2 Suggestions for Getting Through a Dark Time

I’m an early riser and am out of bed long before sunrise. After Shug (my one-year-old Golden Doodle) is fed, we head outside for a walk, and most mornings, it’s still pitch black outside. Shug is a cautious dog and has zero interest in venturing into the darkness, so I take a flashlight. He’ll proceed […]

Surviving a Hard Season

A couple of years ago, my husband and I (well, actually, my husband) planted ten Crape Myrtles in our backyard. I don’t have a green thumb, and yard work is not my jam, so John does all the planting. He travels frequently for work, and not long after planting the trees, he left town, and […]

Following Your Favorite Moments

Every night before bed, I go to the kitchen and prepare the coffee machine for the following day. I’m a deep sleeper, and it takes me several minutes to wake up. (Unlike my husband, who springs out of bed like a jackrabbit and immediately starts talking—but that’s a topic for another time). I don’t like […]

Flannery O’Connor and the Case for Prayer Journaling

A few years ago, Flannery O’Connor’s prayer journals were published in book form. To be honest, I felt a little guilty reading them—they seemed too personal for public consumption. But her publisher and the manager of her estate believed they should be published. In 1946, O’Connor began keeping a prayer journal when she was at […]