Note by Note

Photo found on Canva Hello, y'all! Happy Saturday! It's been a rough week for yours truly and I wanted to pop over to jot down some thoughts.  Think of the strongest person you know. Maybe it's your mom. Maybe it's an older sibling or a close friend. Maybe it's yourself. Maybe you're the parent or older siblings. Do you feel strong? As the oldest of four kids, I know it's a hard label to live up to. There seem to be some unspoken rules sometimes, rules like "Watch out for the younger ones" and "Be a good example." And I'm not saying that's a bad thing; sometimes it's just awfully hard. For me, it's been especially hard the last few days.  Some things have been going on in my life and I'm still trying to understand what all is happening. But the long and short of it is this: I'm fearful. Not the "there's a monster under my bed!" scared or the familiar "sharks and spiders" scared. No, this is ...

My morning devotions during the Bible Bee Season! A raindrop smacks against the windowpane, followed by another. And another. Oh, make that a dozen more. The sky seems layered with dark clouds, each one grumbling about their own personal problem. "My poof aches." "Can you believe how warm it's getting down there?" "Argh, the sun is right above me!" One by one they send their fury down in a cacophony of wet droplets that dampen the ground and melt the snow. Happy Friday, y'all! Has anyone else noticed my affection for word pictures? In case you haven't guessed, yes, it is raining at my house today, and I'm so glad that I get to curl up at the dining room table with a stack of notebooks and some new pens.  Spring is coming! I can hardly wait. It signals the end of the school year, the start of summer, and the beginning of the Bible Bee season! For me it's also an end of sorts. This summer is my last summer before I graduate from high scho...

                                                     Photo credit goes to Ricardo Cruz on Unsplash Gray whisps grace the sky as the wind tugs at my braids. A cardinal couple hops from tree to tree as they whisper secrets to each other. Mud speckles the back of my flannel shirt as I race my siblings across the field. Happy Monday, friends, and praise the Lord for the beautiful day He gave us! As you're recovering from the time change and looking forward to spring I hope you've taken time to enjoy the extra sunlight as I have. I know, I'm supposed to be posting on Fridays. But I'm glad I waited until Monday to write this post (and it was my sister's birthday, so I didn't really have time to write on Friday:). I woke up late (gracias, daylight savings) and rolled out of bed with one thought in mind: get started on your work and quit being lazy. I listened t...

  Hey y’all! I got some exciting news today, and I just have to share it somewhere. This past week I submitted a meditative article to a challenge that can be found here:  https://scriptoriums.com/  Scriptorium is a very encouraging organization that encourages people of all ages in the study and memorization of God’s Word, and I was very excited to spend the month of February meditating on Isaiah 53. Well, the exciting news is… my entry was one of the two winners!!!!! I’m so grateful that the Lord has encouraged me in this way, and I thought that the words He inspired me to write might encourage you. I pray they do! Enjoy! Isaiah 53: Surely He has Borne Our Griefs When I first memorized Isaiah 53:4-12 in 2020 I wasn’t digging as deep into the verses as I should have. As a second time Bible Bee participant and naturally competitive person I was focusing more on achieving the goal of a perfect recitation than the truth I was reciting. Two years later as I restudied Isaiah ...

I take a sip of peppermint tea and fight off leftover sleepiness. My bonnet slides over my forehead, completely obscuring my field of vision on all sides. The clouds are layered, the snow is melting, and all is cold and quiet this fine March morning. Except, perhaps, for the random truck outside my house. Good morning, friends, and welcome to another day! It's days like these, when I'm armed with a notebook, my trusty fuzzy socks, and my devotion time with God, that I feel I can take on anything that comes my way.  Today, I'm choosing joy.  Yesterday started out almost exactly like today. Writing in my bonnet and socks, spending a few hours on school, and daydreaming about stories. But at some point in the afternoon, I crashed.  Have you ever spent an extended amount of time in the company of a person who absolutely cannot - will not - talk about anything positive? And after you've tried every other option - talking peaceably, offering advice, trying to fix whatever is ...