Ever Singing For Joy

A Tree. A Hike. A Perspective. Publishing Edit: This post was previously unpublished.   I wrote it back in early September 2023. As I’ve had time over the Christmas break to catch up on some things, I decided to go back and grab some older, unpublished posts and get them on the blog.   This is the first of a few that are coming.   Life looks a little different now even though it was only a few months ago, but by and large the underlying message/theme of this post still hold true.   God is gracious toward me.   I don’t deserve it and I certainly have room to grow as I continue to understand all of the ways He provides for me and my family, but I’m grateful for these moments of reflection.   —— On a recent trip to Maine, I went to Acadia National Park.   I had an opportunity to hike ‘Bee Hive’. It was one of the more strenuous hikes in the park and it involved climbing nearly 600’ in elevation while traversing the side of a mountain.   I’m making it sound more challenging than it really

I've tried to sit down and write this post about three times.  Every time I make it about a solid paragraph in and I scrap it to start over.  The first pass was already going to be really long winded and detailed.  The second was a little better, but opened the door for about a million rabbit trails to take. I think I've settled on the following for both time and posterity; back to a stream of consciousness brain dump... at least you know you're getting the freshest content. :) Ash was a gentle (most of the time :) ), compassionate heartbeat.  She had this unwavering focus to point others to Jesus.  She loved deeply  and had this ability to meet anyone where they were and pull them in.  She knew me better than anyone and (even in spite of that :) ), she loved me.  She was a tender-hearted mother that loved her girls more than most anything else.  She was passionate for caring for children (summers in other countries working in orphanages, working preschool ministry, her car

'Tis the season.  The back end of the holidays is probably one of the weirdest seasons thus far.  I've found myself wanting to retreat in my own mind.  I had a lot of time over the past few weeks to myself.  My girls were in Texas for the entirety of their Christmas break.  I spent a week out in Texas with them, but I bookended either side of Christmas with some time to myself back in Alabama.  I had made tentative plans to travel and 'get-away' but the reality is... when that time came I didn't want to do any of that.  The thought of traveling and getting away was so appealing until it was time to pull the trigger.  So, when the time came (along with my lack of planning the logistics ahead of time), I defaulted to what was comfortable and routine.  I spent that time at home or in a coffee shop.  It was uneventful, moderately restful and definitely provided opportunities for my brain to run in overdrive.   I often use the analogy of a snowball rolling down a hill wh