourself differently and you do a bit of explaining to your feelings that they're not gonna rule you, and they're not gonna trick you, but try as you may, your emotions just won't obey? (Big sigh.) That's hard. Sometimes I'm going about life and I'm doing just fine...until I hear that whisper. My feelings start talking. You know, Maggie, you really have a lot to be afraid of. Life is good now, but just you wait. You won't be able to handle it. Bad things will happen and you'll lose hope. You'll lose it all. You're going[...]

Dearest Hope-y. I know you're fast asleep right now, but I just wanted to tell you something. You belong. We're your family so you're with us. Like, you're in. This is your safe place.Now, I'm not sayin' that there won't be some dysfunctional moments. Or times of chaos. Or those instances when though we all love each other, we may not exactly like each other. That just goes with the territory. But I am sayin' that if you ever run away, we're comin' with you. Or that is, we're comin to get you.Because remember, you're with us. We're with you. That's family. So, hold on tight, little girl. Sometimes things get a little turbulent. But if you feel your fingers slipping...no worries. Mama's got you. And Daddy's got us, too. Oh, and we've got Bubby. And Jesus...well, He's the one who really hold[...]