Buttercups in Bloom

On Sunday night a blanket of ice encased us in a slippery, beautiful winter fairyland.  It gave us the excuse to wrap ourselves in our warm blankets, watch a movie, and delay the errands that we had planned on accomplishing.  Monday the blanket of ice was accompanied by a few flakes of snow, creating the perfect playground for southerners to dawn their winter gear, grab their sleds, aand take the perfect shot to post on social media.  Tuesday brought an expected day off for both myself and Luke, giving us the time to pack Emma's bedroom and prepare her stuff to be moved into her new apartment in the coming weeks.  Late yesterday afternoon large beautiful flakes of snow began to blanket our community.  It was the kind of snow that is memorizing to watch, one that covers you in peace and stillness if only for a moment.  In the midst of the beautiful blanket of snow that has fallen, in the peace and stillness has fallen upon us, among the adventures filled with sledding down the perfe

Again and Again Brokenness mended into healing Isolation beckoned into community Stories that release us from what holds us captive into freedom Stagnation pulled into engagement Contentment unfasted to move forward Again and again. Again and again, we make our way into the darkened holy space where silence fills the room.  The words rise forth, the songs linger in our being but in the midst of it all we are longing to feel the brush of the ashes being swept across our foreheads with purpose. We long to stand in the hush of the sanctuary knowing that God makes God's mark upon us and to stand in the silence as time feels suspended. The brush of the ashes helps us to glimpse the power of coming face to face with the Holy One.  We want to know that in the days to come we can once again experience the depth of death that leads us into a story of healing, beckons us into community, frees us, calls us into engagement with our whole being, and moves us forward into this life of redemption