I've been a believer since I was ten years old. I grew up in the church and was raised in a Christian household. All that to say, there was, and continues to be, a lot of talk about mountains and valleys.Take, for instance, the "mountaintop experience." Or "walking through the valley of the shadow of death." Or the "Sermon on the Mount." All through the Bible there are references to mountains and valleys.The valleys of life are where most of us reside the majority of the time. There is no way to simply leap from peak to peak; rather, we have to traverse the valleys in between. They are usually low and quiet places, and can be the very place God puts us to equip us for our next climb. But...

I've been living a remarkably quiet life.It seems that this last year, which presented more than a couple of big, life-altering events, has somehow left me speechless. Odd, for a person usually prone to self-expression through the written word.I've settled into a new home, new town, and finally a new church, after months and months of searching. I've also unexpectedly become a grandmother, and started a ministry, but still have managed to withdraw into a silent place. That's not altogether a bad thing, given that major life changes can often-times require some emotional adjustment. But sometimes we dwell in those silent places too long. Sometimes we find an odd sort of comfort there,...

It's Friday morning.One week ago today, Friday morning found me sitting on a porch in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Alongside the rest of the gIRL team, I sat working on last minute details, trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach as I thought about the group of women we would welcome that afternoon to our first gIRL Gathering...many of whom we'd never met.We'd been praying for this group of women, by name, since they registered, and for the weekend as a whole, for months. As the gathering date approached, the enemy was unbeLIEVably active in ways we never saw coming. But the Lord was MORE active, affirming us in incredible ways, and urging us on to a work that was much bigger than...

If you're just joining me, read this and this first to catch up!We continued our trek around Banff the next day, venturing into the small hub of town. Stopping in front of a place called Cascade Gardens, we paused to glance at the buildings all nestled in the national park.While we were right there, we decided to tour the beautiful grounds of the gardens, which were planted in 1935 and surrounded the National Park administrative building.The flowers were stunning, but they surrounded pools that were empty of water, and areas that were obviously planned for a specific purpose, but never completed. It seemed bereft or wanting somehow, and after reading about its history, we discovered that a...