Spoiler Alert: In today’s post you’ll find a ton of fun links to check out. Explore and have fun!

Hey there! It’s been a while. I hope you are having a wonderful autumn!
I know it’s not Halloween quite yet, but, show of hands: who has started listening to Christmas music? Anyone? No? Just me? Oh…. Anyway…..

Christmas is my very very favorite season. I can’t help myself. And when my husband is cast as Scrooge in Dock Street Theater’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, I’m all about Christmastime.

Speaking of Christmas (see how I did that?), good will and good cheer…

Hey Y’all! This past weekend I had the pleasure and blessing of driving (with my left foot — first trip since I broke my right ankle in February. I know, I know: if it’s not one darn thing, it’s another. *Sigh*) up to Asheville, NC to officiate a wedding for some dear friends. Actually, they are more like family. I was delighted to be invited to do it.

I had never been to Asheville or the Biltmore, so I was excited to finally get there. Sadly, my husband had to stay home with the [fur] kids. (Thanks, Sweetie for being…

Hello Dear Ones!
It’s been a while since I’ve reached out. As many of you know — and some of you, I’m sure, don’t — 2017 was a bear of a year. (I wrote a bit about it in the last post.)

On January 9, 2017 I was stricken with a spinal cord injury that is considered a Spinal Stroke. For a while, the doctors thought it was something called Transverse Myelitis. The latest thinking is a weird and very rare spinal stroke.

The upshot is that I was suddenly and immediately paralyzed from chest to toes. After an excruciating…

I haven’t had a chance to write in a while. I’ve been distracted by a brutal attack of Transverse Myelitis. I’ll write more about it here and there, but I wanted to give you an update. Warning: the beginning of this story is pretty scary. Good news: the ending gets better.

From Thanksgiving until January 8th I travelled over 6,000 miles on a fun-filled whirlwind of high school class reunion, Christmas, weddings, baby blessings, animal blessings, visiting friends…. The travel was split between driving and flying, both of which I do (did) really well. …

Charleston → Chicago → Newark → Sparta → Waverly → Scranton → Sparta → New York City → Sparta → Newark → Chicago → Charleston → Americus → Charleston → Staunton → Harrisonburg → Swoope → Staunton → Charlottesville → Philadelphia → Louisville → Atlanta → Charlottesville → Swoope → Staunton → Waynesboro → Charleson → New York City → Bronx → New York City → Charleston.

And I love every single minute of everything that I do. I am so gosh darned blessed.

Wedding Season is a season. An actual season. Vendors in Charleston, like myself, do most of…

Things I accomplished before 7:00 AM:

*Broke my hairbrush

*Forgot to bring gloves

*Forgot to bring sunglasses

*Lost toothpaste (don’t even ask…)

*Forgot to put on/bring wedding rings, watch, class ring, grandmother’s ring, all rings

*Dropped and spilled entire contents of newly purchased bottle of water

*Stood in the rain on the tarmac to wait for suitcase

At this very moment, I sit in “The Hub” in the Philadelphia International Airport. Because when you fly to Louisville from Charlottesville, the natural route is Philly. (Like when I flew from Charleston to Newark and had a layover in Chicago. Of course.)

…

There has been, these fall and winter months, a feeling of darkness and discouragement. The world is troubled, the environment is troubled, nations are troubled, hearts are troubled, and the spirit feels discouraged.

There has been a feeling of darkness. In fact, the other night, the world experienced the darkest night in about 500 years. That’s pretty dark. (No, in fact, it was not the darkest night of the year.) So it wasn’t true. But perhaps it feels so much that way that the story was an easy sell. That, in itself, tells me something.

In this particular season of…

“Until one has loved a dog, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Anatole France

I was asked the other day, “What is an Animal Blessing?” Excellent question. Glad you brought it up!

The short version: a short ceremony or service in which a clergyperson says a few words and a prayer, honoring a creature (typically a dog, a cat, a farm animal), recognizing the sacredness of the creature and sharing God’s blessing upon said creature; also, giving thanks to God for the blessing this creature has been in our lives.

The long version: An annual service I preside over…