Month: October 2023
-
Sweet Potato “Pie”
Hello, tender friends! We’re not sure how we never thought to do this before. Sweet potato “pie!” When Anthony spotted a 5 lb sweet potato in our neighbor’s garden, we finally decided to try sweet potato pie. While the smaller ones are better for roasting, the mammoth sized sweet potatoes are better suited to pie.…
-
Grateful for Closed Doors
Hello, tender friends! Monday’s post triggered some memories for me. I feel so much gratitude that I’m not willing to sell my soul for publishing money and that God took away an opportunity that seemed perfect. The older I get, the more I’m grateful for the doors God has closed, not just the ones He…
-
The Economics of Self-Expression
Hello, tender friends! This blog is a case in point of something I learned in econ class back in college. It was somewhat ironic: I was actually tutoring the classmate who said this because I was acing the class and he wasn’t. (Harvest setup outside church. We look like that because the sun was brutally…
-
Spiritual Attacks & Prayer Team
Hello, tender friends! I joined the prayer team at church to fill in for a friend who’s recovering from surgery. Also, I forgot to post a photo on Monday, so here’s one of me holding the prayer team banner. Flashback to teenage me: Stacey, when you’re 37, you’ll join the prayer team at your church.…
-
Lessons from Raising Baby Chicks: Self-Compassion
Hello, tender friends! Chicks know how to live in a way that heals me. I’ve been supplementing their feed with rice and other treats since the garden is almost done, and watching them carb binge so unapologetically has made me cry. Watching such unadulterated excitement makes me realize all the excitement I’ve denied myself over…
-
A Year Long Fast?
Hello tender friends! I got that feeling in the middle of the night. That “maybe this is God but I’m not sure” one. I thought God wanted me to fast from baker’s chocolate and black tea. What a doozy it was as I continued praying and discovered that He meant for a year. A year?…
-
Homegrown Pumpkin “Pie”
Hello tender friends! Ah, the delights of fall. This weekend in SW Virginia was chilly, and I’ve been indulging in my comfy sweatpants, chicken soup, winter boots, and of course, our homegrown pumpkins! I love my sunshine and vitamin D, but fall is the coziest season for me. (Why is Cub barefoot in the cold?…
-
Why I’m Embracing “To God Be the Glory”
Hello tender friends! If you’re a writer, you know that the words of Charles Dickens often apply to the writing life: it is the best of times and sometimes it is the worst of times. I recently wrote a spate of articles that paid 5 cents a word. Yes, you read that correctly, and yes,…
-
El Chuwl-The God Who Gave You Birth
Hello, tender friends! We didn’t choose Cub’s name. And even though I went through the still medieval birthing process, I know that he is God’s. That’s a tough pill to swallow as a woman who went through a somewhat difficult birth. Yet I know the Hebrew for El Chuwl, the God who gave you birth,…
tea and tenderness 