Tag: Treasures from the Teardrop

  • Wild Serenity

    Wild Serenity

    When my husband Steve died, I looked out toward a vast, empty horizon. It was neither dark nor light—just empty and wide. I would come to realize that Steve’s death gave me the kind of freedom that I never wanted … but freedom nonetheless. And so, this summer I went to Montana for a whole month to be with my fast-growing Montana grands and their parents. I stayed half the time in a VRBO. It was a really great plan, except for the hard parts. If you are living in the aftermath of loss, you know that you can feel full of joy one moment, and hollowed out from loneliness the next. In Traveling Light, Eugene Peterson normalizes the “pain of being human” and those “moments of emptiness and waiting.” His words reassure me. He also inspires his readers to never “abandon the awesome silence of worship.” Alone in a Montana mountain town, I captured a moment of balance between the emptiness of solitude and the silent worship of God under His vast blue sky (see video).

    The Treasure: “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” (Romans 1:20 NIV)

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    It’s a great way to start the day here at Red Lodge, Montana at Wild Bill’s Cabin in a hot tub on a 57degree crisp, cool morning. Beautiful blue sky. I’m remembering the introduction to my blog series, where Pilgrim and I are inside the fence and we haven’t gone anywhere because I’m afraid to go anywhere because everything’s changed in my life. And Pilgrim, the camper, represents courage to go beyond fear and loss so that we don’t shrink our lives. Well, when I was getting ready to come up here to Red Lodge, one hour and a half from my family’s home here in Montana, I felt really empty, saying to myself, “What the heck are you doing?” It was hard to come away. It was a little … not scary, but a little unsure. But oh my gosh, I have been on a hike, I’ve seen beautiful sights. When we do familiar things in different ways, there are treasures along the way. So, as you go along your way, maybe life has made a big change for you too … you may not be in a hot tub at Wild Bill’s Cabin, but there will be other things that you do where you take risk, so you don’t shrink your life either.

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  • The Easy Way

    The Easy Way

    At the top of a ski slope in Red Lodge, Montana I felt like I didn’t have a care in the world. Difficulties lay behind me; challenges yet unknown lay before me. But for two chairlift rides up (and down) the mountain, I inhabited a euphoric bubble, free of expectations, bad news, or disappointment. With the breeze on my face and beauty all around, I almost believed I’m entitled to the easy way (see video).

    It doesn’t take long for life to challenge a mindset of entitlement. Like Jesus told His first followers (and us), “In the world you will have trouble.” But He also tells us that he came so we could have peace in the midst of it. He said that His power to overcome within a world of trouble gives us every reason to take courage. (John 16:33)

    I suppose it can take a lifetime of practice to trust God when what we want and what life yields don’t match up. But when we develop a “personal history with God” we begin to see the evidence that gives us hope. Looking back on what trust has yielded in our history with Him encourages us to trust Him sooner next time the journey gets rough.

    The Treasure: Swing with the easy times; let challenges springboard us to adjust and trust God.

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    I really like taking the easy way in life. I like gliding; I like getting on a lift chair and going to the top of a mountain instead of hiking it. I like looking around me without having to catch my breath—looking around at the beauty of the heights. I guess life isn’t like that. Life isn’t like that all of the time. Sometimes we need to take a tough hike and keep putting one foot in front of the other as we go to elevated spots in our lives. But today’s not that kind of day. Today’s an easy day. It would be nice if I could always have a top-down view, don’t you think? It would be nice if we could just see things from God’s perspective all the time so that we wouldn’t fret about what’s going on in the valleys of our lives. But that’s where trust comes in. He says to trust Him, and that it gives Him great pleasure. But for today … I’m taking the easy way. His perspective is always good; it’s complete; He’s always working a good plan for our lives. At my age now I actually just bought a senior ticket. I can look back and see the reality of His goodness—of how when times were hard, He was doing His best work in me. Now it’s my pleasure to trust Him. I don’t always trust Him very well, but it is my goal because He’s a good God and does the very best for us.

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  • Mistakes Matter

    Mistakes Matter

    NOTE: My upcoming book is requiring time to meet exciting deadlines. In order to maintain a 12/9/25 pub date, I will be blogging once every two weeks for a while. That means my next blog will come to you on Monday, 9/1/25. See you then!

    Years ago I bought an expensive sandcastle bundt cake pan. And so, last week I devised a plan. It would be simple. I’d prepare dinner and bake a cake for my family to celebrate my own birthday. I had made this cake before. But in a hot second, I messed up and didn’t know it until it was too late (see video).

    The family, not knowing I had a yummy cake on standby (store bought!) showed great compassion as I placed the messed-up cake in front of them with lit candles and a smile. I lingered, apologizing for the mistake and thanking them for their kindness. Then I brought out the store-bought cake and put it front and center.

    Because it was my birthday, I knew I could choose a table topic of conversation. My topic of choice? “How can we make mistakes matter?” The response of our guest, perhaps pertaining to sports, but applicable to burned cakes was:

    “In winning you are gracious; in losing you seek gain.”

    We seek gain by learning from our mistakes. I seek gain but putting on my readers before setting the oven temperature for a birthday cake … for starters!

    The Treasure:  If you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not doing anything.

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    I made a mistake this week. I wanted to build a cake—a sandcastle cake. I had the ingredients and made it from scratch with my grandson and put it in the oven, but I made a big mistake. I set the oven for 475 instead of 325 and I burned the cake. I made the mistake because I read the directions on a small phone without my glasses, and I ended up not being able to use the cake, except I do have a plan for the cake. I’ll tell you that in a minute. I decided I can’t really use that cake. So I went to Publix, and I bought a cake and I had them write on the top “Mistakes Matter.” And we’re going to talk about that a little bit as a family tonight. My mistake wasn’t very costly, but some mistakes can be, but all mistakes are valuable if we use them well. So, I took a hunk out of this cake just to see if I could eat it. It actually isn’t too bad inside; it’s kind of dry, but it tastes char-grilled on the outside. And so, I decided I’m not going to make another one, I’m going to make it easy and get a new cake.

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  • Maybe It Ain’t So Bad

    Maybe It Ain’t So Bad

    I met a woman who lost everything. The tree took down an electrical line that set fire to her log home on a mountain lane. Only she and her pets escaped. I had the privilege of meeting this seventy-nine-year-old widow in a motel lobby where she works to rebuild her life.

    The resilience in her voice and her gratitude for the outpouring of comfort and support in her community made me take pause for the next hour and listen. Then she locked her eyes with mine and said, “Maybe starting all over ain’t so bad after all.”

    My new friend is choosing to find the riches within her suffering. Dr. Robert Grant writes:

    “All [victims] must come to accept that life involves a series of losses that have the potential to hollow them out [missing their inherent] riches … [becoming] detached critics rather than vital participants in life.”1

    We might not be able to say, “Maybe starting over ain’t so bad after all.” But God’s promise to watch over us and to never sleep (Psalm 121) can inspire us to participate fully in life (see video).

    1 Robert Grant PhD, The Way of the Wound, (Oakland: copyright by Robert Grant 1996),

      The Treasure:  Our help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth who never slumbers.

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      The day is settling down; you can hear the birds, and I’m looking out to the mountains. I’m in Orange, Virginia and I’ll be picking up Pilgrim in the morning and taking her back home with her new air conditioner. It’s so beautiful here! I love the sky; I love what it means…such a great Creator that we have. And I love that He’s awake all the time. The sun may sleep and hopefully we sleep but I love that He never sleeps. Psalm 121 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. Indeed, he who watches over you will not slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you.” It says, “He will watch over your life. He will watch over your coming and going both now and forever. That’s what I think of when I see the mountains … well, that’s not all I think of. Sometimes I think about how I want to be in them and walk trails in them. but for tonight I’m at this very economical hotel called Round Hill Inn, in Orange—$120.00 total for the night. It’s really a sweet spot. It’s time for a few laps in the pool. Wish you could be here with me, but there’s no one in the pool right now.

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    1. When Burdens Get Lost

      When Burdens Get Lost

      Pilgrims with courage to go beyond the fence open opportunity for adventure with God. On our faith pilgrimage in Ireland, we each picked up and carried two stones. One stone represented a burden we carry where we may need deeper trust, surrender, faith, or hope. We would throw this stone off the Cliffs of Moher.

       The other stone represented something we wish to receive from Jesus, like healing, grace, love, or forgiveness. We would lay this stone at the foot of the cross of Saint Brendan in Glendalough.

      St Brendan is remembered for his courage, his sense of adventure, and deep faith. His ability to trust and venture forth with God was grounded in prayer.

      A Prayer of St Brendan

      Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.

      Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You.

      Christ of the mysteries, I trust You to be stronger than each storm within me.

      I will trust in the darkness and know that my times, even now, are in Your hand.

      Tune my spirit to the music of heaven, and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

      Amen

      Wouldn’t it be nice if our burden of fear to break fresh ground with God could just get lost? Check out my blooper video that became too profound to delete and continue on with the cleaned-up version of throwing my burden off the Cliffs of Moher. I hope the sound of footsteps will bring you more fully into the moment.

      The Treasure: Discern which burdens to put down and travel light to break fresh ground with God.

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      Blooper portion: Whenever we cross a threshold, there’s probably some burdens to be put down. And I actually have … (laughter) … I can’t find my burden!

      Well, whenever we cross thresholds into new seasons, sometimes we bring burdens from what’s before. I know that’s true of me. And as I’m coming into a new season across my threshold, I have a rock that represents a burden I’m going to put down. I’m going to throw this rock over the Cliffs of Moher in just a moment. My burden that I’m going to lay down is the exhausting need, perceived need, to know what’s ahead—to know what the plan and the script is going to be. So, by throwing this burden out I’m going to be opening myself up to have an expectancy of what God is going to do next and to celebrate that with Him and lean fully into Him. So, I’m going to throw my burden out now … I’m imagining that I hear the sploosh way down there into the ocean.

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    2. Travel Light

      Travel Light

      The unfortunate art of perfectionism began in my heart as a child. I never liked making mistakes. And, although the sensitive heart of a child to wrongdoing is a good thing, lingering guilt sucked me into continued silent confessions. On the flip side, chapel sermons taught me that penance had already been paid. It’s part of the radical story of God—that the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience lead us to repentance. (Romans 2:4). Nonetheless, after confessing my sins, I often remained a guilt-carrier.

      “Please forgive me for…” And then, came God’s gentle response: If I thought you could have gotten it right all of the time, I wouldn’t have had to send my Son to die. His tender words put a “knowing” within my heart, and a hike near the town of Westport in Ireland (see photo) illustrated it.

      As I descended the mountain path (see video) of Craugh Patrick, I passed a man beginning his upward trek barefoot, as a physical act of penance. The difficulty of the steep, rocky path had required me to use hiking poles and strong boots for every difficult step. Where would I be if God required me to do penance for my offenses against Him? Physically, I’d still be on that trail. Spiritually, I’d be living a dull and defeated Christian life.

      But God paid a great price to take the penance out of repentance so I can travel light. This humbles me and gives me confidence to trust as I anticipate every next threshold with Him.

      The Treasure: “A life fully surrendered to God, has nothing to fear, nothing to lose, nothing to regret.” (Pandita Rumabai, India)

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      This is the trail up Craugh Patrick in Ireland. The rocky trail came all the way from where the water is. It’s been a rough journey up—lots of rocks as you can see in front of me. And the important thing has been to take one step at a time as you come up. It occurs to me that in the new seasons of life when we cross thresholds into new places, sometimes the way across the threshold is really hard. It means something has happened that’s been painful, or it means something is taking a lot of emotional or physical or spiritual work. But, when we take one step at a time with God, it’s worth it because we come to new places. And we come to beautiful vistas when we stop and look back at what has been and where we have come from. But it’s not an easy trek. Pandita Rumabai of India once said, “A life fully surrendered to God has nothing to fear, nothing to lose, nothing to regret.” So, as you go into new seasons and as I step over thresholds into new seasons, it takes courage—it takes somebody bigger than us—it takes God to help us through. May we take one step at a time, not hurry the process, and know that it’s all part of a big story arc that God is accomplishing in us.

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    3. The Hill of Slane

      The Hill of Slane

      I like quiet places. That’s why I said “yes” to a faith pilgrimage and crossed a threshold into the back countryside of Ireland. Celtic readings, reflection questions, and Scripture reminded us we were more than tourists; we were pilgrims.1

      Saint Patrick knew about crossing thresholds. Irish raiders had kidnapped the sixteen-year-old from Britain and sold him as a slave-shepherd. Seven years later he escaped, returned home, studied for his ordination, and returned to Ireland as their first missionary. On a place called Slane Hill, Patrick made a powerful and dangerous declaration that freed many to worship God.2

      Patrick’s courage on Slane Hill can inspire us to take treasures from the impossible parts of our stories, put words to them, and speak freedom into the lives of others.

      Our pilgrimage took us to Slane Hill. Sitting on the ruins of the Franciscan church and monastery (above photo) reminded me of the brevity of life and opened my heart to a world of opportunity. I felt joy on the Irish side of my threshold—great joy. But, as you know, joy and sorrow can be. close companions. They are for me, as I mark Steve’s departure from this life three years ago.

      Solitude in Irish beauty reminded me that the “ruins” of sorrow can be sacred if we honor them. We need not fear our tears. In time they can add vibrancy to our next burst of joy. Feel the winds of Ireland (in video) as you ponder your next threshold.

      1. Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), 2000, 22.
      2. https://www.discoverboynevalley.ie/boyne-valley-drive/heritage-sites/hill-slane-coming-christianity

      The Treasure: When our strength is in God and our hearts are set on pilgrimage, valleys of weeping can become springs of replenishment for us and others (Psalm 84:5).

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      In some ways I have stepped beyond a threshold. I’ve stepped beyond the fence, left Pilgrim at home. She has waved good-bye. I’m still a big part of her and she’s a part of me. But she’s not where I get my security; she’s not the main story. God has helped me move through a threshold, to step into a new season beyond deep sorrow and into new life and new joy. Sorrow will be a part of it.

      I am on the outskirts of Dublin at a place called, Slane Hill, where St. Patrick came to be missionary to the country where he was once a slave. I am really intrigued by his courage and by the power of God that happened as a result of his courage in the lives of many people. So thresholds are something we step over—step through a door—step into a new season of life. And the thing about thresholds is that sometimes you can never go back because you’ve changed; you’re different from the person you were once before. These are beautiful countryside places—quiet—to come away from the contamination of thoughts that can be so distracting. We’ll be talking more about thresholds in the future.

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    4. We Need Each Other

      We Need Each Other

      Pilgrim, the teardrop camper rests within the fence during most hot summer days, but last week was a great time to take her to the dealer for some repair. The Road Trip Camping parking lot, loaded with campers, reminded me that, although we are not made in the form of a teardrop camper, our personal teardrops help form us with wisdom and understanding to comfort and encourage one another. Where would we be without supportive people in our lives? Bio families, growing families of faith, and even strangers (angels unaware?) can help ease our journey. They:

      • Celebrate with us in good times
      • Companion us in times of loss
      • Offer wisdom for complex moments
      • Warn us of blind spots
      • Pray with us for supernatural vision
      • Laugh with us in times of play
      • Support us in times of tragedy
      • Worship with us and point to God

      When we companion pilgrims “beyond the fence” after fear and loss, we are able to comfort them “with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).”

      Pilgrim the camper has provided a sense of comfort for me. But today, even Pilgrim is learning the value of relationship with others (see video).

      The Treasure: Teardrops shared with “brothers and sisters” can ease the journey along our pilgrimage in this world.

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      Pilgrim and I have come out from behind the fence. We are actually in Orange, Virginia at the dealer. We’ve come here, two and a half hours away; we’re at the dealer because… actually, Pilgrim is broken. She needs a new air conditioner, so she’s come here to get some help. Actually she’s kind of happy; she’s been alone for a long time behind the fence and sometimes we go out to campgrounds. But she’s found that she has brothers and sisters here—other campers.

      A lot them are different. Some of them are smaller; some of them are larger. They all do something kind of similar but their different. This one’s really small. You can probably only sleep in this one. And then there are some that are a little bigger. This one is similar size, but then there’s a 400 right here that’s a little bit bigger and is capable of holding more people and more things.

      But what occurs to me is that, as pilgrims in this life we all need brothers and sisters. We need people different from us—people who are sometimes more capable and some areas and sometimes they need our capabilities and our gifts to minister to them. But it’s so important to uh, just be so open to relationship and not stay behind the fence and isolate and be alone all the time. So, I’m going to leave Pilgrim here for a week or so and she can have some good socialization and some repair, and uh when I need repair, I’m glad that I can call on you and we can call on each other. It’s nice to be in relationship with all of you.

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    5. After the Storm (Hidden Beauty Part 2)

      After the Storm (Hidden Beauty Part 2)

      The flurry of snow scenes in the last couple of blogs reveals my love of winter. I last blogged from a mountain trail in a white-out storm in Colorado.

      I returned to that trail one year later (see video) and paused in the silence. Its beauty reminded me of St. Augustine’s writing on how nature points to God. Check out this passage of his from the Confessions:

      I asked the earth, and it answered. “I am not He.” … I asked the sea and the deeps and the creeping things, and they answered, “We are not your God, seek higher.” I asked the winds that blow, and the whole air with all that is in it answered, “I am not God.” I asked the heavens and the sun, the moon, the stars, and they answered, “Neither are we God whom you seek.” And I said to all the things and the throng about the gateways of the senses: “Tell me of my God since you are not He. Tell me something about Him.” And they cried out in a great voice: “He made us.”

      The Treasure:
      Creation is God’s craftsmanship on display for us to enjoy. It invites us to ponder His majesty and give Him our hearts.

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      One year ago this month I was standing in this exact place on Morning Star Trail in snowshoes. If you remember it was a blizzard, and I said how things can look gray all around us—but that there’s beauty if we were to see beyond the gray of the storm. I just wanted to show you what it looks like on a beautiful, blue-sky day in the middle of the Aspen trees at 9,600 feet elevation with snowcapped mountains all around. So, a whole year has gone by, and maybe one year ago you were in the gray in a storm and hopefully you’ve come to some new beginnings this year. I know I have and I’m very grateful to have some of that trek up the path behind me and to be able to look out over beauty. We can’t be in the beauty all of the time, but when we are, it sure is nice to enjoy every moment of it.

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    6. Hidden Beauty

      Hidden Beauty

      I wish I could go back and talk to the woman who said, “I feel guilty because I doubt God.” Would I give her ten top reasons to trust God when she can’t see to take her next step? Although there are many more than ten, that wouldn’t be my first response.

      I think I’d say, “I doubt too.”

      I’d tell her about the time a white-out storm blocked my view and how scared I was to put one step in front of the other. I’d tell her how, in time, the storm became the catalyst that helped me deal with my doubt.

      My ninety-six-year-old grandfather, Harry the Ancient, once told me, “The first hundred years are the hardest.” He lingered with me in that reality before giving me the second half of ancient wisdom, “But God is good and can be fully trusted with your life.”

      My grandfather’s words began to awaken me from spiritual amnesia to see the evidence of God and to begin shifting from doubt, into a posture of trust.

      Someday I will thank that woman for her honesty. Her words gave me a visual—God embracing her with His left arm and opening His right palm for her to deposit all of her doubt—and the guilt that went with it. What a beautiful picture.

      This reminds me of a snowshoe trail my friend and I hiked in a white-out storm on a mountain in Colorado (see video below). There was no color that day—only gray. But when I returned to that trail one year later the pristine view took my breath away. In the white-out days of life, there is always more going on than we can see as we shift from doubt to trust.

      The Treasure: “Honest doubt sends us on a quest for what is true and real, for that which we cannot only give intellectual assent, but can entrust our very lives to.”
      (from Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan)

      If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

      Hey! I’m out here in the cold weather on Morning Star Snowshoe Trail in Colorado. You’ll notice behind me maybe some skiers coming down…and then there’s this snow shoe trail. The thing that occurs to me today is – sometimes life can look all gray. Actually, if we could see—if it were clear, there’s an amazing beauty all around us up here. But it’s so gray, all we can see is the snow, the trees near us, and just a little bit in front of us. And that’s the way it is in life. Sometimes we plod along with one foot in front of the other on snow shoes, and sometimes we can be like skiers that are coming down—whisking down knowing exactly where they’re going. So wherever we are in our lives—whether we’re plodding along one step at a time, or whether we’re whisking along knowing exactly where we’re going, it’s worth it to walk every step with God. See you next time.

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