“Inappropriate” Questions
When the PICU attending physician came into Noah’s hospital room to tell me our son’s stool had killed dozens of mice at the CDC and wondered if Jason and I were going to “intubate” Noah, put him on...
View ArticleA Sort of Interview
We may need one of these for Ryan. Photo courtesy of: http://www.onemoregadget.com/carry-on-luggage-you-can-ride-on/ Our version is cheaper, but that thing above has straps… Many friends and family...
View ArticleObedience
Have you ever been disobedient? It’s a word we like to throw around with our children, not even throw it around but use it with firm voices and wish for it with all of our hearts. We camouflage it with...
View ArticleWhy Wait?
“I’ll run a marathon when I lose 50 lbs.” “We’ll travel when the kids are out of the house.” “I’ll go back to school once my kids are through school.” “When I’m feeling better I’ll do such and such…”...
View ArticleGet Your Party Started
On October 11, 2014, my Dad, sisters and I threw a party we should have thrown years prior, but under different circumstances. Life gets busy. We have jobs and spouses and kids and appointments and...
View ArticleSeries: Practicing His Presence
Listening. I’m starting a practice, an intention if you will, of sitting still for 5 minutes with my eyes closed and my fingers on the keyboard. It’s not to write, as far as a writing practice, but...
View ArticleSeries: Practicing His Presence – Cares and Worries
Here’s what He put on my heart today. Some of it applies to me, but I’m thinking someone else is supposed to hear these words, too. Last winter I experienced a lot of anxiety. Changing my diet and...
View ArticleSeries: Practicing His Presence – October 29th
October 29, 2014 Do you think this is a magic trick, sitting here with Me for five minutes, waiting for Me to speak? I am speaking all the time. But I won’t shout. I won’t scream. Mine is a still small...
View ArticleStill Practicing His Presence: Advent
When my Mom died this past June, to say my world was rocked would be an understatement. I was flailing. My Mom and I used to talk on the phone AT LEAST once a day, if not more, and this just 6 miles...
View ArticleThe Stories Behind the Buzz
Today I shaved my head. Let me rephrase that, first I put it into two high pig tails and let Emily and her best friend, Sunny the daughter of one of my dear friends, cut them off to donate. But the...
View ArticleIf You Could Do ANYTHING…
…ANYTHING at all, to make a lasting contribution to the world, regardless of experience or finances, WHAT WOULD IT BE? This simple question has generated some beautiful responses from people lately as...
View ArticleIt’s The Smallest Gestures
… Did you know that in South Dakota, USA, drivers on rural roads wave to one another? They greet each other on the approach, essentially saying, “Hello! I see you…have a good day!” The gesture is...
View ArticleMoses Wasn’t Worried About His Prostate…
…and other life concerns. So, I’ve been thinking about Moses’ prostate, mostly, how it’s never really mentioned or addressed in scripture. And I was thinking about how aspects of media, social media,...
View ArticleWho is Invited to the Table?
A year ago when we sold our house and stuff and embarked on this journey as The Graveswolds, God put two words on my heart: GATHER and TABLE. I said, “Really, Lord!? You are teaching us about...
View ArticlePracticing His Presence: The Effects of the Wind
Woolly sheep resting in a pasture under a bent pine atop Auckland, NZ. (photo: #loneviajera) … Right now all I can hear is a wind from the north raging and whistling the sweet tiny lake cabin where we...
View ArticleSpeak: Contemplation
Speak love. Speak it with, and without, words. I’ve been contemplating many things for quite some time and the more I keep it in, I feel I may implode. Why have I held these things in rather than go...
View ArticleI Had a Dream
Right before waking up this morning, I dreamt a friend and I were standing in the middle of a four-lane road with cars flying by in either direction. We were discussing the vital importance of...
View ArticleGrowing Up With Bobby and Bebe: A Series
Agree to Disagree When my parents moved to Colorado 6 years ago, they drove in from Phoenix and walked in my front door into the kitchen where I was standing at the sink. I heard in my heart (when God...
View Article“I Love Her More…”
free photo courtesy: pixabay user/emrahozaras I can’t sleep. I’m not sure if it’s the hormone expressions of a 46 year old woman, the fact that I had to use the bathroom, a text from a friend in the...
View ArticleWOKE!
6/15/14, taken by Vanessa Kruse Photography “I woke up at the moment when the miracle occurred, I get so many things I don’t deserve…” – Bono, The Miracle of Joey Ramone It’s no secret I’m a huge U2...
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