cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
There were stones along the beach as far as I could see. They stretched out into the water a little way—so many stones to be searched through and discovered. I walked through the cold water, head down, searching. I spotted something, bent down, reached through the water, and picked it up. Suddenly, I was no…
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It was my senior year of college, and I was one month into my walk with God. I had a fresh sense of awe and gratitude tangled with curiosity. I retreated to a coffee shop where I snuggled into some pillows on a stoop in front of a large window. Next to me was my…
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COVID-19 has revealed some things about myself. There are times I get this familiar panic feeling rising up in me—the same kind of feeling I’d get before my children were born. I was excited about a new baby coming, but also terrified that something might go wrong during the birthing process. The only words I…
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“Courage is being scared as hell and saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne I’m learning to be courageous–to get back up and ride on even though I am scared. In this season I am thankful that fear is not the primary emotion, although it is definitely present in waves. God has been giving me the…
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Sadness swims inside of me. Doing the backstroke across my heart. Flipping and repeating, gracefully kicking backwards as it observes where it has been.
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I took my first quilting class last spring at a local fabric shop to learn the basics of quilting. Basics like learning to cut out and piece together squares with names like, “Log Cabin,” “Fence Rail,” etc. This winter I bravely decided to make a full-sized quilt on my own even though my knowledge of…
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I had run out of ideas of how to get through the chaos that was building so that we could help the children learn. I wanted to quit and felt like a complete failure. My principal, though, was wise and kind. She listened intently, saw both my despair and my goodness, and simply responded,
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There is a saying that is particularly apropos of the Colorado Front Range: “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” We can have snowflakes one moment, sleet the next, hail the next, rain the next, and then always a return to our characteristic blue skies that inspired the country oldie, “baby blue was…
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Find inside of you a maze As strong as it can be It’s quite a strange mysterious Place For it’s a part of thee. When painting a space for rest And finding your beginning tree First weave out of splintered leaves a nest For your sacred Place to be. Just take a breath and blow…
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My Tuesdays now include watching…I mean playing with, laughing, teaching, listening to…my 4 year old granddaughter Isabelle.
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