May we lift our hearts in an outpouring of joyful praises!
A new day is here! This is no longer a time of hard things, struggles, and darkness. This is no longer a “sacrifice” of praise in the midst of troubles. God has turned our mourning into joy. Praise now flows through our lips easily, like the promises of God – full and fat, and always answering Yes! Yes! Yes!
This is abundance. This is the work of God. This is the way life is GOOD. Sing to the Lord, bless His name, announce His salvation day after day. His mercies are new every morning. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Oh, what an honor to see the mighty works of the Lord! The undeserved favor and blessings, the marvelous gifts, the righteous deeds, the depth and height, the length and width of His never ending love for us. What a blessing to see God at work, catching a glimpse of what He does within His own creation. He does special things for us because HE CAN! He is God, He is willing, He wants to, and He loves us.
Oh, Lord, we are overwhelmed with Your greatness! Who are we that You would even bother with us? But Your love comes through, it cannot be held back. Your love comes to the most wretched of us, to those in despair. It lifts us out of the pit, cleans us up, and gives us a crown, not of thorns but of glory, the glory we have in Christ! Your love brings us into Your own glory! What a mystery for the books of the ages!
Lift your horn, oh people of God. Tell the world the Spirit is moving again and again! Hallelujah!
Throughout my cancer journey, I have been awestruck by the outpouring of love, concern, support, encouragement, and prayers of countless people, many of them strangers. And now that I’ve entered a resting point, away from the harsh chemo, and I am functioning better and thinking more clearly, something profound has occurred to me.
It’s an act of courage to pray for someone else, to breathe hope into words, to send those words out into the heavens, not certain what the outcome will be, never truly sure that you’ve been heard, yet daring to believe the impossible, calling goodness into being, watching and waiting to see what will happen as you go about your daily life.
I want you to know that you’ve given me an amazing gift: your valiant act of faith. I hold this offering close to my heart, wrapped in tissues of hope, and I somehow know with certainty that the divine walks upon this earth through the acts of kindness and love from people like you.
I think we all need more little moments of peace every day.
There’s so much we can’t control. So much beyond our power to fix or change. We can only do the next right thing – and that looks different for each of us. But a moment of peace can bring the clarity we need for the next right thing. It can make a difference, that little moment.
We have to learn how to live life in the middle of chaos. We have to find a way to stay sane. We have to find a way to calm our emotions and stay centered so that we are prepared to do the hard work ahead of us. Otherwise we will burn out. We will be useless.
We become part of the problem when we don’t take the time to nurture ourselves.
I don’t have the answers to all of the problems in today’s world, but I do know the value of slowing down, taking a moment to breathe and re-center, taking time to reconnect with goodness, and light, and things that transcend the horror and anguish of this modern world.
Looking at clouds and smelling flowers will not solve political conflict, but that doesn’t mean there’s no place for it in a fallen world. We all need hope and courage as much as we need a plan of action.
May you find a way to allow the little things to bring you peace and refreshment. May you be fortified to act from a place of wisdom and purpose. And may you find a way to do the hard things with honor and love.
This is a story about a spring wedding, yes. But it’s also a story about life.
This month, my son and his wife are celebrating their two year wedding anniversary. They were married in March of 2021, on the spring equinox, a time of new beginnings, a time of new life. It was also right in the middle of one of the world’s worst pandemics, spawning, among other things, unprecedented global economic shutdowns and lockdowns. Businesses, schools, sporting events, large gatherings, graduations, funerals, and weddings were all affected.
Life is like that sometimes.
During their 2020 engagement period, our young couple was busy planning their dream wedding. Surely the COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted within a year, they thought. So they booked a venue.
The wedding would take place in the spring, near the home of the bride’s family, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bride and groom would be surrounded by a huge group of their extended families and friends. It was to be hosted among the unique blend of music, flavor, and culture of world-renowned New Orleans. There would be a large bridal party and tons of events leading up to the big day. It was all richly romantic. Perfectly poetic.
But as the year 2020 counted down, the spread of COVID-19 ramped up, and the New Year 2021 began with more restrictions. The wedding venue could not accommodate the large guest list. Hard choices had to be made. The wedding was postponed. They were now looking into booking a winter wedding in December 2021.
Life is like that sometimes.
Dreams are derailed by forces beyond our control. Disappointments abound. Plan A fails. Plan B begins to crumble, and life itself becomes smaller, more isolated, less certain.
The dream wedding continued to unravel, and in the end, it boiled down to a party of 10 people: bride and groom, parents and grandparents, and sister of the bride, plus a violinist.
The wedding took place on the spring equinox of 2021 in a small garden at the Dallas Arboretum. The flowers were in bloom, and the bride floated down stone steps like a princess in a sparkling white gown, steadied by her father’s strong arm. The soft strains of the violin lifted all of us into a place above the brokenness of the world, a place infused with love and beauty, light and new life. Richly romantic. Perfectly poetic.
Life is like that sometimes.
And now as they celebrate two years of marriage, I can see how equipped they are to face life’s many challenges. The pandemic has officially ended, but the world is still not “normal.” There are lingering effects. Yet there is much to be celebrated. Sometimes small is beautiful. Sometimes love looks like sacrifice. Sometimes there is something bigger and more important waiting around the corner.
Life is like that sometimes.
Happy Anniversary, RJ and Natalie! May you have many more wonderful years together. And may your love always rise above your earthly circumstances, as you journey together through life.
My son got married
this weekend
to the most beautiful
girl in the world,
a princess actually,
who stopped onlookers
in their tracks
as they witnessed flowers
bursting into bloom
when she walked by.
Heaven itself beamed
blessings and grace
as my son's heart joined hers,
fingers intertwined,
lips breathing life into vows
that reached the ears
of the angels.
Music danced to the beat
of their hearts,
and the promise
of forever
was sealed with a kiss.
My son got married
this weekend
and I got the most beautiful
daughter in the world,
and my heart is still bursting.
This is for anyone who has to do hard things (like chemo – or just life). May you have the courage to just show up.
I don't want to go
I don't want to go back
I don't want to go back there
I don't want to go back there ever
I don't want to go back there ever again
Lord, give me the strength to just show up.
Of course, I showed up. How could I not? My life depends on it.
In December 2022, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. I am currently undergoing chemotherapy. I invite you to sign up for my monthly newsletter to follow my cancer journey.
Let me have eyes to see the signs of your personal love for me!
Synchronicity is the evidence of your presence, the evidence of your workings, the evidence of your tender love.
Though you are shrouded in mystery, I can always trust you are near, so close that we could share a breath. Right beneath the tissue of my skin you live, and move, and fill my being with your holy light, casting out darkness, destroying evil, repairing the damages that result from life in a fallen world.
You choose to make your home not in the heights where the eagles fly, not in the castles where kings reside, not in the buildings across the world, but right here in the hearts of the people you love.
What kind of God lives within a human heart? Only the Most High could do – would do – such a merciful thing! How willing you are to mingle your blood with ours! You must desire closeness more than we do. You must have a plan bigger than our plans. We must be very special to you – the evidence is here for all who have eyes to see.
among the gifts
and packages
the kids
and the pets
the relatives
and friends
the reindeer
and snowmen
among all the places
and empty spaces
of loved ones missed
of cheeks not kissed
the fatigue and frustrations
of holiday cheer
between Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year
the loneliness that echoes
in the chambers of the heart
sadness nipping
at the heels of joy
among all these things
it's easy to lose sight
of the Child that was born
on a dark winter night
let your heart be captured
by this story of old
let the ancient mystery
captivate your soul
let yourself believe
that heroes do exist
let yourself conceive
that God is in our midst
it only takes a moment
a slight shift of mind
to make a space
for the heart to embrace
heaven's Child divine
My dear friend, I hope you feel something good this Christmas.
I know there are so many things that keep you from experiencing happiness and joy. It is my wish that you can find a way to look beyond the aches and pains of this world and see, for a moment, the manifestation of glory.
May you have the eyes of a child again, and a heart full of delight.
May your hands hold the wrist, feel the pulse, and touch the heart of Christmas, and find that it is real.
May the Light spread warmth through every part of your soul.
And may you truly know how deeply and sweetly loved you are.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”
What are you building today, my friend? A home, a career, a platform, a following, a family, a book of memories, a life? This winter, may you take the time to hold it up to the light before you continue to build.
if there is mold in an
interior wall you must
first tear down the wall
to get to the mold before
you continue to build
if there is a spot or blemish
that marks your soul
you must first wring it out
like a washing of clothes
before you continue to build
if there are tears obscuring
the blueprint of life
you must first call the guy
who can make it right
let him help you fix it
as you hold it to the light
before you continue to build
It’s the month of November, and I am feeling thankful here in south Louisiana.
I am writing outdoors this morning. I move my patio chair close to the edge, where the cement touches the grass, so that I have a clear view of the sky. So that I can gaze at the feathery angel-wing clouds spreading from north to south. So that I can feel the coolness of the air against my flip-flopped feet instead of burning them in the sun.
The birds are rather quiet this morning – they don’t seem to have much to say, except an occasional whistle in the distance, a soft caw or a little shriek here and there. Brownie whimpers and whines, annoying me like a petulant child. She wants to go all the way into the sun, with no part of her little body in the cold shade.
A helicopter breaks the quiet, chopping it into pieces with his noisy, powerful blades.
Now he’s gone and the stillness slowly returns. Brownie is basking in full sun, her eyes sleepy, her sigh content. This is a good life.
And I thank God for his presence in all of these things, ordinary nature infused with the divine, transforming everything into something beautiful. I thank you, Lord, for the view of the sky, and the sweeping clouds, and the barking black dog two houses down. Thank you that I can write outdoors, my soul touching your beauty, my heart lifting with praise, my page ruffling in the breeze.
I thank you for all the lovely words and images you have given me to write, your thoughts and ideas spilling through me onto pages and pages, flowing like a river that runs through my heart, translating feelings into language, words wrapped in the fragrance of the divine and poured out like anointing oil to continually heal the brokenness of a wounded world.
You work your ways into our lives using the most ordinary earthly things. You make a normal life “the good life” – full and satisfying, meeting practical needs without fanfare, almost unnoticed. Easy to miss, unless one is really looking, attention open to the barely visible threads connecting our known to the unknown. With silver cords you lace our veins through your own heart, allowing us to flow through you, and with you, and in you, keeping us close and warm, never alone.
Such mysteries are too deep to fathom, yet we catch a glimpse on a quiet day, in the rustle of autumn leaves, with fresh air touching our skin, and the soft voices of birds in branches, brushing past us as we let our eyes rest on the blueness of the sky. Ordinary moments woven into everyday life – hot coffee, warm toast, cinnamon sprinkles, a good morning kiss – normal routines that link our minutes into hours, our hours into days.
All these things somehow transform the unremarkable into an extraordinarily fulfilled life.
