Reboot, Rejuvenate, Resurrect

BOUNDARIES People who do not know how to set them will often make a habit of crossing yours. Those without boundaries may not see the need or value in creating them for themselves, and what is deemed valueless is rarely respected. If allowed, they will disrupt your routine, distract your focus, and disturb your environment. TRUTH: Their lack of boundaries is not their problem to solve. It becomes my problem when I allow it to invade my peace. Therefore, if it is to be solved,

ROOTED I marvel at the trees we planted five years ago in our backyard. They have endured sizzling summers and freezing winters. Each fall, they release their colorful leaves; each spring, without fanfare, they announce life again. We give little thought to their needs, yet they thrive in grass and soil layered over limestone bedrock—hard ground for anything trying to dig deep. Still, they have learned to live, grow, and flourish right where they are. Where do the roots fin

ICE CREAM The gaggle of youngsters who run through my house know there are treats in the freezer. They ask for what they want, which may or may not be there. When it isn’t, they ask, “What kind of ice cream do you have?” Which got me thinking: What do I know about ice cream? Turns out, more than I thought—and somewhere between the freezer door and those eager little faces, God stirred up buried memories. Ice cream can be loved and desired yet not tolerated. Some prefer plai

BUCKING HORSE In a previous blog post, “The Habit of Not,” I asked myself this question: Had I developed a habit of not seeing or listening to my heart when it whispered personal truths? The example I shared then was my lack of acknowledgment that hospitality, hosting, and entertaining others often tied me into a knot. That question lingered. I describe myself as accomplished, with a healthy dose of ego and self-esteem built from the inside out. When a crack appears in my

POP QUIZ Love is never theoretical; love is a practice, and life has a way of giving pop quizzes that reveal how faithfully I am practicing it. I am a work in progress. I know this to be true, but occasionally I unconsciously begin to think that I have arrived. Arrived where? I don’t know, but I slip into a mindset of satisfaction with self. Experience is the best teacher, and it has taught me that this mindset requires self-assessment. Sometimes, however, self-examination

Lessons from Pothos I believe much of what we need to know about sustaining healthy relationships can be gleaned from the intentional observation of nature. You are not required to subscribe to my belief, but I invite you to consider what a thriving plant can teach us about restoration, renewal, and growth. The Gift of a Cutting My Sistah-friend in Florida cares for a magnificent pot of pothos. It is the centerpiece of her lanai—her screened porch, for those of us who live ou

Watching the Battle Against Rest My family of three was asked to watch the two girls from next door—two energetic, somewhat demanding children. Their father left promising he would return and insisting they would not need to spend the night. Still, he brought their pajamas just in case. After a full evening of activities, dinner, and snacks, the girls were finally dressed for bed. The younger one quickly gave in to sleep and drifted off in my son’s lap. Her older sister, howe

BOOTS ON THE GROUND As our plane lifted from Minneapolis, I was unusually awake for takeoff. I turned to my companion, a frequent visitor to the state and repository of much trivia, and asked, “Isn’t Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes?” He smiled and said it was closer to 13,000. In fact, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes of ten acres or more. Looking out the window, I understood why the slogan fits. From above, the land seemed covered with scattered patches of water of various si

TIME 5:05 AM – a tiny sliver of a matchstick embeds itself in the pad of my right thumb. I am a bit of a pragmatist; I had two choices for quick removal; use the nails of the left hand to remove it or find tweezers to pluck it out. My fingernails were right there. At 5:10, I concluded that I had chosen incorrectly. As I stood to look for tweezers, I spied a small safety pin lying on the end table. “This should do the job” I thought. 5:17 – I had successfully extracted nothing

SNEAKERS AND SCARVES The father asked, “Son, how many pairs of sneakers do you own?” The son answered with a number that was more than he could wear in a month if he wore a different pair every day. The father turned to his friend, “And how many pairs do you own?” The friend answered with a number that far exceeded the son’s. The combined pairs of sneakers could easily stock a small footwear store. Not to sound judgmental - the question that begged an answer: is this a case

IGNORANCE As I mulled over the word ignorance, I came to a place of thinking; what is the opposite of the word? Sometimes when thoughts like this come to mind, I stop and examine my definition… in this case -ignorance. Is it a lack of knowledge, education? Or the lack of understanding something specific? Is it these and more? I dug a little deeper and discovered that ignorance can be categorized – simply not knowing, willfully ignoring information to remain uninformed, ration

SHELTER “ What if” is a shelter where many seek refuge from life. “Suppose I do this, and this happens? What will they think if I do that? What i f I do that and they don’t like it or me? The possibilities for the “What if ” to be positive or negative are equal. Neither should overshadow the other. BUT the negative most often overshadows. We choose to give it more attention. The ultimate life’s goal, no matter one’s age, ought to be to leave no feeling unfelt, no voice

RESISTANCE True confession – I love my husband. Out of my love for him, I have watched my share of science fiction, specifically Star Trek, my husband’s all-time favorite TV series. I do not love science fiction, or anything related to it. This is my disclaimer for what follows. “Resistance is futile,” the famous catchphrase of the Borg Collective (a single alien group composed of many species), was spoken when they were about to assimilate another species into the colle

THE HABIT OF NOT NOT - hearing, seeing, being present, living authentically, risking, being kind, slowing down, releasing dead things. The NOTS of life have an enigmatic way of becoming KNOTS , potentially clogging the flow of life like a blood clot in an artery. STOP! Identify a KNOT that may impede your path to being the healthiest, happiest, and strongest person possible in this season of life. Is the identified KNOT related to a habit of NOT ? Perhaps you were

IN AND OUT If one doesn’t let stuff go or take stuff in – death becomes one’s reality. TRY THIS. Take a deep breath. Hold it for as long as possible. For most that will be around thirty seconds. The exception is someone trained for underwater emergencies. They can hold their breath for up to two minutes. What is inhaled must be exhaled or death is a certainty. If nothing is inhaled there in nothing to exhale, death is a certainty. Breathing, the thing that we do as much

DESCRIBE NOT PRESCRIBE “What am I doing?” It is a question withdrawn from my thought bank frequently. I don’t dwell on the question and obviously it is redeposited because it is withdrawn repeatedly. Imagine my surprise when a sustaining possible answer emerged. “What am I doing?” I am planting a seed in me and hopefully in you. I describe with words what I see or have lived or seen and what I feel or have felt. I don’t desire to prescribe what you feel or do with what

FATHER Remember I am on a quest to become unencumbered in 2026, and help comes from unusual places. What did you sincerely learn from your father? This was the writing prompt from a book that I have used to learn to be a better writer since April,2025. Each day the instructions following the prompt are “Go. Ten minutes.” I experienced a moment of panic because I didn’t want to squander any of the ten minutes trying to think of a profound and elaborate story to recount.

TRY TO FIND THE LADY BUG IN THE PHOTOGRAPH NOTHING AND SOMETHING Husband, “What are you doing?” Girls next door, “Gwennie, I ‘ve finished my homework. What are we going to do now?” Son, “Mom, what ‘cha doing?” Friends “What are you up to?” My answer is seldom, “NOTHING!” I always have something to do, and I will find something for the girls to do because there is always something to be done and doing nothing signals uselessness. On the other hand, a “nothing” reply is an ope

FEAR? Fear, noun and verb, is one of those weird words in the English language that is defined contextually. Fear is an unpleasant emotion or anxious feeling arising from the belief that something is dangerous or something unwelcome will happen to self or someone else. Fear can also express reverence and awe. Fear is a major obstacle for many. It is the “something unwelcome” that causes me to pause and ponder fear. Fear is both a powerful and weak motivator. It is a power

EGGS In a post a year ago, I mentioned eggs and promised to share more of my observations about them in another post. I try to keep my promise!!! Did you know? 1)Commercially produced eggs in the US are always refrigerated but not in most other countries (Why? Other countries don’t wash eggs) 2) The eggshell’s color does not affect the inside of the egg whatsoever. 3) The grade of the egg, AA, A, B is determined by the lack of blemishes on shell and the size, XL, L, M, and