Hello, My Name Is: Beautiful!

“Do you think I’m pretty?I think you’re beautiful.Beautiful?You are so beautiful, it hurts sometimes.” – Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy “You are altogether beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you! – Song of Solomon 4:7 I won’t walk the road of circumstance that led me to feel ugly. That stretch of highway is a bitContinueContinue reading “Hello, My Name Is: Beautiful!”

Not All Who Wander Are Lost…

“It’s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness & danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end…because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end,ContinueContinue reading “Not All Who Wander Are Lost…”

Anna’s Candles: Coming Home!

I know that I have life only insofar as I have love.   I have no love except it come from Thee.   Help me, please, to carry this candle against the wind.  –      Wendell Berry, “I”, Leavings P. 33 Anna pulled the minivan into the gravel drive that ran along the back of the house.ContinueContinue reading “Anna’s Candles: Coming Home!”

Anna’s Candles: Let there be JOY!

“You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done.” – Psalm 92:4Anna took in an excited breath as Papa placed the warm wriggling pup with a bright red bow wrapped around its neck into her open arms. She wrapped her arms warm around,ContinueContinue reading “Anna’s Candles: Let there be JOY!”

Anna’s Candles: Love Warms You Through

 Potato peels sat in the sink. A big silver pot brimming with water and already sliced potatoes bubbled on the stove. The earthly starches filled the kitchen with warming comfort. SCReeeeetch! BAM! Thud…thud…thud…SCReeeetch! BAM! Thud…thud…thud…Mama stilled her hand, the blade of the knife she held barely sinking underneath the brown skin of another potato. “WhatContinueContinue reading “Anna’s Candles: Love Warms You Through”

Anna’s Candles: Hope is like wanting a puppy!

 “I want a puppy!”Anna’s bare toes padded soft on the hardwood floor as she came through the dining room proclaiming her desire. Papa, warm in a flannel shirt, was fixing candles amidst a wreath atop the table. His strong arms stilled their effort, turning; he peered at Anna over spectacles he used for reading. “Anna!ContinueContinue reading “Anna’s Candles: Hope is like wanting a puppy!”