6:40 a.m. and I’ve been a wake for an hour already with thoughts rolling around in my head. I should be sleeping. No kids. Weekend away with my honey. Celebrating Papa’s faithfulness to us. It’s quiet. A preciousness in that word. It’s quiet. My soul is quiet. Three weeks ago, my feet walked this same retreat center as the women of our church converged here for a time away with the Lord. 20 years before that my betrothed and I received vision for our future marriage on these grounds. The land here… Read More

Twenty years ago yesterday at 4:00 p.m., I walked down an aisle, and became a bride.  I had no idea what it meant to be a bride. That evening as we settled into our bridal suite, a hotel off the highway, I fumbled around in the drawer beside our bed to pull out the Gideon Bible.  Beside it lay a single pewter anchor fallen from someone’s bookmark.  I turned it over with my fingers, and heard a popular song running through my head, “The Anchor Holds”.  Immediately, the Holy Spirit spoke these… Read More

I wrote this 9 months ago, but felt, with some editing, it deserved a second look.  I hope you think so too: In the little, 2 chapter, Book of Haggai, the Lord says to the people, “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?” (Hag 1:4) 17 years earlier, about a year after their return from Babylon, by order of the pagan King Cyrus of the Persians, the Jewish people they had laid the foundation of the Temple and the first layer of the wall. Cyrus was… Read More

Reconciliation.  So many letters.  Such a big word.  To restore to friendly relationship, to restore harmony, to settle, to resolve.  Even more than that… A return to love.  A restoration of love.  A forgiving and releasing place.  A receiving forgiveness place. I’ve been laying in bed recovering from a virus that’s been weakening my body for a couple of days.  “Eat and rest” was the trumpeted call at a women’s retreat last weekend.  Got that down the last two days.  In my quiet, which is such a rarity, my mind has drifted… Read More