The way Your light dances, the way it plays the strings of the woodsthe chambers of this heart,who cannot believe in the realest, purest magic, that sang the world into beingthat sings of the crystal streets and a coming mansion in the sky? May your weekend wanderings, kind friends, lead you into Him who is our Light and Who will one celestial day be All our Light.All's grace,The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD... Read Full Story

I know nothingexcept what everyone knows --if there when Grace dances,I should dance."-- W. H. AudenWhen November fell gold, we picked her up by the hand,and when Grace, she sang in the woods, I laughed,our feet tripping on air, our hair flying, our hearts pounding with the glory.I laugh and Grace, she dances and she asks only this:Not to dance alone.David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might...2 Samuel 6:14Lord God... grace sings everywhere and all is graceand le... Read Full Story

... more recommendations quietly and generously slipped to the inbox.... Amazon.com WidgetsRelated: Read the first post: A Booklist of Poems for ChildrenShare your thoughts?...Would you like Holy Experience delivered to you quietly via email?... Read Full Story

He comes Friday for lunch, like always, and we meet in the doorway and, always, we wrap arms, me the daughter-in-law, him the worn father of the man whose ring I wear. He pats my back, and I brush his cheek.He's seventy-five and he takes my seat and I bring the dish of squash, the plate of pork roast. Children wash hands."I saw Pete today over at the home farm." Opa smiles, nods. I serve potatoes. Pete's our age, married to Opa's grand-daughter. Farmer Husband smiles, nods too, the language o... Read Full Story

You heard that there’s a for sale sign on the farm across the road?”Sunday morning light slides in through glass, pools in my pot. Phone cradled to ear, I stir porridge.“You’ve got your offer in, I hope.” How could Dad say anything but that?The sign went up two days ago.I smile, shake a bit of salt into boiling oats, a handful of ground flax, stir.“Oh, we’d like to. 200 acres, 150 workable. But there’s no way. In these kinds of markets, we simply don’t have the money to buy another farm.”“It’... Read Full Story

The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."Louisa May AlcottIt snows during the week, large flakes, like bits of heaven come undone, and white, it dissolves into earth. I spend the week redeeming the time by redeeming the ugly, choosing redemptive beauty, and earth is saturated with heaven.A twig becomes art. A mess becomes mosaic.The domestic clothes Divinity. And this is what I brush against in the midst: that to give thanks for a thing, even the ug... Read Full Story

~ A free customizable - printable chorechart for kids (and it doesn't say "chores" -- it says how one "contributes" to family. Beautiful!)~ organization of art supplies -- home-education inspiration (I recollect you can buy those galvanized buckets at Ikea?)~a Thanksgiving Centerpiece(Child-Made, God-Glorifying, Easily-Beautiful!)~ Instantly Preserved Leaves -- Wax them! (Oh, can we do this too? A walk first... and then a dipping into wax... and then string the colored garlands. Might be a wa... Read Full Story

The cold came for the color, drained summer brown, and the furniture vases, they’re open mouths, waiting for petals and I go looking for beauty in November.And when I fill them with tassels of broom corn from the garden, stalks grown from heritage seeds of the Shakers at Pleasant Hill, I trim each woody stalk and think how seeing beauty in the obvious and apparent isn’t perhaps really seeking at all.The Real Words read: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even... Read Full Story

Reframing the mess, seeing through to the Real.......He rewards those who earnestly seek him. ~Heb. 11:6Lord, when I seek... when I seek. The Beauty of You... You. This week: Beauty Challenge #1 ::: Beauty Challenge #2Photos: seeing through to the Beauty of GodShare your thoughts?...Would you like Holy Experience delivered to you quietly via email?... Read Full Story

(You were asking? Several notes to the inbox with questions, so a revisitation on how our family quietly eats this book...)Words are always dessert.I was sixteen when I first I ate dinner at his house and when the plates were cleaned, forks laid down, when it'd seem commonplace to nod thanks to the cook and push back the chairs, his family bowed their heads and his Father opened a Bible, thick and tattered, a multitude of bookmarks sticking out from all the pages and he read a chapter of Scri... Read Full Story