Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: hope

  • Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ: Rural Road Trip

    Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ: Rural Road Trip

    We planned a three day stop in Holbrook, AZ thinking we would enjoy petrified forest national park. It is shut down, due to the government’s fight over the big beautiful bill. There isn’t much to do in Holbrook except the park. So….. We visit the rock shops. Turns out there is plenty of petrified wood.…

  • Character Matters: Educating For Sanity

    Character Matters: Educating For Sanity

    When we talk about “character,” we’re referring to the values and traits that guide how a person thinks, feels, and acts. It’s the compass people use to navigate relationships, challenges, and decisions in school, at home, and out in the world.  A person of strong character consistently chooses to do the right thing—even when it’s…

  • Convents, Cable Cars, and Clothing: Travel Goals Italy

    Convents, Cable Cars, and Clothing: Travel Goals Italy

    The day is overcast as we drive around the lake to Santa Caterina del Sasso. An ancient monastery along Lake Maggiore, Santa Caterina is carved into the rock. It hangs above the lake as if suspended by magic. After parking and trying to decipher signs that seem to suggest the monastery is in two different…

  • Stillness, Surgery, and Serenity

    Stillness, Surgery, and Serenity

    If you know me, you know I rarely sit still. Even when I am “watching” television, I am usually doing a word puzzle or craft project. When I am driving, I ponder and grapple with ideas. I like to be on the move mentally and physically. So when my husband finally decides (after 10 years…

  • Unexpected Encounters: Travel Goals Uruguay

    Unexpected Encounters: Travel Goals Uruguay

    When I was a teenager, I went to the science center IMAX. There, on the giant screen, I experienced scenes from the Andes and a plane crash that left people stranded for 72 days. Through footage of the wreckage, I imagined the horrors of trying to survive on the side of a mountain in temperatures…

  • Dreaming of a Spring Awakening: Travel Goals

    Dreaming of a Spring Awakening: Travel Goals

    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.…

  • Nature’s Cathedral: Travel Goals Australia

    Nature’s Cathedral: Travel Goals Australia

    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…

  • Life is hard. God is good.

    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…

  • Summer Struggles

    Summer Struggles

    I have a love/hate relationship with my yard. It is spacious with wonderful trees. I have small garden spaces and patios. I even have a large freestanding octagonal swing structure surrounding a fire pit. We also have delightful wildlife that, four months out of the year, turn into creatures of mass destruction. I love to…

  • Sea and Sanctuary: Travel Goals Portugal

    Sea and Sanctuary: Travel Goals Portugal

    Setúbal is an ancient seaside town. Nearby is Troia beach, where the Greeks may have landed so very long ago. It is certain that the Romans were here. Archeological remains show human settlement thousands of years prior to the birth of Christ. Throughout the centuries the sea has been a source of sustenance and a…