Welcome!

I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll travel around my site, pause in places, and find encouragement just for you.  Check out blog categories, books, podcast interviews, and look for “coffee cup” reading-including free resources.

As you learn more about me, what stirs my heart, and keeps me going, I hope we’ll connect and together find hidden treasures in unexpected places: a timely word from Scripture,  and comfort in loss. Together we can weave hope and purpose in our life stories.

One of my most treasured gifts that I open every day is found in Lamentations 3: 22-23, reminding me of God’s faithfulness, His personally handcrafted mercies, and unfailing compassion whether we shed tears or smile.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (NIV)

Let’s get acquainted…

From challenging to ordinary days, we can find hope and purpose.

Ordinary and challenging days, celebrations and struggles–in each, we can encounter treasures in unexpected places.

My generational heirlooms-some stored and others displayed-don’t have dollar signs, but represent memories, love, and tradition. Books, hand-crocheted scarves, recipes and an old treadle sewing machine carry rich stories and sentimentality. To this day, the fragrance of lilacs stirs memories of snips of lilacs from my grandmother’s tree and the historical lilac festival in my hometown.

I grew up with local extended family with picnics and cousins’ birthdays, but my adult life has been different. My three grown daughters, sons-in-law, and eight sweet grandchildren are scattered in the US. When they gather annually around my dining room table, we celebrate “unbirthdays” and when we can, go to theme parks and splash in the waves at the beach. Family is without a doubt, one of my priceless gifts.

If you want to know more about discovering hidden treasures in ordinary and challenging days, join me and visit awhile. Together, we can find peace during difficulties, wisdom for challenges, compassion when grieved, and hope when circumstances say otherwise.

Read more about me and my blog.

Destination Hope: A Travel Companion When Life Falls Apart

Destination Hope is a beacon of light to those who stumble along the tearful trail of uncertainty and unexpected change. I wrote this book with April White. We live in two different states and represent two generations but we’ve been knocked off course by challenging life changes and linked arms in hope. Together we offer readers encouragement in unwelcomed life interruptions. We  weave our personal stories along with narratives of other women experiencing life-altering events: such as a prodigal, incarceration, death of a child, illness, widowhood, bankruptcy, and divorce.

Speaking Engagements

I’d love to share with you and weave hope and purpose into your life chapters.

• Destination Hope: A Travel Companion When Life Falls Apart
• Unexpected Gifts in Unexpected Places
• The Uniqueness of Grief
• Fresh Starts, Change of Heart
• Christmas Rest
• Leaving a Legacy
• A Cup of Joy, Tea, and Friendship