“Gratitude means thanks and appreciation…. [It] comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful, pleasing.” When you feel gratitude, you’re pleased by what someone did for you and also pleased by the results. Unlike indebtedness, you’re not anxious about having to pay it back.” (www.vocabulary.com). When I chose the...

A current social media trend is the “ten year challenge.” This involves posting a then and now picture comparisson. I looked in my January 2012 album, then remembered that was a really difficult time. In that album, there is not a single picture of me, not even a selfie....

When you clean and declutter, something transformative happens to that space. Sadly, I didn’t take before and during pictures of my recent schoolroom transformation. Even sillier, I couldn’t find older pictures of the school room. To add insult to injury, unless the kids are using the computers, they prefer...

In some ways, 2021 was an extension of the strange happening in 2020. In other ways, it was filled with greater abundance and possibility than we could imagine. In January, my friends and I took a road trip to Fredericksburg, a German town in the Hill Country of Central...

We listened to this book because it was on the “recommened because you read…” section. In some ways, it was a much slower paced book and harder to listen to. In other ways, it was just as enjoyable as Anne or Pollyanna. I did enjoy the consistent focus on...

Yesterday, our preacher taught about the Wealth of Generosity (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). The beginning of the year is a good time to focus on fundamentals, like giving. The serendipitous part is that I was already forming my own thoughts on this topic. At first, I thought it would be...

A few years ago, I read a blog post about choosing a word for the year, instead of a list of resolutions. I adopted this, sort of, but didn’t really focus on the word with intention. At the end of 2019, I revisited this idea. The word you choose...

In 2021, I listened to 29 books on Audible. Most of these listens were with my children and a few were on my own. In addition to Audible listens, I also read through the Bible in a Year. We also read many physical books and articles on a daily...

Not to be left out of this year’s reading (listening to) books while traveling, Dietrich chose the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. We listened to these books on our longer trips, to and from visits with family, often finishing them while driving around town or sitting in the...

Tonight, I picked Dietrich up from youth devo and learned a valuable lesson. As is our custom, I asked him what they ate, which song he picked, if they sang a specific fun song, and about the devotional talk. During this discussion, Dietrich said, “History looks and sounds like...