I think one of the greatest acts of grace for ourselves is pausing to consider our striving, the things we work toward or even away from. Its real roots, its core motivations. Are the strivings God given or are they rooted from lack of contentment? I sat with that a bit, then looked at my calendar and it provided clarity.

Are you teaching your children to see what you tell them they see or are you teaching them to look, to really truly read the room observe look?

In gratitude: Thank God for Dirty Dishes (a poem by Mary Stuber) 

In the fret of days, it’s helpful to remember that life-even the hardest of days-has had a result that looks better than I imagined.

More picture memories from nine years ago today. It was the day that I laughed at a sudsy dishwasher, suds oozing from a dishwasher that a well-intentioned child helped to load. It was also the day I decided that I needed to learn how to let joy ooze. I wanted joy to ooze. It’s been a slow process, this learning to see joy, feel joy, share joy.

I’ve found myself doing this practice, placing a hand over my heart to really get an idea on where my heart is. Am I bouncing from one project to the next, is it causing a bouncing of heart interval in the process?

When we bought Rockwell Place, two huge delights we(me) were excited about were trees-two trees specifically: a double magnolia and a beautiful century oak. I romanticized them, both of them.

It still produces awe, the way the unexpected rolls into the mundane. The way a picture taken over a year ago reappears in photo memories the same day you’ve went hunting down the chemical and mineral composition of the Red Sea. The way it causes the heart to soar skipped and makes a soul feel seen. The way we are reminded we are known, even when seas need parting and walls seem uncomfortably tall, we read how infinitely tall God can holds those walls high protecting us as well.

In gratitude, this day: A sunset composed of crisp color in the midst of post summer storm humidity…

We added the use of PlantTone feeder to the hydrangeas last year(2021). One hydrangea has double blooms this year, the other has none.

When we stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.

“Measuring sticks try to rank some people as big and some people as small - but we aren't sizes. We are souls.“ -Ann Voskamp

My papaw called them heat storms, the summer late afternoon/early evening storms. In no doubt, his influence has settled deep into my furrows…

The blooms seem to be arriving at least three weeks later than last year. No doubt the events of the past two pandemic years…