New Testament

All The Wonder, None of the Worry

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to make myself a hot cup of tea, turn on the Christmas lights, sit at my beloved piano, and play Christmas music. It is such mental and spiritual therapy for me as I flip through pages and play some of my favorites from memory. One of my favoriteContinue reading “All The Wonder, None of the Worry”

Broken Promises

At some point, all of us have either crossed our hearts or performed a pinky swear over issues that seemed foundational to our peace of mind at tender young ages. Most have sworn allegiance to secret clubs in treehouses or make-do forts. I can still recite my brownie and Girl Scout pledges. We learned earlyContinue reading “Broken Promises”

Lightning Bugs

One of my most treasured memories from childhood summers is waiting until dusk, when lightning bugs began to appear. Some people call them by the more elegant title of fireflies but in our family culture, we call them lightning bugs. My grandmother would hunt me up an old mason jar (one that was past itsContinue reading “Lightning Bugs”

Happy or Blest?

Recently while doing some genealogy research, I came across the information that Finland, for the 6th year in a row, was identified as the happiest nation in the world. Since I am 50% Finnish, I decided to go down the rabbit hole and see what lies behind this claim of” happiness.” Some of the reasonsContinue reading “Happy or Blest?”

Moments on the Mountain…The Guide

One of the benefits of living in the technological age is that we have so much instructional information at our fingertips. I learned how to sew with a sewing machine by watching a video. I have googled everything from how to make Baklava, butterfly shrimp, and make my own pita bread. Google has helped meContinue reading “Moments on the Mountain…The Guide”

The Wardrobe… Cleaning out the Closet

It is that time of year for me when I get a strong urge to get organized and go through my “stuff.” Perhaps it is the pristine calendar on my desk, minus erasure marks and ink scribbles., all crisp and white, that inspires me to take this on. I do this every new year. SometimesContinue reading “The Wardrobe… Cleaning out the Closet”