Have you ever wanted to slow down time so precious moments with your loved ones lasts a little longer?  The desire to hold them close overwhelms you. Your time together is short and without room for full expression of your love. This is the way I have felt this week while having my daughter home from Korea.   …
FOMO Part II: The Too Much Fun Club!
What a wild ride this week has been with my daughter, son, and their friends.  The quest? Checking off Elya's bucket list for the week's visit: Eat at Chipotle Eat lasagna Go wakeboarding with friends Visit with family Drink lots of iced mochas from Starbucks Buy food favorites to take back to Korea Eat a hamburger at In …
FOMO Part I
Pardon me if I'm family indulgent in this week's posts. The last few days have been incredible and I want to share them. I picked up my daughter at LAX last friday. What a rush to see her smiling face after ten months apart. We then had dinner with her brother and his girlfriend at Elya's most beloved …
Puddle Jumping
I wish I could go through life jumping from one puddle of destiny to the next.   Unfortunately, real living often includes large sections of hot, black asphalt.    This morning a puddle of destiny came to me; I merely had to turn and step, in order to land smack dab in the middle.  I confess, …
Barbie, Me, and Tenacity
There are times in my life when I do not think I can go on any further. During these dark seasons of doubt, I need voices of insistence to light the way. My best friend, Barbie, is one of the people who coaches me through those long tunnels of insecurity.         In a recent conversation with Barbie, she told me I was tenacious (my paraphrase …
A Puppet and the Alabaster Jar
Today is fresh with possibilities. I want to learn more about the craft of writing so I can paint beautiful words upon the canvas of life. Yet more than this, I want to be become real because I know what God can do with real. He can take our humanity and mix in His Spirit and create healing oil. …
Baby Steps
Growth steps do not have to be big in order to count. In fact, my most prized achievements resulted from taking those "baby steps." I borrowed the concept from the hilarious movie "What about Bob," starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. This movie is a must for learning how to laugh at your eccentric tendencies as you watch the neurotic behavior of the main …
The Searching
"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar."                                                                                                          -Helen Keller I have noticed a distinct pattern in my life over the years. Whenever a change of direction or expansion of opportunity is in the wind, restlessness descends. If I had actual wings of flight like a giant eagle, I …
When something beautiful my way comes…
Two gardenia plants snuggle up against my home outside the window facing the patio. I can see them from where I write. Recently, the tips of their leaves turned a sickly brown and large areas of stem lost their foliage altogether. "What's wrong with these plants?" My husband muttered. "I don't know. Maybe they're getting …
JoDee Luna Art 