An Unexpected Journey

It’s been all fairy gardens and trips to the lake with family and fun this summer for my little tribe.       This week we step back into the grindstone of school and homework and sports (well indoor sports because I don’t like to sweat).  I often tell my children the Bible says the power of life and death is in the tongue, and this morning I felt a challenge rising within myself to determine what I will say over my little ones this school year. I was reading this morning and ran across a verse that grabbed me.    “But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.”  Luke 9:42-43 What caught my eye was the similarity to another verse that I have been turning over in my mind lately. “ 51  Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,“ Mark 6:51 Two very different situations.  Two very similar responses.  In the first scenario Jesus perfo

(Written a little bit ago...) Cool breeze.  Hot coffee.  The smell of salt water filling the air.   Walking along the beach this morning watching the beautiful sunrise. There were egrets, pelicans flying in perfect synchrony, and the dolphin show that lasted forever. I felt as if I walked with the dolphins this morning as they followed a school of flipping fish. It was a gift. A basically perfect morning sunrise experience. Footsteps in the sand.  The crash of rolling waves in my ears. The glimmer of the sun on the water. And I am thinking about how she always popped up next to my bed- her golden blonde curls bouncing- tapping me relentlessly on the arm and saying, “Mommy, the sun is up! It’s time to get up!” It was my morning greeting from my early riser. And this morning by the beautiful ocean sunrise, the warmth of the memory fills me with smiles. And joy. And there’s something about the way her little mouth curved into a smile and her laugh echoes so uncannily in my fo