So far, our Year of Restoration (our annual theme this year) has been an interesting one. While our hope at the start of the year was to experience the completed side of restoration – the smiles, the satisfaction of completed goals, the rekindling of relationships – we instead found ourselves at the beginning of the restorative journey – the breaking part. One month ago, as of the time I am writing this, Eric and I had to say goodbye to our precious floofy golden retriever, Ramsey. She would have been thirteen this May 4th and we often referred to her as our Star Wars puppy. Of course, we … [Read more...]
What Can I Start Restoring Today?
Over the past couple of weeks, Eric and I have made various small changes to our lives and every so often he will whisper, “restore.” When he does, I feel a sense of hope and excitement about what is to come and that is a welcome change from the dread I feel when I watch the news or scroll through social media. It is not that Eric and I have a lot to complain about or that we are hanging on by a thread, but as with any couple who has been married for a while, life has brought challenges. Our hope for the year is that we can discover the broken places in our relationship, home, lives, … [Read more...]
Forgiveness and Restoration
As our year of restoration continues, I find my mind repeatedly thinking about all the opportunities we own to seek and find restoration. Pondering the beauty which comes from restoring a lifeless work of art back to its pristine form makes something as simple as cleaning the house feel less tedious. Let’s restore our home hits somewhere deeper and pleasant than Do I seriously have to clean this place again?! Restoring brokenness has been on my mind a lot as I gear up for this year’s theme, but one word has also been standing out in my mind more than the rest: forgiveness. If there is … [Read more...]
Love and Restoration
For as long as I can remember, Valentine’s Day has evoked some sort of emotion for me. As a child, I loved red and pink decorations everywhere (and still love it now), handing out and receiving Valentine cards at school, and especially the Valentine’s Day party complete with so many sugary treats. As a teenager, my feelings towards this holiday hinged completely on whether I had someone special in my life. I still have a picture of my fourteen-year-old boyfriend holding an accordion card I gave him which opened three feet long displaying large XOXOs. A few years later, I walked into the … [Read more...]
A Year of Restoration
Many wise folks have warned that time goes by faster with each passing year. Now that I am increasingly approaching the realm of aged wisdom, I can wholeheartedly agree with their sentiments. Time on earth is finite and we only have so much of it to accomplish our goals, to grow in our faith, to forgive and seek forgiveness, and to restore our broken places. So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12, ESV) My friend sent me a meme which said, “Instead of kissing someone at midnight, let’s all collectively scream.” Suffice it to say... I connected with the … [Read more...]
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