Living a Blessed Life

Gusty winds blow snow-like clouds through the frigid winter air outside my kitchen bay window. Trees are blanketed with fresh piles of fluffy white snow, yet birds continue singing the promises of Spring. We are in the midst of a late February blizzard, and I am honestly loving having our kids home for the second day in a row. We have had friends here to play (because that is what we do on snow days in MN) and sleepovers! These are the greatest memory-making moments of Winter. The aroma of homemade comfort food fills the air, and we celebrate by declaring pajama parties each day. The snow in our yard is as deep as our dog, Maple, is tall. She bounds through the snow with her head reaching just above the top layer and creates what we refer to as her interstate system through the yard. Watching her attempt to run through this snow is both entertaining and satisfying. If we must endure the looooooong Minnesota winters we deserve a blizzard or two to enjoy. S...

My daughter snuck towards me in the dark, as she was supposed to be in bed waiting to be tucked in for the night. “ Mom,” she whispered into my ear. “I can’t find my glasses. I put them in the case and now they are not there!” She tends to whisper when she knows she might end up in trouble. She was making sure her school uniform was set out and everything else was ready for the morning when she shockingly realized that her brand-new glasses were missing. This may not seem like a big deal, and in the grand scheme of things it probably is not, however, she has only had glasses for 3 months, and one of those months they were at the eye doctor’s office awaiting new lenses (with a prescription adjustment) and new frames. You see, her lenses came in and I received a call stating that they could not install them because both hinges on her frame were broken! Gah! We just paid for this new pair of glasses, which were ALREADY broken beyond repair. (Thankfully, they come with a one-time f...

“ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ” — Matthew 16:26 AMP Last week Darek and I took a trip to Vero Beach, Florida for 4 days. We planned this trip last fall as a celebration of my completion of Chemotherapy and healing from cancer. Based on previous experience we know that the warm sunshine and sounds of ocean waves are both healing and relaxing. Darek had the foresight to plan a relaxing trip that would help our hearts heal from the tumultuous previous 9 months and provide focused time to re-connect and talk about our hopes and dreams. There are many moments throughout the course of treatment when enormous goals for the future pause, and short term goals become the focus. We become very aware of the possible finality of each and every moment. I determined for myself that I would be present for my children, husband, and friends, at every single event that I c...