I am a creature of habit. A creature of routine. I thrive on it. (Just ask hubs…) I drive the same route, change lanes at the same spot. Eat the same things at our favorite restaurants, make the same dinners. I like predictability and knowing what to expect. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? So change? Yeah, I don’t …
Learning to Rest
It’s funny how the seasons of life ebb and flow. Feast or famine. All or nothing. There are things going on in my life, and the lives of those I love, that keep me up at night. Thinking. Praying. Pondering. Worrying. Even when sleep finds me, my very soul continues to battle on in prayer and thought. There is sleep, …
I Can’t Do This {Guest Posting at The Better Mom}
When the heaviness and reality of motherhood – and my failure at it – hit me once again and sleep eluded me I realized that I can’t do this. And that’s when I had a choice to make: do I accept the Grace offered so freely to me on a daily (sometimes minutely) basis or do I reject it and continue to …
Weak With Laughing
I absolutely love the Irish language. She’s beautiful, haunting, full of blessings (and curses), and chalk full of crazy-ape rules. Crazy-ape exceptions to the rules are what’s really maddening. After spending a total of nearly five years learning this language I can say that she has found her way into my heart, and become a part of me in a …
First Name Basis (Or, Culture Shock 3 Years On)
Padraig. Maire. Mairead. Sinead. Siobhan. Luisne. Nora. Deborah. Tony. Traolach. Donal. These are just a few of the names of folks we know around here. I’ve noticed since we’ve been here people always greet me using my first name. This has both made me smile, and unnerved me. It made me smile because I felt special; the fact that they …
Grace Is…
I sit at your feet pouring my heart out. I’ve given up. Again. I’m starting over. Again. Grace is listening to me cry and hurt and moan. Grace is lifting my eyes to see You again. Grace is taking my hand in Your’s and taking the first step with me. Again. Grace is loving me the same today as You …
The Rock in My Garden
Our house has several distinctive features. The bright red door contrasted against the white exterior to name one. The biggest sign you’ve found our house however is this: A giant rock boulder smack in the middle of our front garden. There are many things I love about that rock. It provides an easy landmark when giving directions to our house …
There Is a Love For You
To the young girl waiting for a daddy who’ll never come home. To the old man sitting alone in his living room, surrounded by the trappings of the woman he spent his life caring for. To the twenty-something full of the warm “elixir of life”, laughing with friends, but doubting on the inside. To the woman watching him walk out …
Sunrise of the Soul
This past year has been one of darkness in my heart. Heaviness. Weariness. Burden. There has been emotional unrest; sorrow without explanation. Not depression in the clinical sense, but a heaviness over me like a lead cloak. Weighing me down. An invisible iron fist laid firm upon my back. There has been physical malady. Headaches. Fatigue. Pain. Illness. Dizziness. The …
Living in Wonderland
Has one of your kids ever said something that made you go HUH?! Yeah, mine too. Today I’m honored, humbled and excited to be over at Intentional By Grace sharing how a whimsical comment from my four year old while playing with her brother caught me off guard, and then made me think (as random comments from my kiddos tend …