Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: gratitude

  • Stuck In The Mud

    It started out innocently enough. We arrived home from a lengthy trip and realized that workers were coming the next day to start replacing our deck. Our RV usually sits on a large paved pad next to our house, but that area would be needed by the construction workers. My husband, just as he has…

  • The currency of currency: Travel Goals

    Currency: the quality of being generally accepted or in use. The U.S. dollar (and also the Euro), as we were to find out, is the ultimate currency. ..at least in South America. After arrival in any country, one of first stops we make is a bank or currency exchange. In recent years it has become…

  • Dreaming of a Spring awakening

    This winter has been sluggish. I always struggle in the grey, dark days to find meaning and purpose. I get up and read. Slowly going through the motions of the day, I long to be outside and for sunshine. It is hard to be motivated when hibernation seems the best option. And so I dream.…

  • Hibernation

    The cold fingers of winter creep up on you. Wrapped in the post holiday glow, you don’t notice it at first. Still full and warm, you snuggle into a comfortable lull. At first it seems cozy. Contentment radiates, until one day you decide to pack away the decorations. The house looks clean and bright. You…

  • Decoration Day

    My grandma always called Memorial Day by its old name…decoration day. It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers with flowers and to honor their memories. Eventually, decoration day became Memorial Day. She was adamant about honoring family with artificial flowers. My decoration day celebration, however, is always the 48 hours…

  • Thanksgiving

    The leaves have turned. The air has turned colder. The days are shorter. There is an urgency to make the most of any weather that permits outdoor living. Winter is coming. It is the time of year that family negotiations begin. Where shall we meet? How many will come? Who will bring food? The coordination…

  • Nature’s Cathedral: Travel Goals

    There is something magical about authentic encounters in nature. I am never more aware of God and moved to worship than when I am surrounded by the natural world. Walking in the early morning woods while the dew is still heavy on the leaves. Watching a deer silently follow me along the trail. Viewing the…

  • Perspective

    There is water running down my windows but it is not raining. The air outside is like a sauna. It is steamy and thick. Why is it that when I pay to visit a sauna, I enjoy the sensation? But, when I am trying to mow my lawn, enjoyment is not the word I am…

  • Peace be still

    The words sound simple and joyful. Peace be still. It is peaceful here. The birds are singing. The sun is shining. I am sitting by a campfire and in the stillness of the morning, I am thinking of my beautiful aunts. They are all with the Lord. But today, they are also vivid in my…

  • Life is hard. God is good.

    The last few weeks have been difficult; not because there is anything wrong in my life, only because I feel unsettled. Call it a physiological response or existential angst. Maybe it is the summer blahs. Perhaps it is living in what I like to call “the age of anxiety.“ It doesn’t really matter what it…