If you’ve followed this blog for long, you know that God so often speaks to me when I’m in nature. Sometimes when I’m walking. Sometimes gardening. And last week, while on the tractor mowing. As I was listening to my praise music playlist on Spotify. My settings allow Spotify to suggest similar songs to those on my playlist; it’s …
I was sitting with a friend talking the other day. We’ve known each other since childhood. It’s the kind of friendship that finds you sitting in the park chatting only to be interrupted by a text from her husband wondering if she’s ok. Why? Because we had been there for five hours! She’s one of a handful of people …
Like a lot of parents right now, I am facing a much too quiet house. One that is missing the footsteps, laughs, and presence of my college-aged daughter. Saturday, we made the trip to return her to college and we all struggled with the juxtaposition of sadness and excitement. Tears flowed freely in our home the week preceding …
Perfect Circle in Nature
It may be obvious if you are a regular follower of Simply J.O.Y. that the last weeks have had too many moments that have been, let’s say, emotional. Or challenging. Or testing. Or just not a lot of fun. I truly believe that I am in a season of growth and learning and that the enemy is desperately trying …
I keep waking up at 8:23 AM. On days when I don’t have an alarm set, I often roll over, tap my phone and it greets me with 8:23 AM. This has been going on for several months. It isn’t every morning, but it happens enough that I knew there was some message for me in that number. For …
It was one of those weeks. Restless nights when my mind would turn over the same prayer again and again. Coming to the Lord asking for healing for someone. Their situation isn’t life-threatening, but they need relief. They need to see some progress. And as I lay there night after night unable to sleep, I became more and more frustrated …
In the mid-1800’s many pioneers traveled west by Conestoga wagon. They would travel in a single line referred to as a wagon train. At night, the wagons would form a circle around their camp and livestock as a defense against attack. Today, circling the wagon is an idiom referring to a group of people who unite for a …
McDonalds makes you fat. Smoking makes you sick. Materialism makes you poor. Lies. All of them. McDonald’s doesn’t have the power to make you fat; you choose to eat poorly on a regular basis. Smoking doesn’t make you sick; you choose to smoke knowing the potential consequences. Materialism doesn’t make you poor; your choice to buy things you …
This is the blog that almost wasn’t. I just didn’t think I had it in me to sit and write. Because between us, I’m drained. The last few weeks have been trying for me, under normal circumstances. But add to it a recovery from minor foot surgery and everything just seems more difficult. My home situation with an aging …