“What were some things in your life that were hard or painful for a little while, but then when it was over, there was celebration?” Lydia asked, reading the question from the night’s devotional entry. It is Holy Week. We (I) decided for Lent this year, we would strap in, buckle up, and get throughContinue reading “So You Survived a Global Pandemic. Great! Now What?”
Category Archives: joy
Little Joys—Books
This year, I’ve traveled through the desert on horseback with a shepherd and an alchemist. I’ve fished the lakes of Canada by canoe, attended a boy’s boarding school, learned the dance of the herons along a river, sat in the kitchen of a distressed and impoverished wife in Michigan, explored vocation, followed a friend asContinue reading “Little Joys—Books”
Little Joys—Long-Term Memory
Mary, and every other mother ever, treasured these things in her heart. It’s what we do. We treasure away the miraculous and the mundane. They are the building blocks to our lives’ meaning, and it’s all because of long-term memory.
Little Joys—Old Photos
You can tell any story you want from old photos, but the true magic of these frozen moments are the facts and memories of the lives that animated those images.
Little Joys—Bodies That Can Heal
One of our kids stayed home sick after we stayed up super late seeing Hamilton last night (It was so good!). With so many viruses floating around lately, I was hoping our immune systems would prevail through yesterday so we could all enjoy the show. We just made it. My guess is that Elvis wasContinue reading “Little Joys—Bodies That Can Heal”
Little Joys—German Food
We are on our way to see Hamilton tonight, thanks to my mom and dad for an excellent Christmas present, and to begin our night we are eating the fare of our heritage: German! Here’s to Haufbrauhaus and Hamilton! Prost!
Little Joys—The Woods
Until we lived on a property with pine trees, I never appreciated the seasonality of evergreens. Our pines, rhododendrons, arborvitae, and spruce have growing seasons and seasons of dormancy, times when they are more aromatic and times when they drop their needles. We planted some trees in the last few years, and when I seeContinue reading “Little Joys—The Woods”
Little Joys—Mugs
If you are like the vast majority of Americans, at some point during the day, you consume a hot beverage… why not drink it out of a meaningful mug? We have a mug problem in our house. We have not one, not two, but three locations in our kitchen where you can find mugs. BrandonContinue reading “Little Joys—Mugs”
Little Joys—Music
I challenge you to find anything as magical as making music. You can gather a hundred high school musicians on a stage and, even though they resist cooperation in every other setting by their very nature of being teenagers, they will let down their need for individuality in order to lend their voice or instrumentContinue reading “Little Joys—Music”
Little Joys—Walkability
When we bought our home, we didn’t consider what has become one of its many highlights: walkability. If you draw a circle with a 1-mile radius around our house, everything I need on a regular basis lands within that mile. Our kids’ schools. Two parks. The entire Ashland downtown. Three coffee shops. Our church. TheContinue reading “Little Joys—Walkability”
Sarah Marie Wells 