Mysterious are God’s ways and I love it when you find yourself right smack dab in the middle of a great “out take”. Scene 210,543 and ——- Action! Cohen, Finley, Amy, Bethany, Jeff and I went to lunch at Taco Bell to see our son, Micah, who is the General Manager. We were seated and [...]
Read More Bethany, Cohen, Finley, inspiration, Jeff, Micah, prayer, treasure
Three years ago this month, we said our “final” goodby to Grandma Marilyn, my dad’s second wife. I say “final” because we had many goodbyes along the way. We lost her memory by memory before she died. She had Alzheimers. Previously, I had firmly believed CANCER was the most devilish enemy; after watching my mom, [...]
Read More Alzheimer, Alzheimers, Chuck, death, eternity, fallen world, Grandparents, living between the trees, loneliness, Mariyn, perspective, prayer, treasure hunter
I saw a tweet by Rick Warren the other day that zapped me! “Your problem isn’t that you don’t love God enough- the problem is you don’t realize how much He loves you!” The average number of thoughts human brains think during their awake time: 52,000! (I think that’s a very conservative estimate- but [...]
Read More encouragement, God thoughts, identity, inspiration, living between the trees, perspective, prayer, treasure hunter
Saige has $2705.50 Woohoo! and THANK YOU! THANK YOU! (and of course if you’d like to help round that up to $3000.00 Keep making donations at Saige- Reece’s Rainbow I just had to share my granddaughter, Finley’s, solution to the problem of orphans. Don’t you just love the faith of children?! Perhaps, if they were [...]
Read More adoption, Finley, living between the trees, orphans, perspective, prayer, Reece's Rainbow, Saige
Jeff & I were raised in a small town (750 people ) a beautiful Methodist church, rich with tradition and filled with saints I still admire. It’s glory was the fantastic stained glass windows. I always imagined I was the little lamb Jesus was carrying! I eagerly anticipated the bells from the steeple, (albeit by [...]
Read More Bethany, Bethy, God knows you, Hobby Lobby, identity, inspiration, Jesus, Jesus Calling, labels, living between the trees, Lord's prayer, McLean, Name, prayer, special needs
If there is one thing I’ve learned in 53 years of living….. I can’t do life alone. I need Jesus! I need Him every hour! I need Him every decision! I need Him to cope, to love more fully, to see more clearly, to be my filter of this polluted world. I need His fire [...]
Read More 2013, eternity, fallen world, Fear Not, inspiration, living between the trees, New Year, overcoming, prayer, refresh, renew, treasure
I’ve shared many stories of Bethany; lifting my cell phone to call a sibling, regularly texting everyone to see what they’re doing and when they’re coming over to see her, how she has everyone’s phone number memorized and has no problem navigating any phone she happens to find. So it made sense (in my limited [...]
Read More Bethany, Christmas, connection, encouragement, face time, God, inspiration, ipod touch, Jesus will meet you there, perseverence, prayer, treasure hunter
Advent – latin- Adventus – Greek word- parousia- ~ meaning COMING! Are you ready to embark on one of the greatest Treasure Hunts ever? ADVENT IS THE ADVENTURE OF CELEBRATING HIS FIRST COMING AND ANTICIPATING and LONGING FOR HIS SECOND! This adventure is all about PREPARING HIM more room in our lives! “O come, [...]
Read More Advent, Adventure, celebrate, Christmas, Christmas coming, eternity, inspiration, Jesus, perspective, prayer, treasure
I actually had someone ask me the other day, “How’s your downs girl?” My downs girl?! MY DOWNS GIRL?!!!! I looked at them in stunned silence? Seriously, if you can’t remember her name, don’t ask- please! “Do you mean my DAUGHTER, Bethany?” They had the wisdom to look embarrassed. I don’t see downs syndrome, [...]
Read More Bethany, child of God, disabilities, downs syndrome, fallen world, identity, Jesus, labels, perspective, prayer, satan is a liar, special needs, treasure
Simple ditty today. To my readers in China, France, Russia, Germany, & other countries, I hope this will be understandable through google translate. I love teaching Bethany homonyms. Homonyms are words that sound the same but they’re spelled differently and have different meanings. They’re fun, but can make English difficult to learn! I’ve also [...]
Read More Bethany, Craig, Dean, encouragement, holey, holy, homonyms, humor, inspiration, Phillips, prayer, transformation, wholly
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book Psalm 56:8 God knows I must have a ginormous bottle and I’m fairly certain you do too. Sometimes, my “life between the trees” journey feels like someone unexpectedly pushed me off a [...]
Read More babies, Bethany, children, downs syndrome, fallen world, God's love, limitations, living between the trees, overcoming, perseverence, perspective, prayer, special needs, tear bottles, tears, thankfulness
Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After. Each one of our stories began with His intimate plans and details. Our life is a journey to discover His love and His purposeful redemption. *But Happily Ever After doesn’t come until He comes back to reign and rule as King of Kings. ~ Does “Life” crowd [...]
Read More Happily Ever After, Jesus, Living Betweem the trees, Once Upon a Time, perseverence, perspective, prayer, Steven Curtis Chapman
Monday morning we went to the Dr. and learned that Bethany’s eardrum had collapsed inward and was laying on top of the bones which shouldn’t be showing The picture is not for the faint of heart but this is NOT how your eardrum should look! Basically, the negative pressure sucked it in, diminishing the [...]
Read More Bethany, disabilities, fallen world, hearing, life, limitations, living between the trees, overcoming, prayer, special needs, thankfulness
“Bethany?” There was no sign of hearing on her end. “Bethany (this time I spoke louder). still no recognition. I automatically walked around to capture her attention by looking in her eyes, and said, “Bethany?” Smiling, she answered, “Oh, hi Mommy. What you say?” “I said- do you want to go to help me shop [...]
Read More Bethany, downs syndrome, fallen world, God talking, listen, prayer, treasure hunterSWEET MYSTERY The book in front of me had all the appearance of a treasure chest. Worn leather binding and tarnished gold-stamped lettering compelled me to open and to enter another world. This book from my father’s library would take me to the sands of Arabia, to a time buried in history, to the inner [...]
Read More Edy, encouragement, fallen world, Jesus, life, mystery, prayer, promises, treasure, treasure hunter