I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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Well friends, the end of 2020 is within sight. I daresay it’s been a year we will never forget, even if we want to. But before this year is over, I am hoping to squeeze in a little (socially-distanced) adventure AND bring some light and love to the world in the process. So I am …
Longer Walks For Seeking The Sacred Over the last few weeks, I have been going for longer and longer walks. Four times a week, I’m crossing the five mile mark, which is long for me friends. It’s partly because I am training for a long walk (Yes, I have bravely put something on the calendar …
Spring has officially arrived at Augustana. And I am super grateful. All of our other local trails have now closed, so we are walking at Augustana every day. I notice new flowers opening up every day. Even if a lot of the trees are still bare, the grass is green. On our street, this tulip …
Walking at Home in the Arkansas Ozarks Simon got out of school for a two-week spring break on March 6th. Our plan was to head to Arkansas, soak up time with friends and family for a couple of weeks before Taido would fly down and join us. Then Taido was going to drive home with …
News from the Chino House Here are a few things I’ve been loving this month: wisteria and tulips playing with sourdough starter imagining a world without prisons walking with friends on Arkansas trails and around the lake eating dinner in the backyard at a table and chairs that someone gave to us teaching yoga at …
It’s been a little over six weeks since we boarded a plane in Switzerland to come back to the US. Back home. Taido is teaching for the fall at Lyon College, a small liberal arts school that is about ninety minutes up the road from where I spent most of my childhood. It’s a …
Beware of feeling entitled to my good gifts. Receive blessings from me thankfully, yet be willing to release them back to be — without growing resentful. When I read these words, out of Sarah Young’s Jesus Today this week I realized that I was holding onto the good gifts of my summer. When I arrived in Arkansas in …
A collection of my favorite memories from this year’s Christmas in Scotland.
Happy Thanksgiving Friends! (That’s me waving to you from across the pond!) Since I am not cooking a turkey or even baking making Grandmother’s rolls today, I thought I would take a few minutes to share a collection of the thoughts of my heart from the past week or so. Because I am just a …
In celebration of the fact that we have now been in Scotland for one year, here’ s a quick look back at the last twelve months of life at the Chino House.
North Sea Walk Sometimes, on Sunday afternoon, when everyone is feeling lazy or there is homework to be done, or you have already made a long walk to and from church, no one much wants to go for a walk by the sea. In such cases as these, it is best to go along anyway. …
Yesterday I dropped Taido at the airport and now he’s in Scotland. Just like that. So, I Guess This Means We’re Really Moving. The kids and I leave in a week, so we are soaking up the end of the summer at the lake with our cousins. This summer has been full to the brim …
Lots of mixed feelings this week, closing up the house and saying goodbye to our life on Cedar Street. Reprinted below is the text of an actual letter I wrote to my sweet neighborhood to say goodbye. An Open Letter To My Neighbors, Upon Saying Goodbye Dear Neighbor, My family and I have moved everything …
2 families, 4 days, 3 nights, 15 miles, 3,000 feet of elevation gain. I had a revelation along the way last week in the mountains. Well, several actually, but the first one was this. I really love backpacking.
Since this track played nonstop at the Chino House a couple of years ago, it will forever play in my head when someone says SUMMERTIME! Go ahead. Listen. Enjoy. We sure are. We’re spending mornings here, there and everywhere, but afternoons we tend to end up at the pool, whether we planned to or not. …
Getting Back To Your Roots I can feel my blood pressure dropping as I drive out to my friend’s house in the country. I take the exit and head north on an old highway surrounded by fields of yellow wildflowers and cardboard signs for fresh picked strawberries. Sandy, along with her husband Michael, live in …
My kids have been in the middle of standardized testing for the last two weeks, and I am feeling so grateful that today is the last day of it! We are definitely going to have to celebrate! I think a little ice cream party is in order this afternoon. Sprinkles, cones, toppings and the like. …
My beautiful grandmother went home home to be with Jesus last Saturday. And though I earnestly prayed all last week that she might be released from her earthly body, I have found that with each day that dawns, the world seems darker without her in it. Today we will bury her and say goodbye. We …
I’ve been trying to hold my eyes wide open this week to see the good in the world. Though I am constantly trying to cultivate a heart of thanks, it’s more than being grateful. I am also fighting to stay in the light. Praying for eyes to see and ears to hear. Beautiful things. Here …
I am so grateful for a wonderful weekend at Castle Bluff with our middle school students from church. It’s been a couple of years since I made it to one of Taido’s camps so I had enough distance that I was able to wonder afresh at the experience. Lots of treasures on my Grateful List …