I’m not 100% sure where or when I first heard about Cedar Rock Ministries. If I had to guess, it would be through Jessica Hefley…from her social media and podcast, Prosperity with Purpose.
Jessica is a Christian Leadership Coach who has had tremendous success in network marketing, and she’s someone I’ve admired from afar for quite some time.
If you’ve read my series on my experiences with Awaken Silent Retreats, you already know this isn’t the first time I’ve followed one of Jessica’s recommendations — and those retreats have been such a blessing in my life. So when she mentioned Cedar Rock Ministries, I paid attention.
What Is Cedar Rock Ministries?
Cedar Rock is a relationship development ministry that helps individuals and couples find the rest and connection they need to become more fully known and deeply loved.
“The righteous will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; He is my Rock.’”
Psalm 92:12-15
Cedar Rock’s core values are powerful presence, restful receiving, unhurried pace, frequent subtraction, curious exploration, intentional play, and holistic growth. Each of these values is woven into the experience of their retreats — not just as ideas, but as ways of life.
Constant stress, busyness, and a non-stop pace are not recipes for well-being — and yet, that’s how many of us live. The truth is, if we don’t intentionally choose to slow down, we never will. Our relationships, and our own hearts, eventually pay the price.
If you’ve read this far, that probably resonates with you. We have a real problem in Western culture with hurried living. Life doesn’t give us permission to slow down. We have to decide to do that for ourselves…to make intentional choices that prioritize rest, relationships, and silence.
That’s what led my husband, Jeff, and me to set a goal for 2025: to attend a One Couple Retreat with Cedar Rock Ministries. We wanted to pause, reconnect, and invest in our marriage…not just for us, but for the legacy we’re building together.
Our Experience: A One Couple Retreat
Our retreat took place at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs, Colorado — one of the most breathtaking places we’ve ever been. Nestled between red rock cliffs (right beside Garden of the Gods) and tall evergreens, the castle and grounds created the most peaceful venue. It felt like sacred ground — quiet, restorative, and wrapped in God’s presence.
The retreat itself was unlike anything we had experienced before. This wasn’t traditional marriage counseling or group therapy. It was deeply personal, one-on-one time with Nick and Renée Fouts, the founders of Cedar Rock Ministries, who welcomed us not as clients, but as friends.
They were so generous with their time with us. They listened deeply to our story: the challenges of blending families, the nuances of second marriages, the baggage we were both carrying with us, and the ways we wanted to grow closer to each other and to God.
What made it so powerful was hearing from both of them — husband and wife, man and woman. Their insights balanced and complemented each other beautifully, giving us perspective that a single counselor simply couldn’t.
Nick and Renée’s approach was gentle, wise, and deeply rooted in Scripture. There was no rush, no formula, just a rhythm of grace and honest conversation. We felt completely seen, known, and loved.
It wasn’t therapy — it was ministry. And it shifted something in us.
In the stillness of Glen Eyrie, surrounded by creation’s beauty, we experienced slowing down to listen to one another, and to make room for God to move.
As Jeff and I left our time with Nick and Renee, we both felt a quiet peace settle over us — the kind of peace that lingers. We left with renewed hearts, softened toward one another and more aware of God’s presence in our marriage.
That’s the beauty of slowing down long enough to listen — to God, to your spouse, and even to yourself. Somewhere between the conversations, the stillness, and the prayers, we found what our souls are craving: connection, understanding, and rest.
Marriage isn’t something you set on autopilot. It takes tending, grace, and a willingness to see your spouse not as an obstacle or project, but as a gift. This retreat reminded us that our relationship is a reflection God’s love, patience, and faithfulness.
If you’ve been feeling the weight of constant motion…like life is moving faster than your heart can keep up…maybe this is your reminder to pause. To step away from the noise, to seek God together, and to let Him renew what the world so easily tears apart.
Our time with Cedar Rock Ministries at Glen Eyrie was more than a retreat. It was an invitation to live slower, love deeper, and remember that when we make space for God, He restores and renews.
We have so many voices speaking into our lives these days. More than our parents and grandparents because of the social media platforms, the internet, and streaming services, etc, that we have nowadays.
This is the video version of my Conversations with God. I wrote about it recently, linked here. If a 40 second video is more your speed than reading, I’ve got you covered. Just press play below.
If you’ve been feeling disconnected from God recently, take a few moments to ask God, “how do you delight in me?”. Then, listen for His response. How He speaks to you will be unique to you just like it was for me. My cat being brought to my mind was unique and specific in how He spoke to me.
In this post, we will explore how to have conversations with God. It’s easier than what you might think!
What does a cat have to do with talking with God?
Well, in this conversation with God, a lot!
There have been quite a few times that I’ve retreated for quiet time with God and this furbaby comes to find me. He’s a very cute and cuddly interruption. 😆
Purrcy is my sweet boy.
A few years ago, I completed a weekend retreat. While there, I learned how to make space for God. I learned that it’s not nearly as important as what I say in prayer as it is being with God…thus being silent and still. In this way, it’s much easier to hear God when He speaks. And He does speak to us, we just have to make space and learn to discern His voice.
Don’t we need to hear from Him now more than ever?!
A while before this weekend retreat, I had started asking God questions and listening. One Saturday morning before I got out of bed, I asked God, “how do you delight in me?” The first thing that popped into my mind was a picture of Purrcy and my eyes welled up with tears. If God delights in me like I delight in Purrcy, that says a lot to me. God knew just how to answer my question that morning. It was an impactful answer…that He delights in me, He loves me freely with no holds barred. He delights in holding me close. He delights in my personality, in my heart, and how He made me. He loves me easily and He can even use a special furry friend to show me.
I hope you are seeing and hearing God in all the places in your life, because He is whispering. He is everywhere around us. As your week or day wraps up, I hope you find space to ask God “how do you delight in me?”. Then, listen for his prompting. For me, this practice helps me combat anxiety and the stress from my crazy, busy life. I want this same thing for you too. To know that you are delighted in, that you are loved by a mighty Heavenly Father, and that you are held by Him.
Want more resources for how you can practice silence and stillness, and combat our noisy, modern world? Check out this post.
“This has been a very difficult week. I have contemplated my health and body more than ever. I’ve been scared out of my mind, overwhelmed beyond belief and beaten down.
I didn’t know being sick would affect me that way. It has rattled me to my core. When your body decides to rebel against you, it’s unnerving.
The thing that has scared me and continues to scare me is becoming sick and not being able to live life as I once was able to. So much can be taken away so quickly. No warning.
The emotional ramifications of that is profound. In those moments, you realize how much you take for granted all the time.
And you realize just how much you aren’t in control. It’s funny how I believe I’m in control all the time or at least most of the time and the reality is I’ve never been in control. I’ve only conned myself into thinking that. Surrendering is hard. Surrendering my strong-will is hard. And this week I wasn’t left with much of anything but surrender.
What I mean is I found myself alone, struggling to understand even what the meaning of life is, what happiness is, reflecting on how I’ve been living my life, treating my body, caring or not caring for my body, my emotional well-being, utterly overwhelmed and consumed, not able to focus or think or function. Realizing that when you are sick, it’s you and you alone. There’s no other person that can go through it with you. No one else truly knows how you feel. It’s only you. And it leaves you reflecting on your spiritual life, clinging to God because He’s the only one that can go through this with you.
Learning to rely on Him is hard. Surrendering is hard, and I don’t like surrendering. I laugh when I say that because God made me after all! He knows I’m stubborn and strong-willed, not going down without a fight, He knows I’ll get scrappy if needed. 🙂
Maybe surrendering is the strongest thing I can do.
Asking Him to fill me with His peace and joy. (Romans 15:13) I found myself casting out the enemy’s anxiety and fear in Jesus name because my God is bigger than that.
I found myself heavily relying on God to carry me through this. And it’s amazing that at every turn, no matter the progress in recovery I have made, the evil one is standing by interjecting fear and worry at every turn.
The enemy is unrelenting.
I wonder if God gets weary of us and our inability to remain faithful even for a few minutes?
That’s been another prayer of mine as well, “Lord, please help me in my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) I do believe, but I am weak.
God would show me His healing power by my tongue becoming functional to taste again. My eyelids blinking at the same time, strength coming back to my lips so I could spit toothpaste in the sink from the center of my mouth.
Even in all these ways He’s showing me He’s taking care of me and I still fear and wait anxiously.
Giving it over to Him is hard. All the while knowing He can do so much better at all this than me.
Being sick is scary. Being helpless is frightening.
I have thought about my mom a lot. She was sick for so long and I’m sure she was scared and felt alone.
…help me in my unbelief…
Today, I feel much improved, but anxiety and worry still take up way too many of my thoughts. All craziness. I know this logically, but the fear and worry have another agenda. The enemy’s mind games.
I know my God does not want me to suffer. He does not want me to worry. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30)
I want to have a closer relationship with Him. One that I can trust and lean upon Him. Surrender to Him.
I want to have close to my heart the knowing that God loves me, He delights in me. I want to put down the knowing that I’ve had in the past. I often see God as disappointed in me, displeased with me. A punishing God because I have not done the things I should.
All of those negative, ugly ways I thought about God, I want to put down.
I want to know Him as my Father who loves me and cares for me and wants the best for me.
He wants me to follow Him, surrender to Him. And I think I’ve been unable to know Him, to follow Him because I’ve been ashamed. Feeling too unworthy to approach Him, unworthy of His love, unworthy to really know Him. Why would God want to know me?
I think it’s easy to believe that when you’re sometimes not seen by those who are closest to you. If you’ve ever experienced someone close to you that seemingly doesn’t openly delight in you or that’s how you’ve interpreted it anyway. You are left feeling unnoticed and unworthy and unimportant. All lies from the devil in association with God.
I pray God’s grace upon my unworthiness. I pray for His help in my surrender to His ways. To lean on Him and not worry. I pray for release from the anxiety, to live in His joy and His freedom. Help me in my unbelief. To be still and know. (Psalm 46:10) To wait because He will fight for me. (Exodus 14:14) His grace and mercy is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God wants me to be happy and live a full life in Him and I should stop living in fear and start doing just that.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30) Lord help me to know that, not just logically but in all ways and to rest in You. (Matthew 11:28)”
I was recently reminded of a scene in the movie, The Shack. Have you seen it? If not, I recommend it. It’s a powerful movie.
The scene I’m referring to is the one where Mack, the main character, is in a boat on the lake. Everything seems peaceful and then his mind starts taking him back to a pivotal point in his life. Playing mind games and suddenly the boat begins filling with black water. Mack is panicking!
Then you hear the sound of Jesus’ voice telling Mack he’s ok. Jesus says, “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” “Focus on me,” he says.
When Mack is finally able to raise his eyes to focus on Jesus, the boat returns as it was and Mack is ok.
Click on the link below to watch the scene from The Shack, the first 2:30 minutes.
Isn’t that how life is? When we are drowning, we are focusing on the pain and the turmoil.
If we can lift our eyes to focus on Him…know that He’s there and He will never leave.
I struggle to keep my eyes lifted and focused on Him and Bell’s Palsy proved no different.
It’s been 7 years since my bout with Bell’s Palsy.
It often takes going through something to see the beautiful picture that God painted, and how He strengthened my faith. Hardships make our faith strong. “I am made strong in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:5-10)
If you are wrestling with trying times that life has dealt you, I encourage you to lift your eyes and focus on Him as best you can. He’s there and He’s walking beside you.
Thursday, May 31, 2018 is the day I woke up like any other day to get ready for work…feed my dog, Sophie Bear, pick out my outfit for the day, shower, dress, fix my hair and brush my teeth.
It wasn’t until I brushed my teeth that I realized something was wrong with my face. I leaned over the sink to spit out the toothpaste and my mouth wouldn’t work right. My lips went sideways, I couldn’t pucker to spit. Weird, I thought. Maybe I did that wrong?
That was my thought. I spit wrong. Even though I’ve been spitting toothpaste in the sink for years. How does someone forget how to spit?!
So, I tried again. Same thing. My lips went sideways, I couldn’t pucker to spit.
That’s when I really examined myself in the mirror. What’s wrong?!?! My heart started beating a little faster and I was becoming more alarmed by the minute.
I, then, realized my left eye wasn’t closing as firmly as my right. I tried squeezing as hard as I could, and the left side wouldn’t squeeze shut.
What.was.wrong?!?!
Stroke was the word that entered my mind.
I flew out of the bathroom to the mirror in the living room and looked there as if I thought changing mirrors would change the function of my face.
I tried puckering my lips and they just looked weird, my pucker wasn’t centered. I looked at my eyes again and tried squeezing them shut. The right eye felt strong and squeezed shut as my muscles commanded it to, the left eye was lacking. I was scared! Jeff and I commute into work together and I told him to go without me, I was going to the Urgent Care.
Bell’s Palsy or a stroke?
Among all the frantic thoughts in my head, thoughts of my mom were there too.
She suffered from having several mini strokes in her last months.
Was this happening to me? What was going on?
When I pulled up to the Urgent Care, of course, they don’t open until 8:00 am and I arrived at 7:15 am. Great! Now I get to sit in my car and let my thoughts swirl in my head about what is happening to me.
Those minutes ticked by so, so slowly. It was excruciating. Finally, the doors opened. When I was signing in at the front desk, the nurse asked me for the symptoms I was experiencing. As soon as I got out of my mouth that the left side of my face wasn’t working right, she immediately sent me to triage.
This only concerned me more and it validated that something was wrong. My body was rebelling against me and it came out of nowhere.
The doctor followed right behind me into triage and ran several physical tests like asking me to squeeze her fingers to check for weakness in my hands and arms.
She asked several questions like did I feel weakness on one side of my body and asking me to repeat phrases.
The only other symptom I had was the left side of my tongue had gone numb the day before. I couldn’t taste on that side, but I didn’t think much of it.
The doctor then told me her diagnosis was Bell’s Palsy.
“Do you know what Bells Palsy is?”, she asked.
“No. Can it be healed?”, I replied in response.
The doctor was very gracious in assuring me she had experienced Bell’s Palsy about 15 years before and often it comes out of nowhere, but it can be caused by a virus that attacks the facial muscles usually on just one side of the face. She urged me, though, to go to an emergency room to get an MRI to rule out the possibility of a stroke.
I left Urgent Care in a daze. I was frantic, heart still racing, yet calm at the same time. Jeff was blowing up my phone, but I didn’t want to talk.
I was trying to process what my body was doing and how I was going to spring into action.
If you know me well, you know I’m a person of action.
I do not take things laying down. I’m proactive to the nth degree.
All that sounds great, the being proactive stuff, right? Well, yes and no.
Here’s the negative part of being so proactive and feeling the need to be in control…I don’t let others care for me.
At this point, I’m shutting Jeff out because I don’t know how to deal. I don’t know how to process what’s going on with me and I’m shutting him out.
When I finally answer the phone when he calls, he says he’s packing up at work and will meet me at the ER.
“No.” I tell him. “I will go to the ER, but I’m going into work first.”
Weird reaction, right? I know, thus is the conundrum of me. I am a soldier in the mist of my world falling apart. Pushing onward, not letting myself feel, just doing.
Jeff is frantic on the other end of the phone and I start crying as I knew I would and I told him I had to go. I don’t deal well with not knowing what to do. I was struggling to control my own emotions and I didn’t have room for anyone else’s emotions even though Jeff was certainly entitled.
I drove to work. When I got to the parking garage, I pulled out my makeup that I hadn’t put on yet. Tears were still rolling down my cheeks. I pulled the mirrored visor down and looked at my face.
My face was betraying me. Even in crying, the left side of my face was not distorting with emotion. It was sort of frozen which made me cry more.
What was happening to me? I dried up my tears as much as I could and put on my makeup. Putting on eye makeup was strange and made the tears start to roll again because I couldn’t close my left eyelid to put on eye shadow.
I only checked in at work, talked with my boss, told him what was going on and cried tremendously while telling him. I told him about my mom and the strokes that she had and how concerned that made me. Hearing the word Stoke in reference to yourself is a hard pill to swallow.
Jeff met me at my office and we soon left for the ER for the MRI and had the diagnosis of stroke ruled out. I had Bells Palsy and I would experience the symptoms for weeks.
The above is a play by play of how I spent my Thursday morning and afternoon of May 31, 2018.
This was my first time experiencing a sickness that wasn’t curable in a few days with a round of antibiotics.
Stay tuned…next week I’ll share how this sickness tested my faith.
Why was Central Park created? Why does it make sense to have such a big park in the middle of a giant city?
Couldn’t that space be used for productivity? More buildings? More businesses? More revenue? How much revenue per square ft. do you think this space could generate?
The park is surrounded by massive skyscrapers. Relative to the space, a few more skyscrapers wouldn’t take up that much space of the park, right? How many office spaces could that be?
Central Park is 843 acres in size! It’s 2.5 miles from north to south and 0.5 miles from east to west.
It’s a National Historic Landmark and considered a masterpiece of landscape architecture.
Do you think whoever’s idea this was to have such a big, protected park in the city is crazy?
Central Park was created in 1858 to address the recreational needs of the rapidly growing city. Its purpose was to offer urban dwellers an experience of the countryside, a place to escape from the stresses of urban life and to commune with nature and other fellow New Yorkers.
In fact, Central Park has its own conservancy to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life, enhancing the enjoyment and well-being of all.
Why are we talking about Central Park?
Where is the Central Park in your life? How do you escape the pressures and stresses of life?
What do each of us have in common?
We are human beings.
As humans, we have needs and emotions that must be attended to, right?
Think of these 4 pillars as your own Central Park, or your greenspace. Let’s break down each part.
As we review each one, ask yourself, “what do you have that’s working and what do you have that’s not working?”
Mental. Being able to cope with mental stressors and challenges. Paying attention to your needs and feelings. Your thoughts control your energy.
Physical. Being able to adopt and sustain a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, nutrition, and sleep are all important. Connecting mind and body. Strong bodies help build strong minds.
Social. Being able to network. Building and valuing interpersonal relationships. Social connections widen perceptions and grow character.
Spiritual. Being able to adhere to beliefs, principles or values needed to persevere and prevail in accomplishing missions.
What else is on the picture above with the pillars of resilience?
The arrow that points in both directions. What does that indicate to you?
Each pillar overlaps. Investment in one pillar spills into other pillars.
For example, let’s pretend you are training for a marathon. First of all, that’s a mental goal, full of positive thinking.
It’s also a very physical goal, meaning you will need to progressively train over time. You’ll need to feed your body well. You’ll need rest and sleep.
Many people that train for marathons train in groups. This is a social activity. You might be training with people that are more experienced than you, so you can learn from them. They can share tips and tricks. They will encourage you to keep going when you want to quit.
Running a marathon can also touch on the spiritual pillar. It will take perseverance to complete this goal. It’s a goal that is bigger than you.
If you are your own conservatory for your pillars, how are you doing? How well are you protecting these areas?
The Central Park conservatory works year-round, rain or shine to maintain and restore every inch of the park.
How well are you protecting your greenspace?
What rhythms do you need to add into your life? Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly?
Each one of us has 52 weeks a year; 365 days. Is a couple weeks, or 14 days, of vacation a year sufficient to maintain or build your 4 pillars?
How are you protecting your greenspace so that you can show up for your family, your work and team, for yourself? You can’t pour from an empty glass, and you can’t help others without putting on your mask first.
Maybe this feels overwhelming because you need a lot of work in 2-3 of these pillars. Or maybe you know exactly what you need to do in only 1. Whatever the case, think about what is one small change you could make today?
Start there and build. Become your own Conservatory.
It’s no surprise that we live in a world where bad things happen. Especially if you watch the news. It can be quite depressing. It can leave us feeling pessimistic and “waiting for the next shoe to drop” so to speak.
What if you could flip the pessimism on it’s head and be more optimistic? Have you ever wondered the impact that optimism could bring to your life? Optimism might not be what you think it is.
In fact, what words or phrases come to mind when you hear the word optimistic?
Sunshine and rainbows
Rose colored glasses
Always happy
What about words like:
Successful outcomes?
Confidence?
Positivity?
Hopefulness?
Or phrases like:
Make lemonade out of life’s lemons, or
The glass is half full
The reality is that optimism is not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s not looking at the world through rose colored glasses either. Optimists are actually quite realistic. And just because you are an optimist, it doesn’t mean you are always happy. Nor does it mean that if you are happy, you are an optimist.
Optimism is, however, the focus of successful outcomes. It is having confidence, positivity, and hopefulness. It’s more than just being positive; it’s having a bright outlook on your future and doing what you can to make your situation better.
Optimisim is having a state of positive beliefs. Optimism is the tendency to notice and expect the positive, focus on what you can control, and take purposeful action. It is how we interpret and perceive the world around us and it’s about the action we take.
There is scientific studies on optimism. It’s been proven that it’s a cornerstone of wellbeing.
Science has also proven that optimistic people are:
more resilient
more productive, high performing
less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and burnout
goal setters and planners
more hopeful for the future.
They:
believe they control the direction of their lives
are better able to cope and recover after set-backs
are healthier and recover faster.
How do you cultivate optimism for your wellbeing?
When a challenge arises, do you expect the negative or expect the positive? Our brains are wired to look for what we believe. I
f you believe that you won’t achieve a goal, you are correct. Your brain will look for evidence to support that belief.
The opposite is also true. If you believe in a positive outcome, you are correct. Your brain will look for evidence to support that belief.
When a challenge arises, do you see a threat or an opportunity? Are you passive when a challenge arises or do you accept and control what you can?
Do you ruminate on the negatives of a challenge or do you focus on solutions? Do you avoid or take purposeful action? Do you isolate or hide when challenges arise or do you reach out for help?
If we are truthful, I’d imagine that we could fall on the spectrum of low or high optimism depending on the day or the circumstance. We are human after all. Optimism doesn’t mean you can’t be upset if things fall apart or get offtrack. However, it is a belief that you can make your situation better. It’s the realistic viewpoint that if everything falls apart, we get to choose how we pick it back up again.
How can you learn to be more optimistic?
First, we are aware of our thought tendencies. Then, we reframe from a pessimistic viewpoint to an optimistic thought process. It’s an intentional decision to fix the negatives and more forward…positively move forward.
Here’s your call to action.
Think about 1 challenge that you’ve faced this year.
What happened?
How did you overcome it or pivot?
What did you learn that you can apply to future, unknown challenges?
We move at lightening speed in our lives. It’s so easy to overcome or accomplish a goal and swiftly move on to the next thing. Taking a moment of reflection is important to realize how far you’ve com and how you navigated challenges.
Those reflections could help you flex your optimism muscle for future challenges.
That was what I felt a couple of weeks ago. The windows in the kitchen were open, and the air just felt different. Which, in turn, made me feel different.
A good different. It’s an excitement for something new. The hot, long days are turning into cooler, shorter days.
It’s a gentle awakening of my senses with the slight shifts in temperatures and the days becoming shorter.
The mornings feel ever so slightly cooler.
It’s rare in Houston, Texas, especially in September. Honestly, we don’t have much seasonal change. We have mostly summer and then a snippet of winter. Then it’s right back to summer again.
The turning from summer to fall also means:
football
pumpkins
pumpkin spice
changing leaves
hunting season
sweater weather
boots
sunsets and sun rises at different times, which make the days feel like a new experience.
When the seasons start to change, for me, it is an expectancy of welcome change.
To me, changing seasons help me have an awareness of God’s wonder…of His creation.
It helps me notice nature; to be in awe of His majesty. Read more about this at my first experience at a Silent Retreat.
Recently, I was sitting in my office, I was bathed in sunlight and warmth. I was aware of the season slowly shifting from summer to fall-ish days.
The sun has begun rising later which means brighter sun in my office. It was dancing in delight across the floor and my desk. It felt warm against my arm and face.
These are the simple and magical fleeting moments of life that remind me to be thankful. Thankful for the beauty of changing seasons.
It rejuvenates and awakens my senses because it feels and looks different. When everyday feels like the same, such as the heat of Texas summer, it’s easy to take each day for granted. But, when the air is crisper, the sun rises later, it causes me to pause and take it all in. To enjoy it.
A few years ago, when looking out my patio door, I saw a curious sight. It was something I remember seeing as a little girl back home in Mississippi, but hadn’t seen one in Houston.
Perched on the side of a pine tree in my backyard was a Polyphemus moth. These creatures are very large. Their wingspan can be close to 7 inches!
Needless to say, this moth was hard to miss. I walked outside, crouched down to get a closer look, and check out this moth. It was beautiful!
For some reason, I felt that God had shared this piece of His creation with me on that fall day. To give me pause, to notice, to look, and to admire the beauty.
I somehow also knew the sight of this moth was signaling a seasonal change. The end of summer and the close of this moth’s season too.
Seasonal changes can be hard since it also signals simultaneously a beginning and an end.
Annie F. Downs, an author and podcaster I enjoy, has dedicated a full year to exploring the seasonal changes. She examines how these changes parallel with seasonal changes of life.
She created the Seasons Guidebook to help you dive deeper into the spiritual themes of winter, spring, summer, and fall. You can listen to all the Seasons podcasts, linked here.
As the days get shorter, the air becomes cooler, and the leaves change their colors…I hope and wish that it would cause you to notice.
I hope you pause.
Enjoy it.
Be thankful.
Be grateful.
Be glad.
Let the shift awaken your senses and admire God’s creativity.
My Dad and Uncle’s first cousins grew up in close proximity to one another in Kossuth, MS. Their physical proximity was simply an outward representation of their relational closeness. And still is today.
Even though life has taken them to places like Nashville, TN; Sikeston, MO; Tyler, TX; Corinth, MS; and Kossuth, MS to name several. They all still stay in touch.
They gather together at least once a year. Texting and calling, too, to stay connected. And when they are gathered together under one roof, it’s like they’ve never missed a beat!
I’ve had the privilege to be in the room with them several times as an adult. It’s always a treasure. They are a fun group! They pick on each other, laugh, and share stories about the mischief of growing up. I love the insights I get about my Dad from their stories. I also enjoy hearing about my family, about where I come from, and about my roots.
They have a tradition of going to Canton, TX for the first Monday flea market in the fall. My Uncle has planned the once a year gathering for many years. They rent a big van, meet up in Corinth, all pile in, and make the ~8 hour trip to Canton for a weekend.
Read another story from their 1st Monday flea market trip here!
This flea market is something to experience. It’s acres upon acres of flea market finds. Jeff and I have even joined them a time or two.
Last May, I went home to Iuka, Mississippi for a quick weekend to celebrate my grandmother’s, Grannie King’s, birthday. She was turning 96 and my Dad and Uncle had summoned the family together to celebrate.
Once we were all settled into the living room after birthday food and cake, the story telling began again. One story has stuck with me since then.
Joe Garrett told a story about a time he was going to get a custom suit made. When the quote came back for the suit, it was going to cost him $750. He declined it and went on his way.
He explained to us in the room that is wasn’t because he couldn’t have afforded it. He replied in his easy going way, “I could buy each one of you a suit at that price.”
He went on to connect the principle of not buying the suit to a childhood memory. He had grown up poor. Anything he had was marked by hard labor, such as cutting ditch banks down by hand with a kaiser blade. He earned just twenty-five cents an hour under the hot sun for his work.
“When that’s where you came from, you know how hard and how long you have to work to buy a $750 suit. Then, you decide if its worth it or not.” Joe explained.
Those long days had shaped his view of money, work, and what really mattered. Spending that much on a suit simply didn’t sit right with the boy who once worked for quarters an hour.
This story impacted me. It’s such a stark contrast to today’s world. New gadgets, clothes, and luxuries are purchased almost without a second thought—Joe’s decision felt almost radical.
We live in a culture of consumerism, where society measures success by what we own. Many people have forgotten what a dollar really represents and how hard it was to earn. But Joe hadn’t forgotten. He carried those ditch-bank days with him, and they guided his choices.
Joe’s restraint wasn’t about deprivation. It was about wisdom. Remembering where he came from and those principles guiding him. He didn’t need possessions to prove his success. Joe was always the same person and a steady constant.
And as I remember him, I’m reflecting on my life and the principles that I have learned through hard times. Am I letting the world change me? Do I value what I already have, or am I always reaching for more? Do I pause to consider the story behind each dollar, or do I spend without thought? What I know about Joe’s life reminds me to slow down, to choose gratitude over more stuff, and to remember that true wealth has nothing to do with what we own.
Joe’s story is a reminder that true wealth isn’t about what we can buy, but about living with values that are priceless.
We often find ourselves in the middle of anxiety, constant busyness, and the weight of everyday life. It’s not always easy to find the words to describe what we are feeling.
This is the video version of my personal Psalm of Lament—a cry out to God in the chaos. I wrote about it recently, linked here. If a 90 second video is more your speed than reading, I’ve got you covered. Just press play below.
If you’ve ever felt weary, anxious, or overwhelmed, may these words give voice to what your heart longs to say.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to know—feel free to share your own words of lament in the comments.
