uptomytoes

Category: blessings

  • Straight Paths and Slam Dunks

    I’m trying to dig deeply into Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.” It’s verses I’ve had memorized for a long time. Every time I come across them, the promise of…

  • Life on the Stump

    There once was a glorious old oak tree that, for years, we affectionately called “Grandpa’s Tree”. It stood on a bit of a hill overlooking the river. In its prime, this mighty oak provided peaceful shade and a quiet place to read a great mystery, ponder life and love, and offer heartfelt prayers to God. …

  • Be The Hero

    When I taught AP Literature, we studied literary heroes, read epic poems, and discussed heroic and not-so-heroic characters. I was talking with a friend, and the subject of heroes came up. I shared that I sure wish God would bring a hero who could step into my wonky world and fill in some of the…

  • Bits and Pieces

    The other night, my oldest daughter and I walked around a bookstore for about an hour. We like to take pictures of all the books we want to read. We took a fair number of pictures but bought nary a book. I’m sure Barnes and Noble loves us.  We had been chatting, discussing, and pondering…

  • Not Exactly What I Was Looking For

    One morning recently, my oldest daughter and I were having our weekend morning coffee together time. We talk, share, and lament the lack of sleep one or both of us had the previous night. This particular morning we decided to get on the ferry and head to a beach where you can find shark teeth.…

  • When You Lose It

    Over the years I’ve lost a lot of things…the biggest being my marriage and the second is probably sleep. But there have been a few other things lost along the way…I’ve lost my mind a time or two, lost my appetite (could stand to do that a bit more), lost my courage, lost an argument,…

  • Where else would I go?

    I have written a lot lately about being loved. It’s a place I haven’t felt God leading me to leave yet. I’m on this journey to have my hope restored, my broken heart repaired, and to learn to trust again. Without the love of Jesus, I do not believe it would be possible. Even with…

  • Be Brave

    There is a piece of paper I taped to the window in front of my desk that says, “Be Brave Enough to Disappoint” because I’m a people pleaser. Someone who breathes for affirmation. Someone who seeks love and acceptance probably a little like a crazy person.  I’ll do almost anything to make someone else feel…

  • Modeling Lovable

  • Asking A Lot

    On the second floor of my home is a little room barely big enough for a twin bed and a very small dresser. We call it the tiny room. I’m not sure what it was designed for, but for a while, I called it my “junk drawer.” You know, that kitchen drawer that becomes the…