Sunflowers, Prayer Walks, and How He Speaks To Us Through Flowers...

I woke up early this morning, slowly allowing the conversation to begin again...

As I stretched and listened close to the morning breeze play songs all around me, the birds joined in with the wind chimes in three part harmony, and I anticipate His love whispering soft.

The choice was there, almost like an invitation, to simply curl up on my side and close my eyes once again... drifting off in the name of Rest. Rest is good, right? And yet...

I stretched again, full body...
and I chose wisely.

I got up.

I Have Faith In... Jazz Festivals, Traditions, and Friends Who Can Lean In to the Silence With You...

I don't think it would come as a surprise if I said that I have faith in God.  I mean - I would hope if you have been around here even just a little bit, that shines through.

I don't think it would come as a surprise if I said that I have a love of music. Worship mostly, sure - but one look at my Pandora stations, towers of Cd's, or burned collections in my car and you would find that I also love me some classic 70s/80s, some country, some jazz, top 40/pop, R&B, a little rap, and don't get me started on my love of James Taylor. (I also have learned to appreciate instrumental music - but I swoon for a good or clever lyric so...)

And when it comes to Traditions and Friendships - well, I think y'all know I love both of those things as well!

So when all of these unfold and unfurl together on a Saturday afternoon, even a drastic drop in temperature and unseasonably cooler weather can't put a chill on that warm fuzzy feeling deep inside that whispers Home and speaks of Truth!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 106

Happy Weekend, sweet readers!

I hope yours came just in time! I know mine did! I don't want to brag or anything... but I have myself a Saturday planned, y'all! My Honey and four of our very best friends are all hitting the road and going to Jazz in the Valley for the day - outside seating, incredible music, great food and wine, amazing fellowship, TONS of relaxing and laughing and not (ahem!) being in front of a screen! I am super excited!

Still - if you missed these posts this week, well - you really should carve out a little screen time this weekend and drink these in! You're gonna want to read them!

Featured today are posts by Sarah Bessey, Preston Yancey, Rhonda Quaney, Lori Harris, Ruth Simons, Ann Voskamp, Erika Morrison, a post from right here, and - of course - a video (or two) to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

Ten - A Five Minute Friday Post

I missed y'all last night! I tried to pop in for a few, but the days were all packed full this week and Thursday evening was no different!  We had a conference to attend and a girlie to spend some time with... still, know that you were missed and at least part of my heart was leaning towards you and the #fmfparty crew! And here's the deal - I woke up this morning and saw the prompt and oh my goodness, there are so many different directions to go! However, I am going to continue on with a thought God was sowing in me last night at above mentioned conference... let's see where this goes!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: TEN

{GO}

You know my thoughts went in way more than ten directions at this prompt. I could use it as hours, in days or years... or I could use it as age in childhood or marriage... or it could be money, as in what could ten dollars buy - what kind of difference just ten dollars could make...

But earlier tonight, I was reflecting - maybe not exactly to ten years back. Maybe it was ten months ago... or maybe multiple decades... and maybe I was also vision casting ahead a bit as well and dreaming and goal setting and imagining what things may look like, feel like, be like way off in the distant (or not too distant) future. 

And here is what God reminded me...

All About Mercy... or really, All About a MercyHouse Home Party & the Fair Trade Friday Club (PLUS a GIVEAWAY!)

I told you last week that I was doing this super cool, ultra fun new thing and as with all super cool, ultra fun new things - I think you should all do it now, too! (Because, of course!)

But also because this: It's also super ultra easy!
Seriously... the folks at Mercy House make it SO EASY for the hosts. 
Plus - hello gorgeous products, 
In. My. House.

I fell in love with MercyHouse in Kenya several years ago.  I have written about this powerful ministry here before.  Kristen Welch said yes to God and oh my what He has done since then!  In the past few years, we have purchased items from the website and have helped to raise funds for things like a new van, computers/classrooms, and a second home! 

About a year ago, Kristen said another yes to God and started Fair Trade Friday. 

“I heard it clear, these words in the middle of the night, “Provide jobs for women.” It was years ago and I didn’t know what it meant. We were a couple of years into our hard work in Kenya, rescuing pregnant teens and I didn’t think I could do much more. But I also couldn’t shake those whispered words. Fair Trade Friday is the response to providing jobs for women. Sometimes God asks us to do something we don’t know how to do. But He does and He leads.”                        ~Kristen Welch, Founder of MercyHouse and Fair Trade Friday

One of the things I love the most about the products is that they come with the name of the woman who created it attached.  So now, whenever I wear my necklace, I pray for Violet. When I wear my bracelet, I pray for Rose. When I wear my earrings, I pray for Pauline. I love that personal connection and the opportunity to not only pray, but in purchasing the items, I know that the money is going right back into their hands, helping them to provide for their families, to buy food, pay rent, go to school.

These Are The Days Of Small Wonders...

If you are not new around here, it will come as no surprise that I love Emily Freeman. #ItsFine #ShesNotAfraid  She is one of my favorites and I am honored to be a part of her book launch team for her new book, Simply Tuesday. (No affiliate links, no kick-backs, just for real: You're gonna want this book!)  I will write a book review here soon, but today is not (officially) that!

Today, I am taking her invitation in the book to make a list. Oh yes... I said a List, y'all!  You know how I love me some bossy lists... but this is not that.

This is a trick, a way, a tool to help you stay present and to slow down. This is a list --a retelling or reminding really-- of what these days right here are made of!

And for me, in this season - this year, 
These are the Days of Small Wonders...

So I stumble-walk my way out to our sunny spot
to simply sit, to breathe slow and unwind my soul...
to make a list and to remind my spirit
just what 'these are the days of' anyway!

That Thing I Do Now - Volume 105

Hey Sweet Friends! 

I pray you are ready for the weekend and diving in to it in all the best ways. That means different things for each of us, but I am praying that your weekend holds a bit of fun and adventure, as well as a little peace and quiet, too! (And some reading time, because of course! That is why I love to hook you up with a Gathering of Awesome!)

Featured today are posts by Emily Freeman, Sarah Bessey, Laura Boggess, Ann Voskamp, Alia Joy, Lisa Jo Baker, Amber Haines, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

Free. Free. Set Them Free... a Five Minute Friday post.

I was in and out at the Twitter party because I am getting prepared to host my first ever MercyHouse Home Party (and I am trying to not buy all. the. things. before anyone else can see them!)  So - with MercyHouse and Fair Trade Friday fresh on my mind, the prompt tonight is perfect!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: Free

{GO}

"Free. Free. Set them free..."

You know how it goes, right? If you love somebody... set them free.  I know we always interpret it this one way, but as I was busy unpacking and setting up for my first MercyHouse Home Party on Saturday... that is the song that I found myself singing under my breath. 

Set them free from poverty, from lack, from risk... set them free from the limitations that block them from walking out their destiny. (And us, too... of course!)

I have said it here before... I grew up in a small town, and for a huge chunk of my life, I lived pretty small.  I thought it was safer... hidden. But there came a time that I no longer wanted to hide... I no longer wanted to just be safe!  It has only been a handful of years that I have broadened my mindset and looked at things beyond my borders.

An International traveler, I am not! (Yet...?) However, my heart and soul began to wake to the world at large and while so many global issues feel hopeless and overwhelming and just too big... I came to the glorious realization that even a little help can be multiplied and used for good.

Something about loaves and fishes...

The Beautiful Partnership... A Guest Post at Incourage

I just can't stop talking about being Silent. (I know?)  I want to move on, but God just keeps bringing me back to the importance of creating space, of sitting still, of letting Him make me.

"It was back under Nebraskan skies, sitting beneath a canopy of branches giving praise that I slowed to ask Him, “What do You have for me here, besides a bit of retreat –besides a bit of impartation and deeper connections?”

Immediately I felt Him whisper: I have Rest that you can take with you.  

I have sunshine and breezes, and white-rocking-chairs-on-front-porch-talks that will slowly linger, sink in, take root. 

I have surprises that you won’t yet discover for months, maybe longer. But you will be able to count back to now.

I have Quiet and yet not Silence…"

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 104

Happy Weekend, y'all!

Featured today are posts by Robin Dance, Sarah Bessey, Glennon Doyle Melton, Renee Robinson, Anne B., Ann Voskamp, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

When Hope Arises Slowly... A Five Minute Friday post

I missed the #fmfparty again... We have had a week of getting up earlier and full days and it's been great - but when my All Growed Up Girlie stops by to hang out and cuddle while watching West Wing... well, enough said, yes?

Still - I am here now, so let's do this thing! We are nearing the 'official launch day' of our new church... so you know Hope is arising slowly for us as excitement is building! Let's start the timer and see what comes out!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: Hope

{GO}

When Hope arises slowly, you can feel it swelling from deep inside... how it shifts and turns and changes... how whatever is next is full of adventure and promise and blessings just waiting to be discovered!

We spent years wandering and wondering.  Years.  We wanted a home, someplace to give and to get... a place that had a purpose that focused first and foremost on Him. On His Presence. Anything else is extra. 

Making Room for When Art Leaks Out...

It happened again yesterday.  It's an innocent question and one that comes up often in our society.

"What do you do?"

It's not a real tricky question, except when it is.

The answer for years was that I was a stay at home mom.  My reply evolved into more later on. I would include things like photography, scrapbooking, and eventually "I write. I am a writer." Still, Artist is a hard title to claim because we assume it carries with it expertise and perfection. 

In this season of adjusting to an empty nest and starting a new church, I find myself once again at a loss for words to describe what it is exactly that I do. 

What I do is this:
  I leak Art.

Some of My Favorites... or Where I Find Joy.

I don't know if you noticed, but it seemed that I had a lot of words last week!

By the time Thursday night came around and I was looking at a full weekend ahead, I decided to step away from the computer and give myself (and all of you) a little break. But here we are on Monday morning and you know I have some words saved up! I promise I won't spill out too many! In fact, I am linking up with Five Minute Friday - so that means a timed free write that keeps me brief (-ish!) 

This is Five Minute Friday and our Word Prompt for the day is: Favorite

 What? You knew my Hydrangeas would make it in here somehow, right?

{GO}

Favorites... oh my! Y'all? You know I can't pick any?
I mean, sure... I get the concept... but I just have so many!

I suppose I could list a bunch of random things that are my favorites right now, but you know that list would change in a few weeks' time.

Maybe I will start with this... this is where I find my Joy. (And finding and holding on to Joy? Well... you know... that is my favorite!  You see what I did there?) 

Anyway, this is where I am finding my Joy lately, and it will come as no surprise!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 103

Happy 4th of July weekend, my friends!

Featured today are posts by Velynn Brown, Kristen Welch, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Jon Acuff, Liz von Ehrenkrook, Billy Coffey, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

What I Learned in June... A Link Up

...And we're back (again) with my favorite quirky link up, "What We Learned..." hosted by Emily Freeman.  

It's such a great practice to look over the past month and see what we learned! It's filled with actual useful tips (although usually not here!) and some not so useful lessons learned. (Those, you will find here!) Well, they were probably useful to the one sharing them - but maybe not so much universal in nature.

Anywho... we'd love to have you join in on the fun!

12 Random Things That I Have Learned. 

The Symphony of Summer... a Poetic Offering

I sit, feet up, cup in hand, settling in to these morning hours...

I let the gentle wind and the birds' songs beckon me out of slumber to stumble-walk my way out to wake in this spot... 

our spot.

These early patio starts

 --my, how they stir my soul...

As I let the sun filter through leaves and softly caress shoulders, I close my eyes and breathe in slow --breathe in deep. I slow my mind and feel my heart beat bolder

...for I meet You here.