Cultivate A Consistent Prayer Life in 2021 + NEW GIFT + Giveaway!
While there's a lot I'd like to leave behind in 2020, my prayer life isn't one of them. For thirty years, I've celebrated the truth that God wants to be personally known, experienced, and trusted. But my time with Him hasn't always reflected it. My intentions were good, but apparently, my excuses were sometimes better, widening the door for guilt to slither in and crack open the window for...

6 Christmas Gifts for the Hurting + A Giveaway for You
Christmas gifts come in all shapes and sizes. Many believe the best ones are hidden beneath a lit-tree. But I think⏤especially this year⏤the best gifts will be shown, demonstrated, and offered, from intentional hearts. In my last post, I shared specific ways to celebrate togetherness despite the separation many of us will experience this year. Some of our separations will be temporary...
Ways to Celebrate Togetherness While Separated This Holiday Season
It will be a different holiday season. On that, we can agree. No need to run down all the reasons why. We're very much aware of each one, but Thanksgiving and Christmas will come nonetheless. Neither set of my parents, nor my aunt and uncle, will gather around our farm table this Thanksgiving. Who will crack the corny jokes, or whip up the family dressing, or clap for the grandkids when they...
Re-Charge Your Prayer Life by Pairing Up With a Prayer Partner!
It started easy enough. I texted one morning, asking if there were specific ways I could pray for her, and in return, she asked the same. It was a simple exchange of words. But at that moment, I realized it was more than a simple swap. Yes, tapping requests on the phone is simple enough, but we know the true power begins the moment we lift up the person in prayer⏤speaking their...
25 Ideas for Your Fall Bucket List + Coloring Sheets!
If there's a season to fill our want-to bucket, it's Fall, right? Fall pinches every sensory to our delight⏤what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste! So grab that bucket and fill it up with one or all of these ideas for you, your family, and friends! "Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves." Humbert Wolfe...
4 Ways to Offer Someone A Pause this Fall (And a Gift for You Too!)
The words pause and fall come together like a sing-a-long. They swing and sway to the melody of a season that offers natural pauses to our day. Swift breezes encourage us to bundle up and head outside for a walk, or a sit by the fire. Wild muscadines growing nearby release a fragrance so sweet and so strong, it takes root in our memories as tightly as its vine clings to an overhanging tree....
Your Invitation to Gather Around the Campfire + Mug Giveaway!
This kind of encounter with God drops me to my knees. It was an ordinary day of packing up my laptop, cords, books, banana, and water before heading up the hill to write. At the last minute, I squeezed in my sketchbook. It's heavy and cumbersome, two reasons that make it a rare haul. I climbed the hill, spread out my goods on the desk, and prayed. Lifting up our community here on the blog is...
Coming Face to Face with My Addiction to Sugar
The word addiction seems so harsh. And yet, when everyone else flooded grocery stores in March to stock their freezer with chicken, I was in the Chick-fil-A drive-through stocking up on ice cream. Their styrofoam cups supposedly keep the ice cream fresh in the freezer for weeks. Unfortunately, I can't prove it. I would say that defines addiction. Weight has been an issue for...
Coming Full Circle: The Story Behind the Instagram Picture
There's always a story behind the scenes, right? This story begins in the sixties when Ma-Ma (my paternal grandmother) coaxed me into her big ol' car with the promise of a fudge sickle when we returned. She knew my love language was sugar. Within minutes, we arrived at a worn, brick nursing home. The floors were beige linoleum squares with bright specks and the walls were lined with...