bsmiles and sunny days

It’s so weird out there… Today we went to the title company to sign papers on a refi for our mortgage. We were able to shave off a couple years and a bit of our monthly payment thanks to current low-interest rates and @rochelleeigsti and @corebank. We waited in the car while the appointment before ours finished up their meeting on the sidewalk. They were wearing masks and sitting at a folding table next to the building. A woman wearing a mask and gloves appeared and handed them a folder. As the people collected their things and sauntered to their cars, another woman appeared with Clorox wipes, proceeding to wipe down every inch of the table and all three chairs. The wind had picked up by the time it was our turn. The masked/gloved woman offered us a squirt of hand sanitizer before handing us each a brand new pen that had “never been touched by another person.” We sat down at the table and began fighting the wind as we signed our name on one-after-the-next of the documents i...

This prayer moved me so profoundly, I couldn't help but record it here, this precious safe place to log the markers in my journey. O Lord of the oceans, My little bark sails on a restless sea,  Grant that Jesus may sit at the helm amd steer me safely; Suffer no adverse currents to divert my heavenward course; Let not my faith be wrecked amid storms and shoals; Bring me to harbour with flying pennants,    hull unbreached, cargo unspoiled. I ask great things,  expect great things  shall receive great things. I venture on Thee wholly, fully, my wind, sunshine, anchor, defense. The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless,  but my helm is held steady,  Thy Word secures safe passage,  Thy grace wafts me onward,  my hope is guaranteed. This day will bring me nearer home, Grant me holy consistency in every transaction,  my peace flowing as a running tide,  my righteousnessas every chasing wave. Help ...

The blooms are opening up in my front bed of irises, just in time for the world around us to begin to peek out at a potentially new normal. During the past weeks, I have run the full gamut of emotions, as well as the gain-weight-lose-weight-gain-again loop. This morning it hit me hard that I’m going to have to go back out there and join the real world again. Granted, I’ve been to the store. I’ve been to the post office. I’ve continued to work on a limited basis. However; I am not ready to rejoin the “hurry up and get everywhere to do everything” pattern. I’ve never been a fan of that, which is what made the quarantine anxiety soooo bizarre. You would think I had won the lottery when they announced that everything needed to STOP. Instead I was horking down reeces peanut butter eggs in my closet one after the next. In retrospect, I have learned something during these weeks that I will not soon forget. Ritual. Ritual is a way to create something beautiful in the mundane. Every day ...

Journeying On Lord of the cloud and fire,  I am a stranger, with a stranger's indifference,  My hands hold a pilgrim's staff,  My march is Zionward,  My eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,  My heart is in Thy hands without reserve.  Thou hast created it, redeemed it, renewed it,  captured it, conquered it.  Keep from it every opposing foe,  Crush in it every rebel lust,  Mortify every treacherous passion,  Annihilate every earthborn desire.  All faculties of my being vibrate to thy touch.  I love Thee with soul, mind, body, strength,  Might, spirit, affection, will, desire, intellect, understanding.  Thou art the very perfection of all perfections. All intellect is derived from Thee;  My scanty rivulets flow from Thy unfathomable fountain.  Compared with Thee the sun is darkness,  All beauty deformity, all wisdom folly, the best goodness faulty,  Thou art worthy of ...

I had the most amazing opportunity to share my heart with our local chapter of MOPs this month. It was the second time I was invited to be the end of the year speaker. It gives my heart such joy to give away some of the secrets and scraps of wisdom that I've collected along the way with the most dear-to-my-heart demographic in our society.   This time I presented via video due to social distancing standards. My video was a little over-zealous, as I attempted to navigate editing software with the help of my 12-year-old, but I was happy enough with it in the end.  I spent hours poring over each minute of recorded material. I probably drove my family crazy, staring at my ipad incessantly and begging them to watch little snippets as I went along, but they were kind enough to help me when I asked.  For posterity, I've saved the link here.  https://youtu.be/7LANzjaDlwA lvb