Rooted Hearts

  Sometimes Life can get rather messy, just like Ella in her highchair. Crumbs ramble around us sifting in between everything that we are. Those crumbs can never be returned to their original cookie state, but goodness can still be derived from them.  As it is in each and every day, our lives may crumble, but the pieces can still create something great. Born from mere imperfection, the mosaic we create can be strong and beautiful.  I rambled on and on talking my friend Liz's ear off. Pure nervous energy as we traveled into the city to see a new medical oncologist. I recently was made aware the Axonal sensory Polyneuropathy I have been battling was likely due to medication I have been taking to keep my breast cancer from metastasizing. I have been desperate for some answers, and a pathway to restore my health. The neurologist at UIC gave me little hope that things could ever get better and painted a picture of progressive pain and weakness with an abbreviated life. Afterall, I had a

I laid back as the massage had come to an end. Looking at the ceiling, in a moment of contemplation, suddenly all of my thoughts from the week came flooding back into my head. Every worry, every moment of sadness, every ounce of incomplete joy was swirling around. I quickly sat up, and for some reason I told myself no! No, you must choose happiness. You must fill your life with ordinary gratitude. So ordinary that it becomes a habit.  When you fill your day with gratitude instead of a schedule of sadness and regrets, soon your world takes on a whole new perspective.  We are living in a home I never knew I needed. The months leading up to our move were some of the saddest of our lives. We were thrust into a very unenviable position, something I was not prepared to navigate. At one point we feared we would be left with nowhere to go. In a purchase agreement that went bottom up, we lost $23,000 and every sense of security and comfort we ever had. Oh, we prayed, we prayed endlessly, and st

  I know He has a message for me. I know there is a reason for the uncertainty in my future, the pain I feel each and every day, the purpose  and plan  created in the heaven's and left for my discernment. I long to know his word, be drenched in his grace, my heart blanketed in His love. With every chord I carry in my prayer, please God, answer me.  I feel a bit like my granddaughter in the picture above, drifting towards unknown waters. Brave, but frightened. Convicted, but reserved. In the end, quenched by the refreshing waters of His steadfast glory.  We began to settle in. The morning sun streaming through the window like a halo from heaven. The aroma of coffee circled its way through the building like a Siamese cat looking for a place to rest. It was the first day of our summer bible study, aptly named Open Your Bible. The irony of this for me is that I have lost my last two bibles. Always from my car. I like to believe someone who needed them took them. Then I don't feel s