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Summer grateful

Summer Grateful

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 …

instagram of pies, pie instagram, blackberry pie, apple pie, making pie

Eyes Wide Open

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 …

45 Years Ago

This is part 3 of a fun anniversary shoot that Whitney did with my parents.  Here’s part 1 and part 2.  I am so incredibly grateful to Whitney for these precious pictures of my parents! My parents started dating at North Little Rock High during their senior year.  Daddy asked Mama to prom that spring …

cowboy boots and yellow, jeans and boots, baby boomers in love, baby boomers in boots, sixty somethings wearing cowboy boots, fifty somethings wearing cowboy boots

Boots in the Sun

This part 2 of my parents’ anniversary Boot Shoot with Whitney. Yesterday was Boots in the Rain, but we got rewarded for braving the rain with some amazing sunlight.  The kind that only comes after the rain. My parents are looking at Mary Polly who had wandered up the riverbank a little bit to play.  …

cowboy boots and umbrella, cowboy boots by the river

Boots in the Rain

  In August, my parents went to their 45th high school reunion and celebrated their 42nd anniversary. To mark these special events in their lives, I asked Whitney to take pictures of them.  We used to take a family picture every year growing up, but once we all flew the coop, my parents stopped having …

Celebrating Mama

We are celebrating Mama today because it is her birthday. But I am celebrating more than just that she was born today. I am giving thanks for the difference between last year and today. Last year at this time Mama was in a hospital, she weighed less than 100 pounds and was struggling to retain …

Thirteen

Today my only girl is 13. She has grown up so much in the last year, and yet I still have so much I want her to know. I want her to dream bigger-than-life dreams but I want her to stay close to me. I am alternately bursting with pride in the young woman she …

grateful today

My grandmother and Simon are both Junebugs.  They turned 6 and 89 last week, so they shared a birthday cake at Sunday lunch at my parents. We partied all day on Sunday because we were also saying Goodbye to our exchange student, Vitara, who began her long journey back to Indonesia yesterday. My grandmother played …

handmade christmas

We are gearing up for a wonderful holiday season at the Chino House. I haven’t pulled the decorations out yet but I am doing a lot of preparing on paper and in my heart.  We’re so excited this year because our church theme for this Christmas is the Advent Conspiracy.  Since we already love an …

Hiking with Kids, grateful for silence

Grateful for Silence

I’m so grateful for silence this week. It’s necessary to my sanity. I got to escape to the woods on Saturday for some quiet time. A silent prayer retreat with friends from church. My favorite part of the camp was a prayer garden that was a path deep into the woods with lots of little …

Grateful for Hope

Grateful for Hope on Maundi Thursday! We studied Isaiah 60 in Bible Study Fellowship this week. Isaiah 60 is all about hope and light. Hope for our future. Peace for today. I’m so grateful for how the study of Jesus as our future light and present hope coincided with rejoicing at Jesus’ entry on Palm …