Travel, comfort zones, Mission Trip

Leaving My Stuff

maflake

“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.” -Dutch Proverb In a few short days I will be getting on a plane for a very long flight to Japan. I’m going with a group from my church, First Baptist Dalton, to learn from the Japanese people about peacekeeping.… Continue reading Leaving My Stuff

#trust, Daffodls, grace, spirituality

Unexpected Blessings

maflake

For Christmas this year, my friend Rhonda gave me an amaryllis bulb encased in a round  ball of red wax. I set it on the little table in my dining room and soon it produced beautiful red blooms. “That was nice,” I thought, clipped off the flowers when they finished blooming, and figured it was… Continue reading Unexpected Blessings

memories, spirituality

Down Memory Lane

maflake

For the last several years, a crack has been forming in the plaster ceiling above my desk in my office/junk room. Even though it has loomed ominously over my head, threatening to fall in at any minute, I have procrastinated getting it fixed. I dreaded the thought of having to clean out the accumulation of… Continue reading Down Memory Lane

Daffodls, Holiday depression, New Year, rest, spirituality

Winter Rest

maflake

I sit in front of the Christmas tree early on New Year’s Day. Through the front windows I watch the sun coming up over the tree line of the Browns’ pasture, orange and blue. My Moravian star shines over the porch, moving slightly in the wind, a reminder of my North Carolina roots. I have… Continue reading Winter Rest

perseverance, spirituality

Rejection Club

maflake

More good news from Under the Magnolia Tree! Coming in January 2026, I will have another story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book! Change your Habits, Change your Life will be coming out just in time for everyone’s New Year’s resolutions. In 2019 my first story was accepted by Chicken Soup in a… Continue reading Rejection Club