I like to walk in the mornings when the world is just beginning to stir. The neighborhood is pretty calm with the exception of a few of the early birds leaving their homes to head to work or school. As their cars pass me, I give them a wave and a smile. I figure if they're going to have to leave their comfy homes so early in the morning, they should have a friendly face to see them on their way. Now I cannot actually see the drivers in their cars. In the winter it's still dark when I walk and in the summer there's a glare on the windshields, so I can't really even tell if the drivers are looking at me or not. So, I just smile and wave anyway. Until one morning one of my "regulars" ... Read more

Friday nights are what our family looks forward to all week! We don't watch television during the week, so we catch up on Friday night. We've worked hard and we're ready to crash and enjoy a relaxing evening. We start with pizza and a few episodes of The Andy Griffith Show followed by our movie-of-the-week. My husband never could watch a movie without popcorn (even at home), and he now has us all trained to expect the same. He makes the popcorn every Friday night and it's simply the best! Today I'm sharing his recipe. (You'll see my hands in the photos because he was sick this particular night so he talked me through it.) You'll need 1 cup of popcorn kernels, a blob of coconut oil, ... Read more

In our home, Sundays are considered a day of rest. I don't mean that we sleep late and linger over brunch. On the contrary, we rise early enough to get a bit spiffy and have a little breakfast and coffee before heading to church for a morning of Bible study and worship. How is that restful? Getting up and out of the house so early? Well, it's more of a resting in the Lord. And it's pretty wonderful. Worship brings rest. The refreshment we receive while gathering with brothers and sisters to worship God and learn from His Word sets our hearts and minds in restful peace for the week ahead. Through the teachings from Bible class and sermon, we are assured of God's providence in our ... Read more

I must admit that as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I start to feel a bit overwhelmed with all there is to do for Christmas. Anyone else? My social battery runs low with back-to-back events, and I get a little saddened by the commercialization of the season. Last week, after a couple of days of near panic, I voiced my concerns to my husband, pulled myself together, and made the prayerful decision to focus on two things: Embrace the season with its flurry of activity while pulling away each day for quiet advent reflection. I'll share on advent in another post, but today I'm sharing some of our activities from our first week of December. We got our tree and decked the halls! The cat is so ... Read more

It has become a yearly tradition for our family to go on a weekend camping trip with two other families each fall. The weekend takes some planning and work, but the time put into it is so worth it. Besides the fun memories our kiddos make together, there is never a shortage of teachable moments on the campground! Upon arrival, the kids learn the first task to be accomplished is pitching the tents and setting up camp. They are all pretty eager to help. They learn the importance of having a good fire going long before dinner prep and definitely before nightfall! This year, they each learned how to use a flint rock to start a fire. They learn how to cook their supper over the ... Read more

I love the years that the 4th of July lands on a Sunday! It reminds me of two very important truths. First of all, we live in a country where we’re free to worship our God because of the sacrifices of our founding fathers and brave men and women who’ve fought to keep it! And, most importantly, that EVERY Sunday is our true Independence Day from the darkness and evil of the world and our sin because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior!! How good it is to be FREE in JESUS!! Enjoy your day of worship and your independence through HIM! “Therefore, if the Son makes you FREE, you will be FREE indeed!” John 8:36 (emphasis mine) ... Read more

I've been journaling Joel's and my 25th anniversary trip this week which you can read about here and here. Our last day in Asheville would only be half a day before heading home so we wanted to make the most of our last hours at the Biltmore. Before I take you to our time at the estate, I have to share with you how our day started. I can say I've never had this experience on any vacation! While in a very peaceful and deep sleep at about 4:30 that morning, we were awakened by buzzing alarms going off in the hallways of our hotel and an automated voice repeating, "Warning! Warning! Exit the building! Exit the building! Use the staircase and exit immediately." We quickly changed into ... Read more

Yesterday I began sharing about my husband's and my 25th anniversary trip to the Biltmore Estate. Today I'm back to journal our first day at Biltmore. A lovely day! Our vacation package with Biltmore Inn included breakfast in their dining room, an offer we were delighted to accept! Both days we were seated at a window table with views of the morning mountains. Such a soft opening to the day. I allowed myself some food indulgences while on the trip but balanced those treats with plenty of salads along the way. Here's food indulgence number one: for breakfast I ordered lemon poppy seed waffles with lemon curd, raspberry sauce, and maple syrup. Sigh. Joel ordered smoked ... Read more