It’s Never too Late
I’ve lived almost 60 years, and the older I get, the less it seems like I know. There are still so many new things to learn despite these years of experience. There can be a temptation to wish I could do it all over again with the perspective I’ve gained. But I’m also learning that it’s never too late. It’s never too late to be more loving to the people around me. It’s never too late to approach each day looking for ways to be a blessing to my community. And it’s never too late to try something new. Writing is new to me. It’s not something I aspired to, or even thought I was able to do. In fact, the thought of it came to me so suddenly that it seemed like a whisper from God, calling me to something I’d never imagined. It started with the simple thought of writing a book to share the beautiful things I was learning about our Heavenly Father’s heart toward us. And the title of the book came to mind effortlessly as well: Hope with Every Sunrise. As I had been getting to know God in an increasingly deep and personal way, that’s what I was discovering–new hope. And the next day there was new hope again, there for me to find with every sunrise as I took my eyes off my circumstances and turned my affection to Him. Since writing a whole book is a monumental task, I set the idea aside, but always kept it in the back of my mind for someday. I’m still not ready to write that book, but I am ready to start writing. I want to see what resonates with you, whether my message is clear and helpful, and how the Holy Spirit might use these words to encourage your own journey. I also hope to inspire others to try something new alongside me–to not wait until it feels perfect and polished to share what God is doing in your life with those around you. I could say I’m not a writer, but I have realized that everyone who ever wrote a book started somewhere. They each had a time before that accomplishment when they had to dare to believe they really could write. So I welcome you into my journey. I am becoming a writer, exploring my thoughts on paper with the hope that they will encourage those who read my words. I’m just an ordinary person looking for ways to reflect the goodness of my heavenly Father and make a positive impact in the lives of others. And since we are all created in the image of God, I invite you to discover fresh expressions of His image within yourself that you can share with others as well. I’d love to walk this path together, learning and growing as we go.
A Little About Me
A Little About MeBefore we go much further, I'd like to tell you a little about myself. Not because my story is remarkable — it really isn't — but because I've found that knowing a bit about the person behind the words can make those words feel more like a...
A Little About Me
A Little About Me
Before we go much further, I’d like to tell you a little about myself. Not because my story is remarkable — it really isn’t — but because I’ve found that knowing a bit about the person behind the words can make those words feel more like a conversation and less like a lecture. And I hope what we do here, you and I, feels like a conversation. I was born in 1967 in Walla Walla, Washington, where wheat fields stretched out behind the house and Saturday mornings were for cartoons on a tiny black-and-white television. I had a good childhood. My dad worked hard, played guitar in the evenings, and took us for frequent motorcycle rides. My mom was steady and loving, and she read to us often. Grandma lived a few miles away, and some of my happiest memories took place in her little house with its crocheted afghans, hand-ornamented Christmas tree, and flowers outside under the front window. I grew up going to church, and I asked to be baptized when I was around ten. I remember riding to school on the bus the next morning with a quiet awareness that something inside me had changed, that my life had stepped into something larger than I could yet understand. I’ve been walking with the Lord ever since. Not always well, and not always closely, but always. He has been patient with me in a way I’m still learning to appreciate. Along the way, I’ve become a Bible college graduate, a bride, a widow, a wife again, an accountant, a small business owner, and a mother to a son who came to us through adoption in a way only God could have orchestrated. I’ve loved and lost, celebrated and grieved, been surprised by both joy and sorrow. I’ve lived long enough now to know that life doesn’t usually unfold the way we picture it — and that God is somehow always in the middle of it anyway, weaving something beautiful out of the threads. My husband Tony and I now live in a place with lots of sunshine and opportunities to enjoy nature. We have a son we adore. I still do accounting work, I love vegetable gardening, and I’ve been slowly learning Spanish for most of my adult life. I am, as I said in my first post, just an ordinary person. But I’ve come to believe that “ordinary” is not a disqualification. In God’s economy, it might even be a starting place for adventures beyond our wildest imagination. I hope you’ll come along!