Words From the Well

We headed north to the mountains of Colorado for my birthday this year. Sweater weather in June? Yes, please and thank you. On the morning of my birthday, we hiked to see Treasure Falls. Words cannot adequately encapsulate what I felt as I stood at the base of the falls staring at its obedience to the Creator before starting the trek up. We crept along the path, and I came across a tree with exposed roots jutting into the pathway. Gnarled with time but standing firm, proudly upholding its sturdy trunk and bountiful branches. I paused surveying its groaning sways of song; a prompt to slow down and pay attention.…

I’m going to level with you and own up to a fault. Maybe not a fault, but more of a personal vendetta against laundry piles. I equate the vendetta of the laundry pile to the one of getting groceries unloaded in one trip with approximately thirty sacks laced up your arms to the point of not even making it through the door frame without turning sideways. Slight numbness in the forearm is a small price to pay for the internal badge of one trip challenge champion. The other day, determined to get what I needed washed accomplished in one load, I loaded the washer. Admittedly, to the hilt. Long before…

We circled the Lord’s Supper table that Maundy Thursday years ago, thoughtful of the sacrifice He made for the atonement of all of our wicked wayward ways. In the dimly lit sanctuary, we held hands as we prepared to take the bread broken for us. I’d never held her hand before. She sat a few rows behind us each Sunday on the opposite end. I’d seen her many times but had never spoken to her. When it comes to seating arrangements, Baptists don’t branch out much. I reached out to grab her hand and instantly knew she was someone I must know. It felt as though I was transported back…

It was just a Friday night in October. But this was no ordinary night for me. My favorite night of the entire year. The first cold front pushed through with cloaking crisp air meriting the first fire. I watched entranced as glowing amber coals glistened on the grates and the crackling oak emitted plumes slowly spiraling up the chimney. Lately, I’ve become a bit of a slave to a checklist. This enslavement can breed legalistic and exhausted living. Like an internal game of cat and mouse, constantly on the strife, teetering on the edge of burnout, but copiously covering with outward smiles pushing forward to the next check mark. What…

The sunflowers beamed brightly on that balmy July day. Standing tall, following the sun by their inherent nature of heliotropism. During the night, they slowly turn back to the east, waiting for the sun to rise again. Expecting it. Anticipating it. A few words that may describe those sunflowers on that day? Regal. Obedient. Life-givers. Triumphant. In their prime. Within months, those beautiful golden buds that once shone like beacons have withered. What words may describe those sunflowers now? Washed-up. Forgotten. Void. Maybe. The dead, blackened, wilted shell of what once was is visible. But upon closer examination, the seeds remain viable. Seeds that were nurtured and grew to fulfill…

This has been the summer of Maverick. It broke the sound barrier of movie sales and tested everyone’s adrenal gland functionality with its sizzling cinematography. I revisited the original Top Gun a few weeks ago. Tom Cruise (Maverick) and Anthony Edwards’s (Goose) pairing is kismet. They’re aces of the sky, fearlessly executing their training with confidence and split second precision. Tragedy strikes. On a routine training mission, Maverick gets caught in the jet fuel wake of the plane in front of him. He can’t regain control, they enter a flat spin, and he ends up losing his co-pilot, Goose, in the aftermath. This all happened within a span of about a minute.…

The pools of nostalgia invited me for a swim this week. Each June, my daughter and I journey to the Big D to spend time with my sister. As I walked around the beautiful pond near her home this morning, I sat down on a proverbial floatie on the bank of nostalgia’s waters and drifted.  The park nearby with its slides and bouncy creatures made for riding was the highlight of our trip when my daughter was three. Endless imagination in the world of play. There was the weightlifting summer when we took turns carrying her for two hours straight through The Dallas World Aquarium because the walkways were too…

My body felt like lead, but I crammed my feet into my sneakers and willed myself out the door. I enjoyed a brisk walk around one of my favorite trails… partly because I’ve been trying to cultivate better self-care habits and partly because I woofed down a double scoop of my Baskin Robbins favorites last night. Halfway around the trail I felt droplets falling on my arm. The sunbeams ahead of me radiated like lightsabers. Droplets peppered the sidewalk. Rain? Looking up, I saw a gray cloud right above me responsible for this sprinkling amidst the jubilant rays. I sped up as if I could somehow outrun this tiny doldrum…

Long ago in a land far, far away, my husband and I went on a beach vacation with my husband’s family. One of the excursions we took was an illustrious snorkeling outage. A little backstory for you- I don’t have the greatest track record with water sports in general or any activity not taking place on land. Despite the fact that I grew up camping and swimming in rivers and lakes my entire childhood, somewhere along the course of my cognitive development, I became skittish. I took my Dramamine, actually I think I took two for good measure, bolstered a strong motivational talk to myself, and we boarded for the…

In our area, snow days are like the Chupacabra. They’re figments of the imagination. But every once in a while, the illusive becomes reality. It’s an unexpected pause. Forced quiet. Everything stills for a moment. The snow invites me to remember.  Last weekend, my mom celebrated her seventieth birthday. It was a special time filled with memory making and celebration. I stood at the back door and stared out to the patio. Sounds of laughter filled the bustling kitchen as everyone held their posts at pie baking and dinner prep. The sounds faded into the background of my mind as I flashed back to moments when I stood in that…