What kind of books do you like? I’ve never been exclusively fond of any specific genre-I love fantasy, literary fiction, poetry, and historical fiction. But there is one thing that will almost instantly make me love a book: introspective characters. That’s why I’m excited to present a review of Kellyn Roth’s Ivy Introspective. Ivy Introspective… Read More Sweet and Simple: Ivy Introspective Blog Tour Review
Have you ever walked through the woods on a sparkling morning? Have you ever touched the rays of the end of spring with your face? Do you know what the wood violets say? I hold a little book in my hand, a replica of a hundred-year-old log of how the flowers speak. And I think… Read More Violets For The One Who Needs God Now
Several weeks ago, it snowed in Minnesota. Finally. After getting by with an inch of ice and a dusting of hard, sleet-like snow for most of the winter, we have enough to use our snowshoes. Since I was a little girl, whenever the weather predicted snow, I hoped for the beautiful “catching” kind, crystalline flakes… Read More How Do We Reconcile Temporal Beauty in a Broken World? (Part One)
Wilting roses are beautiful to me; they remind me of the strange glory of surrender. A heart who so rests in her Savior that she accepts His decree that she let fly her precious petals – nothing but love for Him could allow it.… Read More The Beautiful Death Of Surrender
My mother was adamant. “You’ve started to wrap your whole identity up in, ‘I’m sick. I can’t do that.’ That’s not healthy!” Her words shocked me: because they were true. I was sick. There were many things I couldn’t do. But it had become my identity. It’s not as if I wasn’t actually ill. This week I… Read More Don’t Let Your Struggles Define You
After posting pretty regularly every Tuesday, what happened to me? I said I would post a followup to “Moving Beyond Grief,” but I never did. (I have a draft written but honestly it feels so shallow.) I feel pretty bad about neglecting the Wild Rose Journal, and I decided you deserve to know what’s happening.… Read More What Happened To Me? (It’s Good News)
Arizona was a desert place for me, both literally and figuratively. I struggled to see any beauty, and though I did intentionally look for glory, I still hate the drab place. (All due respects to those who enjoy looking at endless miles of scrub brush.)… Read More Moving Beyond Grief: Wonder In The Wilderness (Part One)
Last Tuesday was my dad’s birthday. It was a bittersweet time. My father is the only member of our family not severely ill. He’s always shouldered the care of our family; but the last six years, the burden, heavy before, has grown. We fought five-year-old Benjamin’s rare kidney cancer tooth and claw for a year.… Read More A Normal Day: A Birthday Letter To My Dad
I like to say that poetry doesn’t give us answers. Rather, for every question it does answer, it asks five more.… Read More Unanswered Questions (Poem)
Friends, the strength to be still comes not from striving or rest or forced calm, but from surrendering ourselves, transparently broken before Him, and receiving the peace He gives. It isn’t easy, but God’s strength to be still will outlast chaos and tragedy, illness and grief.… Read More The Strength To Be Still