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I have to say that unexpected gifts are the best, wouldn’t you agree? I will always remember the Christmas that I received the best and most unexpected gift…I heard my sister’s soft socks muffled on the upper stairway as I snuck around the corner…

Challenges of the moment… they often feel as if they could swallow us whole or break our heart in two. What do you do in these moments of bleakness? In comes the power of the “spoonful of hope”.

Each year the squirrels in our backyard get a JUMBO SIZED dream in their little heads. It comes the moment we bring enormous pumpkins home, placing them on the front porch, awaiting the moment they will be carved and lit with a candle inside. It’s almost as if we can hear the squirrels cheer as we place the pumpkins on the porch.

If I was expecting to find a nugget of inspiration it couldn’t have been in a more unlikely place. There, stapled on the rustic wood fence rail, was a white poster board proclaiming truth in bold, blaring letters for all to see. Yes, it was just the encouragement this world-weary heart needed to hear.

It all started with a simple question I asked my husband: What would be a fun way to celebrate his birthday this year?
“Maznik, Zelnik,” his answer was instantaneous.
I repeated the words quietly… I’d heard them before… oh yes, the special delicacies his grandma would make for him as a little boy in Macedonia. He’s talked of them often but we’d never prepared them.
I listened as he recalled the process of preparing these pastries, his eyes lighting up showing me a glimpse…

Pumpkin Pie. Chai lattes. Fuzzy sweaters and falling leaves in rustic shades of orange, burgundy, and yellow. It’s nearing the official start to fall, and some of us are screaming at the top of our lungs with excitement while others are sighing with resignation. It depends on the day, but lately I…

Yet, in the midst of these simple moments, my mind was anything but still. It feels like my mind has been on a search for the solution. It’s like trying to place the correct order of a puzzle—a figuring out of items both present and future… a preoccupation of sorts..

I watched as she tippy toed down the parking lot—afraid to put her feet up. Then something wonderful happened… just as I was about to reach for the edge of her seat in an effort to guide her—

I will always remember the first time I entered Aunt Susie’s house. It was a lived in farmhouse and perhaps not outstanding in any way. Yet, there, I saw the truth. Every cabinet, every wall, every free space was plastered with papers or index cards with scripture on them. The way they differed in appearance, some weathered and worn and some new and crisp, one knew that she was constantly filling herself with the Word. It wasn’t just a “one and done” thing. No, it was a constant thing.