Tag: joy
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For the Grievers at Christmas
These are the days with the least light. You feel it, don’t you? It’s not just a lack of sunshine, it’s the darkness that’s settled deep in your bones. Maybe you’re not at the center of some sadness, but you’re holding the hurt of another you love, and we just wish this pain would all…
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A Field Path Through Burtigny
Glass doors open to a pebblestone terrace, and a path below that disappears into the horizon through fields and pasture. One of August’s last suns has long set, darkening the sky, like indigo ink spilling across a nighttime canvas. Humble prayers float away to the brightening stars; hopeful yellow splashes of color, flung into the…
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Summer of Roses
It started in Maythe ruby red rosesdelicately lush on a bush in bloom, and each morning I’d walkclose to their color, crossing the street to come in to their presence because that’s what beauty doesbeckoning proximitywith peace that magnetizeswelcoming a pause for pleasure and I lean indrawn to aromatic airdelighting in loveliness that letsme forget…
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Letting Light Lead
I walk the shoreline with osprey chattering and a heron stealthily searching for dinner up ahead, hoping Hunter doesn’t disturb her. The late August sunshine wraps me in warmth, sparking an incandescent joy. Tonight we’re traipsing through high-tide and scrambling over downed trees, but the previous evening, I was far from the shore, in the…
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Let’s All Be A Little Like the Flowers
Flowers fill me. Their beauty and fragrance fill me with peace and joy. So I keep seeking flowers. And oh how I have found them anew this spring, lifting my soul from winter’s clutch to a world again of color, hope, and becoming. I could get technical and talk about the nervous system and how calming they…
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Cherry Blossom Beauty and Rebuilding Bridges
Blustery March winds whipped as I wound my way along the path of the old fort on the Patapsco River. A seagull bobbed ahead of me in the water, as I approached the grove of flowering trees – the treasured cherry blossoms. Every year I try to make an annual trek to Fort McHenry National…
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Looking for Light
I wasn’t prepared for a hike in my dress coat and boots. But I was in the neighborhood of my favorite park and needed a dose of nature after the disappointing rain all weekend. Wrapping my coat more closely around me, my hair swirling in the wind — I wished I had a hat and…
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Into the Unknown
2024. A new year is ahead. Twelve months — and 366 days (it’s a leap year!). With the calendar turning to January, it can be a little like stepping into the fog of the unknown… For all of my nature travels and beauty seeking in 2023, I think this moment in the fog on the…
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Wildflowers and Grace in the Wilderness
Absolutely gorgeous fall day to celebrate the gift of life! And oh I am today, as I turn 38 🙌🏻. God gave me an amazing sunset last night—a perfect reflection (in more ways than one) moment to bask in beauty and soak up gratitude for His sweet love for me. 37 was a good year—newness…
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Surviving the Strenuous Times
I tied my laces, adjusted the straps of my backpack, and breathed in and out, as deep as I could. The Appalachian Trail through the Great Smoky Mountains lay ahead – and as my sister and I started our hike, those little electric bolts of fear darted through me. My body was not feeling as…