Pilgrim Footsteps

God is so patient with us, and so gracious. This year was full of God's sweet reminders of His presence, goodness, grace, provision, and love. FAMILY We had so much to be thankful for, with the recovery of my aunt and my cousin's husband from Covid, the latter of which can truly be called a miracle. For my niece's birthday, my sister and I took her and her brother to the zoo for the first time. My mom and I did a short weekend in Delaware. We went to a new location for our annual fall family vacation. Fun evening chats on the phone with my sister and mom and surprise visits from my brother. Sunrise at Cape Henlopen State Park Fall vacation Fall vacation FRIENDS Hikes and a new church connect group; friends got married, and friends had babies. A fun weekend camping trip with friends at Black Moshannon State Park. Visiting the Lancaster Liederkranz Oktoberfest with a friend (where we confused everyone by not drinking), which gave me a chance to wear my Dirndl somewhere and ma...

2020, the year I had been eagerly anticipating, began as though merely a continuation of the previous year. After all, we finally got the new furniture in the office at work that we had been expecting for a while, and on my new desk I placed a vase with shiny stones and a fake fish as a continuation of an inside joke. I was still dealing with some frustrations at work. Eventually, things started to happen. A person that many had been praying would visit church visited church, my nephew turned one, and I made my first solo flight down to North Carolina to visit a friend. February Then, some losses. Several employees, gone; many of them I would miss. To my delight, our inconsiderate neighbors with a barking dog moved to another state. The worst loss of all was the death of a dearly loved employee from cancer; our loss, however, was her gain as she got her hug from Jesus. March Things began to look up a bit as we had a lovely weekend spending time with some relatives, including a day expl...

Among all my fears and doubts and feeling like I was barely able to keep it all afloat, my workplace shut down along with the rest of the world due to something as small as a virus that became something so much larger.  Hmm. That sounds familiar.  If you've read parts 1 and 2 of my fear trilogy, you know that with this post I'm going to share how a time that caused fear and stress for so many people actually relieved mine.  It may sound crazy and even a little rude, but when the rest of the world was panicking, I was finally at peace for the first time in a while.  I wasn't juggling everything at work and the fears of the past how many months seemed irrelevant and so much smaller as I took walks on cool early spring mornings and began to paint and rediscovered the joy of writing. God magnified the little things and washed away the big things, giving me time to take a deep breath.    He used that time to remind me who I am, and that He created me to be that ...

I already admitted being foolish. While that story may have simply been ridiculous and may have even made you smile, this is just plain embarrassing. It's also not just one story; it was a growing theme that I could sense growing in my life but wasn't quite sure exactly what it was. It began when some plans got canceled and I was very upset. Technically, I could've still followed through with the plans on my own and simply moved forward. But no. Refusing to do something that I had never done before and that, quite frankly, scared me, I simply got angry at the person who had messed up my plans. (When someone else volunteered, still I held a few days' grudge.) It wasn't the first time something had made me extra-angry without a justifiable reason for said anger. Each time was to varying degrees and followed a similar pattern. My fears of small things, revealed by what I couldn't get myself to do, made all of my fears start to pile on top of each other wit...

Let me tell you a story about me being a fearful fool. Once upon a time, I decided it was time for a new laptop. And being the writer that I am, I knew I would need to splurge and also pay to put Microsoft Office on my new laptop. I studied the different kinds of laptops and what would be best for my needs and also not overly expensive. Finally, I took the leap (I am not a fan of buying things that cost more than $30) and went home with a new Lenova laptop and a code for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Unfortunately, I forgot how stupid Microsoft is. Did you know that you literally can't even call them for help? You have to use their online helper, which did not even recognize my question as a possible topic. Sigh. Still I pressed on, making a whole new email on yahoo just to create a new Microsoft account so I could put their product on my new laptop. And waited and waited and waited for it to complete. At long last, it said it was finished. It was late and I was...

I couldn't explain why I didn't like it. It just sounded wrong; it was fingernails on a chalkboard to my soul. "Hey, Boss!" "Don't call me that!" "Why not?" "...Because."  Well, you are!  I was told. It's a term of respect!  Maybe to them. But I don't like to be called Boss. It's the connotation, really. Let's be honest - when anyone hears the word "Boss" they think...well...a not-so-great boss. I don't even like all of those girl posts about "Be a Boss!" Nope. I want to be a Leader. What is a Boss? They tell everyone what to do, and often not nicely. They micromanage. They know everything - or think they do. They live by rank and title. They want to stay your boss, with you under them, directing you only by authority. They don't care if you fear them, and therefore only tell them what they want to hear. They're in it for themselves. So, what is a Leader? Th...

2019 was certainly its own flavor, tasting of something new and unknown. 2019 was different. Perhaps I helped that long? In January I decide to do something new or different (or that I haven't done in years ) every month. It was, believe it or not, a lot harder than it sounded, especially since I am not a particularly bold or adventuresome person. But it was worth it. I would like to share with you my 2019, by month. I will share what "new" thing I did (I will also admit when it was a half-cheating month) along with general highlights/major events that happened that month. January: I hung out at a coffee shop by myself.  I actually enjoyed this a lot, and have continued to do it every now and then. I went to the New Holland Cofee Co . I attended my workplace's annual employee banquet for the first time in all the 6 years that I worked there. I created my department's first-ever manual. I had a surprise meeting on Friday, Jan 18 where I was told that, ef...