This is late. I intended to end my Lenten journey with a post sharing my experience but I had no words. This year was very different than last. I wrote several posts easily during my Lenten journey last year, but posts have been few this time around because words have been few. I hoped to…

Read More

It’s a hard place to be when nothing goes as planned. When everything falls apart. When all your expectations are unmet. I expected the first day of our backpacking trip to be cold but not icy. I expected the hike to be difficult but not treacherous. I expected good conversation around a blazing fire the…

Read More

I’ve been quieter about my Lenten journey this year. It’s not been on purpose. I didn’t plan it that way is what I mean. The last time I sat down to write, the internet was out. At first, I was irritated about the inconvenience of it. By the time we found out it would be…

Read More

Last week I wrote about making headway. Sometimes the headway is painful. Sometimes it’s slow and feels like no headway at all. I used my running journey as an example because lately my running is terrible. My body hurts. I can’t get my breathing right. And my pace is off. Since then I’ve had two…

Read More

Eleven days into my Lenten journey and I realize I’ve slowed down……a little. I’ve allowed for more quiet time in the morning….reading, praying, listening and reflecting, but I’m still trying to find a consistent soul-speed. I’m reading a daily online Lent devotional and the Gospel of Mark during my Lenten journey. This week the story…

Read More

January 3rd is when Mom celebrated her birthday. According to her birth certificate that’s the day she was born, but she actually came into the world February 3rd. I’m sure she was proud of the error on her birth certificate when she was a teenager. She turned 16 before she really was 16. Mom never…

Read More
doors by Joanna Schley

Changes bring…….well, changes. No matter what kind it is, loss is difficult. While my family and I dealt with loss because of a necessary but painful ending, 2017 was a grand year. I wrote Broken about a month before the ending. I see now that I was writing anticipating the difficulty of what would come…

Read More

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: ……….He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 Sometimes we experience time in a way other than it’s passing…..other…

Read More

My thoughts for Monday School are all about Advent….this season of waiting and hoping. I wrote part of this last year. I share it again because I’m even more aware of the longing……the deep ache within my heart….. And I know I can’t be the only one. “Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead…

Read More

I woke up Saturday morning later than usual. I walked into the kitchen and started the coffee to brew like I always do. I had just enough time to drink a cup while I talked with my husband before I met a friend for our long Saturday run. Lately I’ve been treating myself to a…

Read More