Full of Joy

Iced Lavender Cream Soy Matcha is back at Starbucks! To receive this email in my inbox was an unexpected burst of happy in my day. I had forgotten about this treasure of a drink from last spring, and wasn’t even anticipating its arrival. I have been a fan of the “Iced Green Tea Latte” for yeaaaaaars. It was first introduced at Starbucks in 2006, and yes- I was working there at the time. Upon doing a little digging, I learned that was the first time matcha became popular in North America. Knowing I had $6 in my wallet to burn, I zipped over to Starbucks the first chance I got yesterday. The sun was shining, the air was warm, my mood was light. Taking that first sip of the lavender cold foam was such a joy. Not only do I savor the taste, but the purple color is so pretty. A delight for all the senses. The first time I tried the drink last spring was with a gift card from my dear friend, Kate. I text her to spread the good news of its arrival. Then it hit me. Kate had given me a St...

Can you hear the sound of heaven? Can you hear the angels’ song? Calling us into His Presence Drawing us to sing along We gather here to bring You Honor Our blessed hope to see Your face Spirit, Son, and Holy Father Come make us now Your resting place He is wonderful! He is beautiful! He is radiant! He is Jesus! (He Is Wonderful, by Jesus Image) A new song popped up on Spotify this past Friday. While driving to Aldi the lyrics and music filled my senses, and quickly moved to my spirit that day. Tears came rushing to the surface. The Spirit was moving. Powerfully. I told Chuck about it during dinner Friday night, and couldn’t stop the tears. We listened to the song on the way to our kid’s school carnival a little later, and I wept again. Over the next two days I played it over and over. Almost every time I would cry, but I couldn’t articulate why. A fire was rising up in my spirit. Later that night, Chuck and I listened to a live message online...

I can imagine all of Heaven rejoicing when a miracle happens on earth. Miracles are happening every day- even in our family this week! We have another story (the Word of our testimony, Rev. 12:11) of God’s healing taking place. When my oldest daughter, Basye, was one year old she got her first pair of glasses. For the previous 18 months she had been wearing a helmet for 23 hours a day. The day after she was cleared from wearing her helmet, we were told she needed eye surgery and glasses. 8 months later, her big brother started showing signs he needed glasses, too. Jase got his first pair of glasses on Valentines Day of 2017. He was three years old. For the last 7 years we have prayed healing over both Basye and Jase’s eyes. Two different times, our pediatrician suggested our youngest daughter, Tatum needed glasses, too. We stood in faith, refusing to believe the words spoken over her. We asked friends to stand with us in faith and prayer, as well. She has seen an ophthalmolog...

(For the full scope of this story, first check out my previous post, “Last Day”.) A couple months ago, my older brother and one of my nephews stopped by our house for a few hours. They had been visiting my parents in PA, and were making their way back home to NC. They brought a bunch of stuff with them, including a large bag my Mom had sent containing special items she had saved for me (and my kids) from my Grandma’s house. I sifted through the bag and looked at a couple items, but got so overwhelmed with grief I set it aside. It has sat in my room ever since. I walked by it multiple times a day for weeks, but was never ready to look through it. All this time, it was a comfort for me to have it sitting there next to my bed. Until today. As a family we were purging a bunch of stuff and organizing things in our attic. Maybe because our bedroom was finally organized, it felt like the right time to look through the bag . I closed our bedroom door, lifted the bag onto ou...

“Where is my Starbucks Iowa coffee mug? I’ve used it every morning for the last 4 months, without fail. I don’t want to drink my coffee in anything else. It’s probably dirty, and in the dishwasher. I need to tell Chuck not to put my Iowa mug in the dishwasher. Oh, the dishwasher is clean. There it is.” This morning I mindlessly filled up my Starbucks Iowa coffee mug, added my Silk Mocha Almond Creamer (that sounds so extra!) and continued putzing around. I pulled out my prayer journal intending on spending some time with my Big Papa (AKA: God), and noticed a little flaw in my mug I hadn’t seen before. In a split second, I was flooded with sadness. Grief gripped my heart and squeezed. I knew what to do. “It’s ok. Let the pain come. Feel the sadness. Cry the tears.” It wasn’t about the mug’s flaw. It was about my Grandma. The last time I saw her…. *** “Hon, I think you should fly out to Iowa to see your Grandma…” It had been my Mom on the phone. “Your Aunt Sara called, and it s...

Recently I read an encouraging Word from Nate Johnston . In it he mentioned, “So set the table by faith.” I kept thinking about it, and pondering what the Lord might be saying. The next day, our whole family trooped into Costco. I saw a big pack of popsicles, and snatched them up right away. I knew it was God’s idea for us to keep popsicles in the freezer so anytime we have kids in the backyard, we have a fun treat to offer. Over the next couple of days, I also began to sense the Lord prompting me to buy supplies for S’mores. I even mentioned my intentions to Chuck and the kids. We were all excited about the idea! Again, I knew it was God’s leading for us to have S’more supplies on hand so we could whip up a fire at a moment’s notice when friends or neighbors stop by. It crossed my mind multiple times, but I hadn’t gotten to the store to purchase anything. Then it happened. Tonight after dinner two middle school neighbor boys knocked on the back door, and asked Chuck if they cou...

Do you ever have a seemingly silly dream? Years ago our kids started talking about RV campers. The kind where they could “run around while Papa drives”. One of my favorite shows of all time is Frasier . There are a couple episodes where Martin- the Dad of the main character, Frasier, gets a Winnebago. He calls it the Road Warrior= RDWRER on the license plate. That show makes me laugh out loud so hard! Anybody else? Recently our dear friends purchased a camper, and my dreams clicked into overdrive. I think seeing it as a reality for my actual, real-life friends made me think of the possibility of it happening for our family. Now don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no desire for camping or the outdoors. The problem is Chuck and the kids are all so crazy about the idea of camping together. I just can’t get myself to do the tent thing. This is why it’s our big “silly” Family Dream to have an RV. We can all go “camping” together, while Mama spends her days “indoors” if we had one. ...