So Every Day.

– embracing the ordinary –

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Ordinary work, which is what most of us do most of the time, is ordained by God every bit as much as is the extraordinary. All work done for God is spiritual work and therefore not merely a duty but a holy privilege.
- Elisabeth Elliot

Story

My Friend Mary & The Beauty of Showing Up

I think Riley was in high school when our family met Mary.  At that time, if I have my story straight, she was serving as a youth leader.  Her love…

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HomeLife, Story

swimming in the deep end

It all feels like it’s already been said. All the words have been taken. The ones about exhaustion and anxiety. About despair and waiting. The posts about overworking and not…

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Product Review

and there’s a video

Pretty much I only can manage words. I take some photos here and there because the iPhone has made everyone a suitable photographer. But it’s words mainly for me.  Words…

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  • HomeLife

    Buy a Bag and Fund the Forrests. It’s really that simple.

    / July 14, 2015

    You know that beautiful night of Forrest Fest loveliness? It was such a successful night on so many levels. We had fine weather, fabulous music and fun times together. We raised some great funds to help our friends with their upcoming across-the-universe move. A few days before the party Hilary mentioned that she had some hand crafted bags she had…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    five finds friday. (celebrating two years in our home & pleated skirts)

    August 21, 2020

    five finds friday (ukuleles & queso)

    January 10, 2020

    connections. relationships. education.

    April 20, 2020
  • Framily,  HomeLife

    night time at the farm.

    / July 13, 2015

    There’s always a part of every July Fourth that leaves me feeling more whole than broken, more established than misplaced. The fireworks lighting up the sky. The sameness of tradition and wonder. The lovely simplicity of this beautiful porch where the only view is green and trees and a river’s edge. And then there are the quiet quiet moments. Long…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    five finds friday (finn turns twelve, made for this podcast and mac & cheese)

    August 30, 2019

    morning song: a poem

    April 25, 2019

    five finds friday (the one about writing a book and my daughter going to college)

    November 20, 2020
  • Framily,  HomeLife

    jiggety jig

    / July 10, 2015

    The Virginia mountains were in my rearview mirror all day today. The sun was shining.  The clouds were white.  The sky was bright. It was a good day for a drive. A couple of the kids were glad to be home.  A couple wanted to stay in Virginia forever. I guess I am glad to have predictable internet back, but I…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    making music (and art) accessible

    February 10, 2020

    soundtrack of my mind

    February 10, 2021

    Five Finds Friday (last first day, a giant sweatshirt and tomatoes)

    August 14, 2020
  • Field Trip,  Framily

    bewildered in the best sort of way.

    / July 7, 2015

    Daniel Boone is quoted as saying, I have never been lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. I hear you Dan’l.  I hear you. Virginia. She’s a beauty. But she’ll rip a hole in your schedule and shift your plans and change your days. And all you’ll do is ride the wave and adjust accordingly. (And not even…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    Lists: The Only Way I Ever (Sometimes) Get Stuff Done

    August 26, 2020

    motivation. can you locate it?

    November 10, 2020

    thoughts. on this fragile world.

    April 16, 2019
  • Field Trip,  Framily,  HomeLife

    Gray Mountain Farm

    / July 3, 2015

    You guys. We are at the farm. The beautiful lovely Virginia farm. Where the mountains ensconce you and the framily embraces you and the mosquitoes bite you and the wireless signal evades you and the Internet still doesn’t trespass onto the property. So I just can’t easily share the good life we are living on these gorgeous acres across the…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    school planning over here …

    July 1, 2020

    here we go …

    February 3, 2023

    Thinking Putty: A Timberdoodle Review

    October 12, 2020
  • God's Pursuit of Me,  HomeLife

    the sign for my forehead

    / June 30, 2015

    And I want to say – I am not the person I used to be. I want it printed on a t-shirt – no, a sign on my forehead in Sharpie or something. (Maybe another tattoo Dad?) I want everyone to know. This life has changed me. The past year my life and emotions and thoughts and actions have shifted…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    five finds friday (the worst jeans you’ll ever see, Otto says something funny and Dolly is the best)

    February 19, 2021

    weekend ramble (the stillest of weekends)

    April 8, 2019

    evening thoughts or why I can’t get it together this month

    April 12, 2021
  • God's Pursuit of Me

    the fact that it passes

    / June 29, 2015

    My hands shake sometimes when I type. They shake with the fears that still rise and fall with some of my heart beats. (But not all of them.) They shake when my phone lights up with a troublesome text or when I run into a person I haven’t seen in many months and their expression reminds me that they know…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    This Week. Feeling ALL the Pressures.

    December 28, 2020

    Taking Them on an Adventure: The Literature Odyssey

    February 12, 2020

    spring madness. it has descended upon us.

    April 21, 2021
  • HomeLife,  Otto Fox Wilder,  Piper Finn Willow

    swimmers!

    / June 26, 2015

    Have you ever wanted to cry when you saw your children accomplish something that seemed kind of almost impossible to you but then as you watched them do it you were kind of in awe at their ability and you wondered why you had never expected them to do that before? This week.  Swim lessons. That was me. I don’t…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    five finds friday (dates with otto & beaded earrings & friends)

    November 8, 2019

    Five Finds Friday (boots, of course, and pretty drinks and a book update)

    August 6, 2021

    the directions. and where our stories take us.

    July 15, 2020
  • HomeLife,  Keiglets

    my people

    / June 25, 2015

    Every night we gather in our living room. Bodies piled on every surface in that small space. Arms linked. Feet resting on someone else’s legs. Heads on a sibling’s shoulder. We take up each other’s space. Animal sighting and outdoor adventures are jotted down in our Nature Notes for that day.  We record happy bits of our lives in our…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    Five Finds Friday (Saylor’s reading and Ryder got a haircut)

    September 18, 2020

    five finds friday (the one about writing a book and my daughter going to college)

    November 20, 2020

    parenting at the end of a school year. bless us all.

    May 20, 2019
  • Field Trip

    a night out

    / June 24, 2015

    I think it was high school. And it was because of my older brother Danny. I heard this band called the Indigo Girls. I have loved, admired, respected their music ever since. Two women who sing with such incredibly beautiful harmony.  And their lyrics.  My word – their lyrics have been defining bits and pieces of my life for more…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    five finds friday (may is sort of mean, also there’s a lot about potatoes in this one)

    May 3, 2019

    These Is My Words: A Book Review

    November 4, 2019

    love. (for a concert and a band.)

    February 20, 2019
  • HomeLife,  Low to No Revolution,  Piper Finn Willow

    what to give a seven year old for her birthday

    / June 23, 2015

    Knowing that our little friend Hanna was leaving the country soon made the choice of a birthday gift harder than usual. No one wants to receive a toy you can only play with for a month or two before you have to give it away or sell it at a yard sale. And there just isn’t room in the limited…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    here we go ….

    May 22, 2019

    parenting at the end of a school year. bless us all.

    May 20, 2019

    five finds friday (shimmery skirts & strawberries)

    April 17, 2020
  • HomeLife

    all the writing I can muster.

    / June 22, 2015

    Sometimes I’ve got something to say. And sometimes I am tired and ideas are slow and my typing is riddled with sloppy left pinkies and uncooperative right middle fingers. And that’s when you get these posts that are part confessional and part ramble and part junior high dear diary and part Christmas newsletter and part nonsensical. So here I am.…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    45.

    May 1, 2019

    she’s right, he knows her name.

    December 3, 2019

    May’s Grove Giveaway

    May 16, 2019
  • Bergen Hawkeye

    post 9,429

    / June 19, 2015

    A large collection of beautiful seashells were being explored by the fellas as we helped Hilary pack up a few things from her home.   For some reason the beautiful shells created quite a hubbub with the boys and a lot of silly banter. And the jokes were a-plenty. (And, actually, pretty funny.  Which means either I have a humorous…

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    Keep Reading . . .

    this little moment.

    August 5, 2020

    books that work their own magic.

    March 5, 2019
    sunset

    Time is not my enemy.

    November 9, 2021
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