Heart racing, I quickly closed the door to my dorm room. I could feel my chest tighten, the air constricting in my lungs. Not again, Lord, please. I picked up the phone to call my boyfriend. No answer. Then my pastor, but the phone only rang and...
Driving through North Carolina, the simple words on the billboard brought my racing mind to a halt. Now, twenty-four hours home, I can’t seem to shake them. “Hope is a practice that saves my life every day.” I don’t know what business or organization the billboard promoted, but...
My eyelids, like a weighted blanket, press down across my eyes. It is 3 p.m., and every part of my body screams, “I need a nap!” Shuffling to the kitchen, I make a second cup of coffee. Surely, this convenient adenosine blocker will trick my...
Startled, I woke from a nightmare. Sweat pouring off my skin, I take a deep breath. Instead of drowning, I am lying safe in bed. Thankfully, I have never experienced the reality of that nightmare. However, I do know what it’s like to feel like I...
“They don’t belong here,” I thought to myself as I grabbed my broom and stormed towards my back door in frustration. Bees and wasps swarmed my hummingbird feeder and, in the process, scared off the hummingbirds. It was not a wasp feeder. It was meant to...
Eight bags lined the hallway outside my four daughters' bedrooms. Tired of living in a constant state of clutter, the girls decided to clean out their closet and purge some clothes. Before they could discern what should stay and what should go, they covered every...
The rain began pattering our tent before the sun came up. Yesterday, we hiked a few miles up a steep trail and were blessed with a beautiful view of the valley from the mountain peak. The mid-July weather had been perfect--sunny, not too hot, not too...
"Well, it's a Monday!" is a phrase often heard to describe an otherwise difficult start to the day or week. Whether you've said this yourself or been the bystander as someone else begins to lament over their morning woes, the way we frame our week...
"How many more days, Mom?" my five-year old son asked over lunch. This was a question that had been on repeat for the last month or more. Anxiously awaiting his birthday, my son could barely contain his excitement. Until one morning, he woke up and said, "Happy...