“I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.” I love this song. I sing it strongly, with conviction. As I sing I feel the confidence rising, my fears being vanquished one by one. As though right in this very moment I could overcome any obstacle and run into battle for… Continue reading
Author: bentley.vicki
A Seat at the Table
“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” Luke 14:13 (NIV). Picture the scene: an elaborately decorated banquet table situated in the center of a great hall. Every detail planned and executed with the greatest of detail and finesse. No expense spared. The places… Continue reading
Just As They Are
One of the most enduring images I have of the summer is that of my three year old at our favorite, local splashpad. Curled up on a bench in her bone-dry swimsuit, head in hands, it looked like I had dragged her to her worst nightmare instead of a fun morning activity with friends. From… Continue reading
A Moment worth Celebrating
If your social media accounts are anything like mine, the start of September may have left your feeds inundated with a vast number of first day of school pictures. Photo after photo of smiling, excited new preschoolers, almost toppling under the weight of their cute little backpacks. Maybe you found it a little much, thought… Continue reading
A letter to my littlest
I can hardly believe it’s been an entire year since you entered the world and we were transformed into a family of four. A whole year of transitions and changes. New routines, new challenges. A new family dynamic. A whole new little person to love. We watched from our sleep deprived haze as your personality… Continue reading
When you feel unseen…
My daughter loves to play hide and seek. The only problem is, she hasn’t quite grasped the concept of hiding yet. If she can’t see you, she pretty much assumes that you can’t see her either. So after lots of anticipation while she goes and finds the perfect hiding spot, there she is in front… Continue reading
Discouragement: Keeping your boat afloat
My daughter was having a hard time trying to build up a tower of blocks with her baby sister. Babies, she’s learning, don’t follow the rules. Just as she was starting to build up some momentum stacking up those blocks nice and tall, the baby would gleefully knock everything down. Prematurely. No matter how hard… Continue reading
When we can’t see what’s next…
“Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 is one of those verses that is supposed to give you comfort. It’s a verse that I’ve bookmarked, memorized, and passed onto others as an encouragement time and time again. Yet for some reason when it appeared in… Continue reading
Resting in the Now
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but making New Year’s resolutions seems to be rather passé these days. I don’t know if it’s the time it takes to compile them, or just the crushing disillusionment they can provoke when December rolls around again… or is that just me? Anyway for those of you who still… Continue reading
Resting in the now – our journey with fussy eating
A 2 year old girl picks up a cider donut and takes a few bites. To anyone looking on, the scene is unremarkable, run of the mill even. The same scene, in fact, is probably being played out in farms and orchards all over New York State in the Fall, so what is so noteworthy… Continue reading