live bodly – love courageously
This morning during a 9am Zoom call, we were asked to write on a piece of paper a word that describes how we’re currently feeling. Before four weeks ago, life maneuvered at a freeway pace. Our family went from one thing to the next without moments of exhaling. Balance and rhythm struck discord in my… Continue reading The 5-Letter Word for Our Souls
Tuesday mornings arrive before I’m ready. I roll out of bed in the dark and prepare our downstairs for a herd of 7th grade girls to make their appearance. Before school they come. Tired eyes. Ready hearts. Heavy loads. They drop their two-ton backpacks in a pile, eye the goodies with their journals and Bibles… Continue reading Joy: Defined by 7th Grade Girls
On a still, March morning, I ran upstairs for a moment while my 18-month-old son played downstairs. I left him playing with trains and a bouncy ball. In my brief absence, he crawled under our glass coffee table to retrieve a ball and tried to stand up. The 60 pound weight of the glass proved… Continue reading When Peace Shatters
I knew one day my childhood home would be for sale despite my heart's denial. But here we are. Sign staked in the ground. Home beautifully staged. Empty drawers and closets. Open house will soon begin. This home provided stability, safety and a whole lot of love and grace. Of course, it's the people who… Continue reading Hiding Spots and Joy’s Timeless Gratitude
The morning air fills with a dichotomy of time. The youngest needs help getting dressed in her mismatched outfit, doesn't care if her hair's done and fills her tiny mouth with cereal. The eldest scarfs down self-made scrambled eggs, combs his newly cut hair, and grabs his gargantuous backpack. I watch these two sit side… Continue reading First Day of High School
I roll into Seattle on I-5 and turn the radio to STAR 101.5. It's a funny habit from high school. Macklemore's Good Old Days serendipitously blares through the speakers. Because, well, you know, this is the city he's singing about. It's been over two decades since I flew the nest and built new ones in… Continue reading About Good Old Days and Letting Go
My oldest will walk the hallways of high school in a few shorts weeks. How in the world did we get here so quickly? It feels like yesterday he entered Kindergarten. Cliche to say, but true beyond measure. August 2009. The Southern California sun beat down on the school as we walked to my son's… Continue reading The Best $9.99 I’ve Ever Spent
"Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." -Fred Rogers On Monday, my parents were riding their red tandem on the Burke Gilman Trail when their typical day took a sudden turn. The biker in front of them suddenly stopped, and my dad safely passed to the left. Some glass sparkled… Continue reading Look for the Helpers
It's Monday evening at the grocery store. I rush through the store like a cheetah snatching its prey. Glance at my watch. Fifteen minutes until Gymnast is done with practice. Can't be late. Hurry up. Pick a short line. Place all my items on the conveyor belt. And that's when my eyes finally elevate away… Continue reading Why It’s Never the Wrong Time to Do the Right Thing
"I'd completely given up on this seed ever becoming anything. But, look! It broke through yesterday," I said to my 6th grade daughter. I gleefully held the plastic green cup in front of her. She wasn't nearly as excited or shocked as I was, but I guess that's to be expected from a pre-teen on… Continue reading That’s Why You Never Give Up, Mom!
Oh, Fortnite. I've been dragging my feet to post this, but the more I've talked with fellow moms the more I realize I'm not alone in these sentiments and the challenges of parenting in this technology age. My son downloaded Fortnite on his 14th birthday in November and began learning the ins-and-outs of the game.… Continue reading The Trouble with Fortnite (The New “F” Word)
Every Tuesday morning 6th grade girls flutter into our basement before school. Backpacks stack high by our stairs, and Bibles are grabbed. These girls straddling the delicacies of adolescence come with energy and giggles to recharge my waiting heart and questions to stretch my tired brain. This Tuesday we recapped our spring breaks and Easter.… Continue reading The Mystery and Wonder of Faith: Pixie Dust and Doubting Thomas
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave person is not the one who does not feel afraid, but the one who conquers that fear." -Nelson Mandela Life can throw challenges our way that shake us to the core. Fear creeps in like a fire breathing… Continue reading How Courage Crumples the Fire-Breathing Dragon of Fear
"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls." -Mother Teresa The sturdy Pajero bounces along the pot-hole ridden street, passing the bustling markets and onlooking zebras on our way from Eldoret to Kijabe. Five hours of driving leads us to Bethany Crippled Children's Hospital. A sanctuary of kindness. A living testimony… Continue reading The Secret of Joy (Janet Part IV)
The Seattle Marathon. A 26.2 mile beast I will try to tackle this Sunday. And I will run for those who can't. I'm running for Living Room International, a grace-soaked hospice in Western Kenya. Janet receives physical therapy here, orphans find refuge, and the sick and dying live dignified and are embraced through every breath… Continue reading I Run for Those Who Can’t
“Never give up, for this is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe April 4, 2002 Janet sat at our feet because she'd never stood. We waited outside the physiotherapy clinic of Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya for over two hours in hopes of seeing a visiting… Continue reading Janet Part II: We’re Not Giving Up…EVER
I leave our round hut with bandaids, neosporin, a Swahili phrase book, and a bottle of water tucked into my pink backpack. My plan is to visit mamas, practice my broken Swahili and clean children's wounds. But, as it is for most days in Kenya, schedules are thrown out and the important rises to the… Continue reading Janet Part I: Something Has To Be Done
I sank down on my in-laws’ bathroom floor. Disbelief. Shock. Laughter mixed with tears. The white, six-inch stick I held in my right hand bore a little pink line. My youngest was turning eight in a few days. My oldest was already in double digits. Matt and I were nearly halfway done with our in-home… Continue reading When Gracie Entered Our Lives…The Best Surprise
It's a funny thing when our selfish hopes get turned upside down and the multi-faceted glimmer of renewed perspective is revealed. We settled into row 27 on the Boeing 737 headed from Seattle to Washington D.C. I gambled with seat selection and the hopes that no one would willingly choose to sit in the middle… Continue reading Row 27’s Window Seat: When Selfish Hopes Turn Upside Down
Anika Ortiz 