Posts by lcwhitaker318@gmail.com

This year, I have two grandchildren starting kindergarten—a new school, new teachers, new friends—a very big change. This year, I have two of my own children making big moves to new areas, which means new neighbors, new friends, new churches, and new jobs. This is also a time when kids are going off to college…

A little over year ago, I received a planter from some friends as a gift after my mother died. I remember thinking that it would be dead in a week since my ability to grow plants indoors is nonexistent (unless it be a succulent who loves when I forget to water it). There are several…

Being out on the open sea at night is such an eerie experience. Without light, it is pitch black. Under such an expanse of darkness, it is easy to feel so small and vulnerable. On a cruise in the South Pacific, around the Polynesian Islands, I experienced, first hand just how dark things were on…

Hurt feelings. Yep, it happens. Someone says something about you or you get an email and the words fly at you with accusation and condemnation as you read. In the end, you are left with hurt feelings; wondering how in the world this person could be so mean? As the rest of your day drags…

I stood at the base of the mountain and looked up at the rickety stairs that seem to reach all the way to heaven. Weeds had grown wildly in between each step and threatened to entangle anyone who attempted to climb them. “You want me to climb the side of this mountain on those things?…

LOVE! What is love and why do we devote a whole day to celebrating it? Has love conquered a major battle? Has it paved the way for us to be able to live a better life? Has love marked a time in history in which it turned the tide of life for generations to come?…

Family is a peculiar thing. It is a dynamic where a small band (sometimes it’s large) of people, who are all different, live together, love each other, and in some cases will die for one another. As I sat on my deck, admiring my beautiful flowers, I began to realize how much these flowers resembled…

It’s early on Monday morning and though I do not have to be at work today as it is a “holiday,” I am awake and thinking of my boys who do not get a “holiday” like we do. They are like so many others who have made sacrifices so that we, who live in America,…

I don’t know about you, but for me, sometimes walking in obedience to what God is calling me to do is hard. Not long ago, God put in front of me the opportunity to speak at a women’s retreat in Michigan and truthfully, it scared me. Fear began to rule my heart and I started…

Walking is my escape when the chaos of this world seems to close in around me. When the “high seas” of life begin to build, my first instinct has been to isolate myself. Years ago, when I found myself in the throes of depression, isolation was what I sought. I was constantly walking away from…