Sheltered between two Rocky Mountain canyon walls, my husband and I ascend the steep hair-pinned road. A deep sense of belonging settles as we view the beauty in silence. We have left the city behind in hopes of the serenity of clear blue mountain lakes, pristine heights and slopes of evergreens and aspen, and most…
Tag: writer
Betrayal
Don’t think of betrayal, rejection, disappointment, or failure as deprivation, rather a nutrient-rich, bitter bite. Trees are pruned in slices, without ruth, to the life-giving quick of a bearing branch. The inward, blue stripes of brokenness–that rite of passage called surrender–produces the most impassioned, sweetest, and lasting fruit. You will rise again to re-plow, re-seed,…
August’s End
Bathed in sunlight and surrounded with a thickly woven emerald carpet and a singing chorus of flowers in rioting colors, summer’s glorious days draw down to a few. It’s beauty though forever remains ephemeral and perpetual at once. Here I find strength in the hope of You, Creator. Father. Friend. Confidant. Savior. Here I am …
Words and the Sea
The sea is awake and the sand asleep. Waves wash over the uncombed glittering grains with generosity. Over and over they move in tandem, in rhythm—the washing in and out of great salty waters. My heart stings as the saline potion washes clean the wounds of yesterday. Collapsed and cradled in the arms of the…
Soar
Ponder living in the world of a bald eagle, king of the skies, plummeting from the mountain top to the glassy clear blue lake and rising again. Oh the invigorating rush of life, exhilaration, boundless freedom, and ineffable joy! Have you been born without wings? Think again. Bend life’s harsh limitations into a dream beyond…
A Second Book
This morning while picking up the house and getting ready for the day, it occurred to me with stunning, non-negotiable truth that this November I am turning 75! I did not wince at this serendipitous reminder. Pastor Olen Griffing, a very wise man, mentor, and friend told me once that it is only in your…
Firsts
My grandson, Emmett, wiggled and wiggled as I tried to put on his pajamas. His silly mood made us both giggle and fall on the bed with laughter. Then suddenly, Emmett grew quiet and still for a moment, and his eyes gleamed and grew as big as planets. “Marmee, we saw Christmas lights tonight!” “Yes, we…
Kneeling
I’ve spent a lifetime bandaging my feet, partly from ill-fitting shoes, traveling too many miles in a day, losing my way, making a wrong turn, or carrying too many burdens. Also, there are the roads I’ve traveled long just to gaze upon ancient stones, a rusted filigree, or become dizzy with the scent of an …
Joy’s Dilemma
My treasured keepsakes bulge in pockets of time—rather moments—that are tucked hard against the bones of my heart. They remain as fresh and life-giving as the first-offerings of spring rosesbuds, tight with fragrance and bleeding of crimson that smears across my fingers as I pull them out one petal at a time. The edges are…
Scottish Revival 1923
You can’t visit Scotland and not drink from the deep spiritual wells there, dug by stalwart Scottish Christians proclaiming salvation with changed lives. Right where I am standing here in Portsoy on the Banffshire coast, in front of the Shore Inn, a revival broke out in 1923. Here is an excerpt from, “Floods upon Dry…
Bonnie Saul Wilks 