Heart Matters Blog

"No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around..." May Crandall, Before We Were Yours The new slalom ski sliced through the water spraying water all over my face. I laughed and vigorously shook my soaked head to see better. It was fast and it was fun. Little did I know that in a few minutes, my summer would be flipped upside down. My daughter continued to give me the thumbs up as I cut back and forth, seeing what this new ski would do. My hubby moved his arm up and down to warn me of big waves coming. I wasn't worried. I had hit plenty of those doing water sports through the years. The waves hit. My ski pushed right and forward but the stiff new boot ...

Carrying on after Julie's rested words and response to presence last week, I too was deeply moved by an experience I had last weekend. Aren't there so many spiritual truths availableto us in our everyday lives that have the potential to nourish our souls? It seems to me that in simply observing our lives we are met with so much wisdom and learning. My prayer, even as Iwrite this blog, is that you might draw on your life and listen to the still small voice in the midst of creation and your experiences. That you might know another facet to God's heartbeat and how His presence is constant.So, back to my experience last weekend. I visited some friends for a quick one-night camping trip, and they were pitched right beside a vast wheat field. I had been hoping to capture a wh...

He leads me beside quiet waters… he restores my soul. —Psalm 23:2 I am sitting by still waters today, but there is a party on the lake. People having fun; diving in and dive-bombing into the water. Someone is tubing on the lake as well, and jets skis too. It is not exactly quiet, but it does restore my soul. Just when I was going to write that it is calmed down now, there is another whoop from the party boat. It is so peaceful here by the water, despite the party. I took my shoes off and dangled my feet in the lake. I love the sound of water lapping up on the shore. It is so soothing. It reminds me of the Allegheny river when I was young. My Grandpa Simey would take us out on the rowboat. We would pack a lunch and I remember the waves lapping on the shore of the river as we parked our boat...

We Heart Matters gals are taking the month of July off as a writing hiatus. We'll be back in August!!! Emilie, LuAnn, Julie and Sally

As many of you know from my previous writing, I love discovering and digging into the meanings of names and since my brother and his wife included my grandads name in their first sons, I was intrigued by what it means. In this season and time it also feels like a real gift to be lead down this path as my grandads name is Raymond (Ray), which means, "Wise Strength." Last week my Grandad passed away just a few days after his 95th birthday, his stature, kind and strong but by the end his bones were ready not to be here anymore. Ever since the birth of my first nephew and watching the deterioration of my grandad I have been pondering my grandads name. What does it mean to be strong? What does "wise strength" mean? Just a couple of the questions that have ruminated inside me.Biblical Scripture ...