Like many of you, I try to make everything “perfect” when entertaining guests. I want them to know that their presence is important; that I care enough to “pull out all the stops.” And, when hosting an event, I want it to be as seamless as possible so everyone can relax, laugh, talk, and know […]
Category Archives: Peace Full Home
Sometimes we humans fly through our days, pretending we have it all together when, in reality, we’re merely going through the motions. Many of us have perfected the “my life is amazing” dance but never figured out who we truly are, maintaining the status quo—no matter how poorly it reflects what our hearts truly desire. Sadly, many […]
“Truth or Dare” is something I’ve never played, having heard too many stories of young (and not-so-young) people divulging personal information or performing dangerous, humiliating, or out of their comfort zone “dares.” (What we sometimes do to others, or allow them to make us do, is heartbreaking.) Unlike the game “truth or dare,” I’m talking about truth and dare. […]
As I sat drinking my tea, from a cup I gave my Mom before she died, I thought about my twist on “Twas The Night Before Christmas” from a few years ago. May the end of this calendar year bring you peace, blessings and joy. Kay ‘Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the place, […]
Yesterday, I was downstairs in the shop organizing hardware storage cabinets. Small bins hold everything from nails and screws to plumbing and electrical parts, and they’re all labeled by their contents, so we know where things are. The process is pretty mindless. For example, screws are separated by drives like slotted, Phillips, and hex. Sorting […]
DESOLATION she tries to ignore it, but the desolation demands attention. it won’t let her wander outside its constrictive boundaries; to simply be. it taunts her, saying, “you’ve failed in so many ways”, “do you know how often you’ve screwed up?”, “listen to me tell you about your weaknesses, your shortcomings, your pain”, “let me […]
CANDLELIGHT I light the candles as dusk envelopes the space. I don’t like the dark. I see things in the shadows that I don’t see in the light. I hear things that are silenced in the day. I’m afraid of the dark. Fear can freeze us in place; it can bring us to our knees […]
What if you fill your cup of life? Not overfill it with boring or uninspiring activities or meaningless possessions. (Do you ever fill your life with tangible stuff to drown out the lack of real stuff?) Not overload it with placeholders that scream “my cup’s full!”. But, rather, fill it to the brim with the wholeness of […]
The first “drive-thru” was at a St. Louis bank in 1930, and since that time we do a lot more than make deposits without ever leaving our cars. We can “drive-thru” to buy postage, meals, and coffee; to drop off books, dry cleaning, and movies; to get a flu shot or, even, to get married. […]
Core Beliefs reflect the essence of self—what we consider absolute truths about ourselves, others and the world. (They’re very different from “on the surface” thoughts that change depending on what’s going on in your life.) Life/World Core Beliefs sound like: the world is a dangerous place (-) honesty is always best (+) people are fundamentally self-serving […]
I’ve mentioned vestibular neuritis before, but what’s interesting is that as I live with this condition, that isn’t life-threatening but is lifestyle-threatening, I think about how blessed I am to have this as my most serious physical disadvantage. Vestibular Neuritis Information about motion, equilibrium, and spatial orientation is provided by the vestibular system which detects gravity […]
This isn’t a “happy” story about lasagna, green sweaters or cloth napkins. It’s a story about humanness and brokenness. I’m not talking about broken hearts but, rather, broken spirits— when you know you have worth, but can’t count it, when it feels like life has been sucked out of you, when you’ve lost, given up, or […]
Like every year, the week before Christmas was a whirlwind of activity. Before the 25th, there were presents to still be wrapped (not part of my typical reality since I like having things done ahead of time), groceries to be bought, a table for sixteen to be set, music selections to be chosen (yep, just a […]
imminent—forthcoming, impending behavior—the manner of conducting ourselves Imminent Behavior—how you’re going to respond, in the time immediately in front of you. It’s different from future thinking that sounds like: “Next year (month, week) I’m going to do things like: be kinder (find God, give back)”, or “When I have the right job (relationship, home) then, I’ll become happy”. In […]
Have you ever set your sight on a very specific destination—a job, a relationship, a lifestyle, an adventure—and never arrived there at all, or got there in an obscure, circuitous way? • How did that make you feel? In your attempt to reach that destination were there times when you found yourself “off the beaten path” […]
This post was originally published in 2014. I had it on my calendar to post again today (8 days before Christmas 2018) and coincidentally (or not, since things like this happen all the time), it was the topic at church yesterday. It’s eight days before Christmas! Emails regarding last-minute presents flood our inboxes. Anyone we’ve […]
I’ve been unpacking boxes of Christmas ornaments. In the boxes, there are the little drummer boys that Sara and Erin made with their grandmother thirty years ago, fragile glass ornaments and precious works of art that say, “best Nana ever”. There are gifts from friends and special pieces Mom gave me. Some are many decades […]
SURRENDERING SORROW I can be like a hoarder—indiscriminate about what I’m adding to my already full life. Sometimes, I invite hurt and sorrow to take up permanent residence in my heart because I’m unwilling to let them go. Sometimes, the pain hanging in the air is so heavy that it seems I should be able […]
“HOME” the crowd gathered around her. the world was silent; pregnant with anticipation as fellow humans waited for her to speak, but there was no sound, just the stillness, the nothingness; the nothingness that was ripe with possibility too unimaginable to be spoken; too sacred to be believed. it was as if there was […]
Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Prague in the Czech Republic with my friend, Jill. The travel conditions were perfect: the weather would be cooperative, the dollar was strong, we had separate rooms to retreat to for quiet and we would be traveling with a group of people—affording us the guarantee of same-language speaking […]
Four years ago, when our granddaughter Lauren was nine, we were driving to a soccer tournament when she asked, from the backseat, if we wanted to use her “future telling app”. Of course, we said yes. After all, who can resist a future telling app? Lauren proceeded to ask for dates in the future. We […]
Each day as I get out of bed I say, “Thank You God”. In my more aware moments, I tack on some of the other easy “thank yous”: a new day, my health, my family, etcetera. Those aren’t insincere—it’s just that they’re so darned easy to name. Sitting in my quiet (in spite of the rambunctious […]
The topic of the last three posts—a different kind of abundance—tackles the, often tough, issue of how we experience a fullness of life that’s not tied to an abundance of physical “stuff”. 11/2 part 1– initial questions, why we have so much stuff 11/3 part 2– guidelines for owning possessions, how to define clutter, the […]
This is the third installment of “A Different Kind of Abundance”. Part I (11/2) offered questions for your consideration and explanations for why we accumulate and hang onto things. In Part II (11/3) we jumped into guidelines for owning possessions and what constitutes “clutter”. Today, the discussion is going to center around organization goals to move forward. I was asked […]
Let’s pick up from where we left off yesterday with A Different Kind of Abundance, Part I. If you live in a house full of stuff that isn’t really important to you—or doesn’t reflect who you are—right now is a great time to begin imagining a home that feels full of peace (instead of full of […]
