Rhyme and Reason from my Empty Nest

                                                                                                     I feel like an outsider quite often. How about you?  I felt comfortable in my previous community and then I went off and moved to a new community. It was my own choice, of course, so I must bear the consequences. It's not easy to start over with anything. Finding new neighborhood friends, new church friends or new pickleball playmates can bring an extra dose of challenging. This growth step was tough as a child. It's still tough as an adult. We have to be vulnerable as we never outgrow the timeless question, "Will you play with me?!"  How 'bout when we take it a personal step further - "Do you like me? Check Yes or No!"  W...

                                                                 Have you bit the bullet? Drank the water? Jumped on the bandwagon? Have you been hooked by the latest sports craze?  You guessed it. I'm talking about pickleball. It's the latest and greatest sport of all time, at least in this particular woman's opinion.  I was first introduced to this sport by a friend. She stated there were 2 things that changed her life - Jesus and pickleball. My response was surprise and hope these 2 were revolutionary in that exact order.  I now would tell others the same. I'm telling you now. Jesus first then pickleball has in deed changed my life! This sport is a phenomenon. It has been the fastest growing sport outranking all others for the past 4 years. Tennis courts remain empty. Pickleball courts have paddles stacked ...

                                                                       HELLO FROM UP ABOVE - my 2nd children's picture book - has a timely message for all of us. Adults and children alike. It's marketed to the 2-to-8-year-old, but we all never outgrow our longing to know certain important truths. Our God is near. He created us unique. We are special to Him. We yearn to discern how much He loves us.  Maybe we knew these important truths when we were younger. Maybe we took them to heart when our heart was more open and less crushed. When we hadn't yet traveled all the bumps in our road. A hectic life can cloud our view of seeing His gifts each day. Those gifts we more often take for granted. Those gifts we often overlook. We diminish the gifts we currently have wanting more...wanting different. Maybe we wer...

                                               When you've been together as long as we have, you gotta look for new ways to foster greater connection. It's important. It's not so easy to do.  Have the two of you become too predictable? Have we? Do you feel like you've done almost everything together already? Take restaurants for example.  On Friday nights can we find you at the same place at the same time? Does the hostess at said restaurant know you by name? Do you order the same entree again and again? I'm scared to ask if you dine with the 5:00 crowd or with the 7:00? I plead the fifth to protect the innocent on that one! Is your weekly television schedule pretty set where Mr. Remote Control already knows what shows to select? Hopefully not News then Wheel of Fortune then Jeopardy! Is your tv turned off or left on during dinner? Has that changed in your Em...

                                                                             What happens when your dream vacation doesn't end up to be a dream after all? With  all that planning,   all that packing, all that traveling to get to your destination.   All those shekels saved and arrangements made. Time to set up care for your dog. Buy fresh litter for the cat. Someone to water the plants. Someone to get the mail. You arrive ready to relax and revive. You're ready to dive into a cool pool or into a new adventure. What happens if the pool is closed for maintenance and the tickets for your grand excursion are now sold out! Is the prized vacation a wash out or now an opportunity to redirect expectations? We in America do not often enough take mini vacations throughout our days. We p...

                                                                                                                                              It's that time again. Time to assess. Time to analyze where best to invest - our time, our money, our energy, our heart in this new year. This requires true evaluation. This can lead to real inspiration. This could foster our needed motivation. We're better off if it does. We're already into the second week of this New Year. Can you believe it? Hopefully we haven't already lost our motivation. How's it going so far for you? My "word" for 2024 was joy. My goal was to choose joy in the midst of all li...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I am sitting at my desk on Giving Tuesday composing this post and questioning ...