Little boy, did you see the ants today? Those ones in the long crack in the driveway, that just keep on keeping on, even when you leave tire tracks, right smack dab through the middle of their hill? All their hard work? They're busy little creatures. They don't seem to let defeat discourage them. They just keep building.Enjoy your life, my son.Little girl, did you see that one sparrow? Who built her nest in mama's peat moss basket? She flits off to bring more food to her babes, being careful not to swoop too close to the kitty. Her little ones are growing up so fast. Come hot summer, they'll be grown and gone. For now, she just keeps singing and filling up their bellies.Enjoy your life, my love.Little boy, do you notice the way your sister sees you? Like, you're her bestest buddy-chum pal?[...]

Sometimes, when I'm afraid, or stressed out, or a bit discouraged, I hear God tap, tap, tapping on the door of my heart. Or, He just peeks in through that little window of my soul and I look up to see Him smiling kind, so I invite Him in. I invite Him in because He won't stand there long, for He's not the sort to pester. He's quite respectful that way. I mean, I could easily choose to ignore His gentle rapping, and off He'd go, down the lane. He never barges in. And He never huffs and puffs as He turns or guilts me through the window with a glare. And when I invite Him in, He comes in cheerfully and He's a little chatty so we sit at the table and I pour up the tea. He's got this smile as He waits for me to catch His gaze, and then He leans back in His chair and says it tender, between gulp[...]

The weather has turned cold on me and I've become this shameful wimp, preferring the warmth of the great indoors to the adventure of the great outdoors. We haven't gone out in three days. I think that's a record. I'm not exactly proud.  But, my artist friend tells me that there are so many good things about the cold and winter coming. She tells me how everything has it's own season, and the cold is for tucking in and being more still and quiet and for making art. She says it's when the creatives get all creative. So, I look forward to that--making art. And I've got this book writing project, so I've taken a little time each day to craft with words. It feels good, to look out my window and see the sun but still feel warm in here, all tucked away and eager to create.I've felt [...]

In the early hours of the morning, while all was still silent and quite dark, I jolted wide awake with this sharp pain in my abdomen. Now, I realize that it was just some gas perhaps, (as embarrassing as that is to admit) but at the moment I prepared myself for a trip to the ER for a ruptured appendix. The pain itself didn’t actually last long, but something about it got me to thinking why it is that I really want to live. I think about how I want to especially be here for Gideon and Hope. Those little people who follow me around everywhere I go and yell, “MOMMY” a jillion times a day and wreck the house I try to keep clean and ask so many questions that my brain goes numb. I want to be here for them. Because in spite of all the ruckus and all the chaos and all the need they have, I really[...]

There are lots of ways to enjoy your life this summer. And one way, one big way, is to go for a walk in a field of corn.So, next time you see a corn field, don't just pass it up. Go for a walk in it. I mean it. Don't let your whole summer (or your whole life for that matter), go by without traipsing through a corn field. Corn fields can be very adventurous.Now, you might be tempted to run through a corn field. Don't do that. Running through a corn field is dangerous. You could get cut. By corn leaves. And getting cut by a corn leaf is so much worse than a paper cut. Because a corn leaf cut is pretty big. And you could lose an eye. So don't run. Just walk. Though, you can walk briskly if you want. Long as you keep your arms out.  And if you go for a walk in a corn field, stay close to [...]

Everyday when I wake up, I've got this longing in my deep down heart. I want today to matter. I want it to mean something. I want it to count. I'm not content to just exist. To let life whiz by while I overdose on the narcotic of busyness. So, in my getting from one end of the day to the other, I want today to matter and I want to feel alive.Yes, I want to feel life. Even the part that hurts. I want to feel all of it. Because even the hurting messy parts make me feel alive, and again, I want to feel alive. And I'm finding that I feel most alive when I see beauty. When I hunt for it and find it and then stand a spell and just savor it. And I think it's because God made me and He is beauty. That is, He is Beauty embodied and so He lights up the world with reflections of Himself and sometimes[...]

Go ahead, loud, crazy, rambunctiously busy world...spin away.  Run this way and that way and make your racket and live your frantic, frenzied, stressed-out life. But not me. Not this girl. I might never be here again. I'm going to be still to see.I'll go take a peek at her while she sleeps. I'll gaze at her long. I'll sneek in his room, trying not to trip over the blocks and the cars and I'll just enjoy this moment of quiet. I'll enjoy his being little. He's almost two already and nearly too heavy for me to carry. I won't wish him away. Not even when he's loud...and boy is he loud. I'll pause long enough to admire the light streaming through. I'll even rest. Why is everybody in such a hurry, anyway? Is life really more fun if you rush? Are you somehow worth more if you cram all the ac[...]

There are countless ways that God graces our lives with His Presence...we only need eyes to see.He whispers His love to us in a thousand different languages.At times He shouts it out.We only need ears to hear.There's a joy-song just waiting to be sung with our lives.It's intoxicating and relentless.We only need a heart in tune.Lord, please wash away the blindness from our eyes. Please take away the deafness from our ears. And Jesus, please take the hardness from our hearts. We need eyes to truly see...ears to truly hear...hearts that can feel You. Especially in this daily grime of life. You are our Joy. We long to savor You.

This week I'm featuring a poem a day by my favorite poet, Ralph Spaulding Cushman. The following poem is so meaningful to me. I long to be always aware that each day of life is a precious gift from the Lord. This day is full of wonder and beauty and Jesus comes to us in a thousand ways--in the sunlight, in the warm embrace of a friend, through His written Word.Lord, help us to see that You are real and that You're here with us.Photo creditTHIS DAYby Ralph Spaulding CushmanThis day, Lord, is Thy gift of grace,Wherein I may discern Thy lace!The sunbeams quivering on a treeReveal Thy constant care for me;This glad, green earth, the blue above,May tell the wonders of Thy love.But oh, dear Lord, lest blind my eyesShould grow to Thy wide lifting skies,To all Thy gifts of earth and sea,Lord, kee[...]