A grateful heart sees the fingerprints of God in normal every day circumstances, be they great or challenging.

This time of year, spring fever hits. This is a time to have one woman retreat, to plan delight for yourself, to bring joy and beauty just for a bit to bring new life into your soul.

Today, I ended my time with my wonderful daughter, Sarah, chatting about life, a momentous birthday and values and relationships we cherish. I hope you enjoy today?s podcast and our fun time together.

Jesus was the Word, the message sent from God?s heart of love. Calling him that shows such the significance of words to God. Words give hope, communicate ideas, inspire movements to fight for freedom, sharpen our minds to know how to think well, inspire heroism, give leadership to those longing for direction. These words are alive and shape life.

I'd rather be a risk taker, live by faith, believe that He is here present than to let fear of what might happen (or fear of failure, or fear of what people might think) squeeze the life and childlikeness of my believing and hoping out of me, to cause me to do nothing at all.

Today I talked with a wonderful friend, Ginny Zurich, who has a wealth of research, knowledge and understanding of an outdoor life. She is a treasure, a delight and an inspiration. Join us as we discuss many areas of this flourishing view of life.

I've been pondering why intentional words are so important and give so much life to people. Many I know are a bit empty, weary ? but words of life have worked magic in them.

When I look to God?s ways, I observe what He has made and listen to the voice of creation. He has made even the insignificant, a small child, a thing of glory, beauty to behold, heavenly art in which my heart is amazed. In His hands, the small becomes significant.

The more we believe in His love, the more we live in the peaceful and generous acceptance we have from Him, the more we will exhibit it to others in our lives.

What would a world hope for if there were not great women committed to serving, civilizing, bringing beauty from chaos and believing courageously in the truths of God, even during dark times?

God does not arbitrarily issue us commandments to be hard on us. His commandments, which must be obeyed, are for our best ? to protect us, to bless us, to cause us happiness and to help us become the best we can be.

In the same way that we expose ourselves and children to great stories to shape our moral imagination, so Jesus used so many metaphors in scripture to give us a personal picture of what He is like.

Honor was one of the foundational values of our home. Honor, recognizing the worth of another human being and treating them as such, was foundational to our children learning to bow their knee before God.

Often, we live through daily rhythms and don?t realize that even common moments are shaping the impressions on our children?s hearts.

Believing when we cannot see, practicing faithfulness when no one else sees is a long tradition of faithful saints throughout history.

Biblical truths have held me through my own dark clouds, anchoring my thoughts and heart to know and understand the never changing attributes of God and his goodness. These truths, stored up in our minds and our children, will speak to us and carry us through.

One of the strengths and profound work of a woman, is to bring civility and order out of chaos, to bring beauty, intelligence, excellence in subduing her kingdom of home into a life-giving haven.

Today on my podcast, I am starting a new series?training in truth, virtue, discipling your children and discipling yourself.

Today, I have been thinking about how to move through the different years, the varied seasons of life with generous grace. And life requires intentional endurance to keep going strong with determination to make it a beautiful story.

Every year this time, I go away by myself with a journal to search my heart in order to clear it from attitude, heart clutter.

I am praying for all of you ? but even more, God is praying for you and loves you. Don't give into discouragement or inadequate feelings. With God all things are possible. He is so glad you are trying and that you care.  You are precious to Him and He is training your character to grow strong as you are training your children.

It's hard for all of us?especially in the hurry and flurry of the Christmas season?to take time to stop and listen to our children. But I've realized that's the most important thing of all. If I want my children to be open to hearing the messages I have for them, I must listen to the ones they have for me.

Today on my podcast, I am reintroducing you to my friend, Malcolm Guite, a scholar in Cambridge, a Poet and very winsome and informative teacher. You will love hearing about why and how we celebrate Christ throughout the church year.

The goal of  Christmas traditions is not to do the most elaborate and difficult things, but to help my children love Jesus, revere Him, enjoy His story, to embed the beauty of Christmas deeply into their hearts.

Join me as I speak today about the Biblical meaning of waiting. Advents finds us waiting for His light to come into our darkness.

The holidays bring such an array of activities, things to do, traditions to occupy our time. Yet, if we want to make this holiday memorable and special, we need to determine to be present in the moment with those in our midst, our children, friends, relatives, neighbors. This is the day, this is the moment the Lord has made.

None of us will ever be perfect. We are in process. And at every step, God who is steadfast in His love and never changing, loves us and wants to companion us and carry our load.

Week by week, our family waited for the arrival of our precious baby to come. Yet, this mysterious journey of motherhood means that every time a baby is born, it is miraculous and unpredictable. Finally, on her due date, my newest grandchild decided to hint that she might be on her way.

A truth told without love and grace is a truth that is rejected. Would Jesus' message have had the same impact without His feeding thousands, taking children into HIs arms, and washing the feet of His friends? It is in service that God incarnate is recognized. And service begins with serving those who are closest to us, making home the very best place to be.

Creating and noticing beauty, the loveliness of life, the gift of sweet relationships with my littles is an emotional and spiritual defense against being overcome by evil and darkness.

Our walk with God, our hope in His reality, His companionship, His presence every day gives our children a way forward to know how to engage with the realities of a dark, broken world. The way we narrate life to them becomes their instructor for how to narrate life for themselves.

We all go through struggles and dark seasons as women and mothers. The battles are real and can seem overwhelming. Along the way, I have had a few people who have met me at my point of need, my point of depression, my hunger, for wisdom and instruction.

Autumn is a time for savoring, for choosing to make a memory. We intentionally take the opportunity to look into the eyes of our beloveds, to make one more sweet memory with a full knowledge that seasons change and that the moment might pass.

I hadn?t had a conversation with my friend, Sam, for quite a while, so we met for a chat to catch up and I knew many of you would enjoy listening in.

We were created to be message makers, healers, redeemers. There is a kingdom of darkness but we are people of the light and the light will overcome all that is evil, dark, meaningless, and harsh.

Let us embrace the joy worth repeating, again and again, and seek out those warm conversations that nourish our spirits and remind us of the beauty of connection. And may we never underestimate the power of tea and a friend to bring peace, comfort, and a touch of magic to our lives.

He who was with Jesus, is with me. He is still the calm in the midst of storms, the peace and rest in the torrents, the comfort and lover and One who is powerful above all and still says to the powers that threaten, ?Be still.?

So often, God prunes my branches of life. He takes away, he cuts my life back?and truly I have learned that I bear more fruit from these times of discipline than I could have understood when I was younger. He has the best for me in mind?that I may bear even more fruit.

It is a legacy of faith we are passing on, when we daily stoop to serve, patiently giving our energy to meet the needs of others.

I invested a lifetime of building heart-to-heart connections through words of grace, rhythms of shaping thoughts, convictions, and imagination of His goodness, beauty, and love. These happened in all the moments of the days and were underlined by the intentional special times when we would meet alone, share a cuppa of something soothing and warm, a treat, and speak of eternal virtues that inspired a lifetime of joy.

Learning to be responsible for your own sense of well-being, your sense of contentment, and the ability to thrive is one of the most foundational aspects of flourishing over a lifetime.

His spirit shapes us as we shape a generation for His glory. And we are able to take one more step of obedience and pour out His unconditional love and wisdom to children who are not always aware of our sacrifice until they are older.

As I look to the years ahead, I wonder how I could best invest my time and my love for all of you whose lives matter so much.

As I ponder where I have been and where I am going, I have realized that I want to consider how to best invest my life for Him in the years ahead, how to love well, to encourage generously, to grow a little bit more like Jesus every day.

For our children to have a strong standard of truth speaking to their invisible thoughts, their minds must be filled with thousands of teachings of scripture so their brains will have a "go-to" place when they are making decisions about their lives.

Today on my podcast I share many of the ways Clay and I prepared for our home for our grandchildren to be child friendly, a place to rest and be at peace, and a welcome to their parents.

As believers, we need to understand the principle of unconditional love. It is natural to disdain or criticize people?it is supernatural to love, to forgive, to be patient.

?Even grown ups love to play dress up once in a while.? Add to that a cold gas of sparkling Elderflower juice, shared with a dear friend with lots of laughter and you have an unforgettable memory to come back to again and again.

Unless we learn to give these wounds into the file drawer of heaven, to allow Christ to take these burdens of heart for us, we will be overwhelmed by a shadow of bitterness, anger or disappointment. That is why forgiveness is so very essential to the message of Christ.

Tending to the hearts of the ?least of these? is what pleases Jesus. We are His hands, voice, and touch to those He has trusted into our care.