Graced with Grace

Short moments away I will no longer be single....     ...at last joining hands and becoming one with this man. On May 25, 2018 I married my best friend and only a week before that, I graduated from Bethlehem College and Seminary. A lot of people warn the bride and groom that their wedding day will be a fog, a whirlwind. But although the day was full, from getting ready in the morning, pictures, the ceremony itself, greeting all the guests, and at last leaving, yet my husband and I look back on that day with pure delight. Everything was beautiful and in my eyes it was perfect. I will love looking back for years to come on that beautiful hot yet happy spring day. I will want to tell my children all the little details of that wedding, from the sunflowers and daisies, to the food and the root beer floats, the family and friends that surrounded us. Now here I am a couple weeks later, sitting quietly in my first little apartment with my husband, satisfied tha...

What better day to write a love story than today. We met about three years ago. The exact details of our very first meeting I don't remember very well because it wasn't exactly love at first sight for either one of us. He was a young happy freshman while I was a sad despondent old junior. It wasn't too long before we became friends though. He started serving in the kitchen with me, and became a sweet fragrance of joy and youth in my weary sad drained life. It seems that the kitchen is a fitting place for two people to fall in love. I am sure he will never forget the many gifts of "love" I gave him as a dishwasher. Yes, I brought him so many dishes which I pointedly told him was "from the bottom of my heart...... where all the dirt lies." What could get more romantic than that? Right?!?!?! So we became friends. We played pranks. We did parties. We ate food. And we started sharing each others coffee drinks. (gross!) And I became madly in lo...

  I wouldn't change anything From the laughter to the tears. Every little memory counts, Every little memory makes A year to remember.   Sledding with my sisters, Baking sweet aroma and enjoying every bite. Drawing with children Or snuggling a sleeping little one On my shoulder. Fellowship with friends around A crowded table. Learning, and reading, And drinking coffee to stay awake. Flowers of sunshine on sick days. A brothers wedding. More sunshine for a weary heart. The skies that radiate the glory of God And proclaim his promises and love From day to day. Friends to hold me tight when tears fall fast. Waiting on God's will. Learning to trust him more. Friends getting married. A sister's wedding too. Working hard out doors And getting dirty. Working along side my best friend. Courting the man of my dreams. Learning to be loved And to love and to live in grace.  A sweet friend and a waffle date. ...

  *Note: This is another blog post that I wrote a while ago, but never posted. Yet I have found it encouraging in this particular season of my life, so I think now is a good time to share it.     Life can be quite the mystery sometimes. Walking in grace, also holds mysteries. Living in grace means being committed to trusting Christ in all of life circumstances, but sometimes life circumstances just don’t make sense. And sometimes life circumstances throw pain right in the face; cold water in the middle of winter. But in the end we, you and me, still cling to grace and still trust that our heavenly father knows it all and cares. We must look crazy to the world. To trust and to abide in his perfect peace even though life really isn’t so simple, so peaceful sometimes and life really hurts sometimes and life is just plain confusing or messy and mysterious. It seems crazy to be at peace in it all. It seems crazy, but he’s got it all and he knows it al...

I wrote this almost exactly two years ago, but never shared it. It seems fitting to post it now almost two years later from when it was pinned. I changed a few things from the original and added the last stanza tonight. But waiting sometimes feels so long. So she buried her head in her covers She wept on her bed late at night.   I wish and I hope….. but I stop myself there, No more wishing nor hoping! Aren’t we to enjoy the now? Aren’t I to love what I am given instead of always wishing?   But still my heart hopes and I cannot change that. But waiting sometimes feels so long, And the pain feels too strong and I feel so alone.   I can shut out the emotions, it works for a time. I turn out the light and it grows dark inside. Can anyone see me here, can anyone understand?   I’ve lived too long, but I’ve lived too short. My life is a contradiction, a dance, a song, A heart break, a mistake...

  This summer was full of new adventures, new beginnings, joyous celebrations, dreams coming true, hard work, and long quiet days learning to rest in Jesus more. My sweet friend from North Carolina, whom I have known since infanthood, got married in May. I myself, started courting a kind, godly, tenderhearted, young gentleman at the end of May. I worked landscaping during the month of June. Then went home for the month of July to spend time with my family before my sister, Priscilla, married the man of her dreams at the beginning of August. I started my senior year of college, while my middle sister started her freshman year. I turned 24 at the end of last week, which was actually quite exciting, but only because my sweet beau made it a very special day to be remembered forever, otherwise, 24 isn’t too remarkable. ;) Busy as this summer has been, it has also been a very special season to me. Starting a courtship relationship with one of my best friends of the last two...

  Being the southern gal that I am, I have a deep appreciation for the southern culture. And that appreciation and love has only grown over the years especially through the past four years when I moved up North for college and have been able to recognize and take notice of things I may not have noticed if I had not been able to have the experience of a different culture to compare my southern culture to. There are some things about the south that are just stereo types, what everyone not from the south imagines it to be like. Such as, grandmas and grandpas rocking on the rockers on the front porch. Ok, so that actually isn’t necessarily a stereo type because that is actually real. There are particular houses way out in the country that I enjoy passing because there will often be some elderly folks sitting outside in chairs or rockers waving to every car that drives by. But more recently I was attending a small church fellowship event in which I didn’t know many o...

  I said a kind word One day And I saw the light That it brought, The smile on his face, The joy in his eyes. I said a kind word One day And it seemed To change a life, Give life.   I tend to be a joker, a teaser. I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh, I can be really sarcastic and sassy. But when it comes to speaking affirmation, speaking an encouraging word, giving a compliment or saying a kind word to a friend, somehow the words always get stuck in my throat and a joke comes out instead. Or sometimes I can manage a nice word, but then just so the person knows I am not really that nice, I cover it up with a joke or a sassy comment. But a few weeks ago I gave a genuine encouraging compliment to a friend and was surprised by how much joy that brought my friend not to mention how much joy it brought to myself to see his joy. When I joke with my friends, I don’t really seem to be changing a life, but when I gave that one ge...

Giggly girls pick daisies On a sunny golden afternoon. Chatting happily, While tossing pedals Carelessly to the ground, Saying, “He loves me, he loves me not...” Then dancing away Without a care in the world, For girlish games Are just for laughter and delight.     Grownup girls reunite In a daisy field, Picking daisies for old time’s sake, Yet this time With a slight hesitation In their voice, A seriousness in their tone. This is no longer Just a game, But they really ask, They really wonder, Does he love me or does he not? When she lets go Of that very last pedal, Will she be letting go Of another dream?     Grandma’s now With curly gray hair of wisdom On their heads, Join hands with their friends For one last time. Back to the daisy field. Quieter and worn, Yet at peace, With soft gentle smiles On their lips. One last time they pick a daisy And toss the pedals to the grou...

Not sure where to begin, A story too big for me to tell the whole, Full of mystery, but a song of grace. I was pondering today, Of where I am and where I was.   I remembered days of old. Those hard days. Days of confusion, Of pain, of loneliness. Scary days, new adventures, Failing grades, failing at life, Those high school days. Yet in it all, God’s grace. God’s grace held me up, Though life was hard, He gave me friends, And laughter, Smiles and kind customers. And when the right time came He directed me to the next stage of life.   I welcomed the new season With fear and trembling. College life began. Hoping it would only last for two years. Eager to move back to the south, Get married and have kids was my dream. Eager to leave the cold winters And depressing falls, And papers and books behind. But instead more confusion, More fear. My ideas were not his. He told me s...

She seeks to write What cannot be described In words alone, But a picture fails to do it justice too.   She leaves her camera behind   And writes these words in poem form.   Looking down upon the railroad tracks. No train passes by, But she pauses in her day to meditate. What makes her stop in think so hard? It’s only the tracks of a train, But somehow it stirs her heart to ponder, To travel to a distant land. She stares into the distance, but sees no farther. Life is somehow like that train track.   Or how does she describe that lone red tree Surrounded by white Burch and greenery. Something in the sight of it causes her to pause, To stare. That loneliness is her sometimes. She feels different, too, And a little out of place, She stands out from all the rest, But beautiful nonetheless. It’s a sight worth capturing, but not with a camera. It would only blur one’s vision and distort the...