tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86783549230008187012024-03-12T16:42:58.550-07:00A Thousand Acres"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom"Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-51040197201637288442017-10-25T08:01:00.001-07:002017-10-25T08:02:22.735-07:00New FrontiersPardon me if I seem a bit weepy. It’s just, I’m that sixteen year old girl once again. She’s sitting on an airplane, first time in her life, leaving behind everyone and everyplace she’s ever known and loved. As the plane begins its’ skyward ascent, an announcement from the speaker mentions that the air traffic controllers would like to say a “good luck and happy travels” to Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-63910033266414747782017-07-07T12:38:00.000-07:002017-07-07T12:38:27.380-07:00Life in a Small Town
When I first turned sixteen and obtained a driver’s license, I made a deal with myself that I would still bike and walk places. I did not want to become someone who couldn’t get around without a car. Most of the rest of my reasoning as a sixteen year old driver was awful. But this decision serves me well even twenty-four years later.
Now that I’ve lived in a small town for Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-88138023211946850322017-01-31T13:05:00.000-08:002017-01-31T13:05:28.966-08:00At Dinner
On a whim, I typed “dinner out with Brian” on our merged calendars one Thursday night.
So we sat across from each other, next to the cozy fireplace in our town’s Famous Barbeque restaurant, I feverishly working to find meals for us that weren’t full of sugar, gluten, or dairy. And were reasonably priced. This barbecue restaurant wasn’t cooperating with my economically Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-53847369368969339232017-01-26T13:58:00.001-08:002017-01-26T13:59:14.442-08:00Dayna's Books of 2016
Behold, 2017. That means 2016 left. But I’m carrying with me some good thoughts from interesting authors, growing and changing me I hope.
I read 24 books this year. I always go for 40 and always hit low 20’s. For 2017 you’d think I’d try for 30, but I’ll stick with 40.
Here are the books I’d like to reread if time for it allows:
(Side note: this does not necessarily Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-72342412485018855272016-12-17T07:17:00.002-08:002016-12-17T07:19:52.062-08:00Promise
December came in like a lion, an immediate shift to living in a land of closed interstates, negative temperatures, frigid winds, and blowing ice.
Our dear friends are moving away today. Last night, all bundled up to walk half a block, we stop and half joke that God may be telling them not to move. How will they get to Wisconsin with all the road closures? And the slashed Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-22844324028462156432016-11-24T06:25:00.000-08:002016-11-24T06:27:50.529-08:00Family play acting was ton the agenda for Dawson's family birthday celebration.
I picked two picture books he especially like from his younger days and we divided into teams to reenact the story. I'm only posting Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney.
Officer Buckle and Gloria needs to be edited--some people are still learning brevity.
Here is our rendition...
Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-78667505516952295702016-11-11T06:04:00.000-08:002016-11-11T07:51:11.517-08:00On Election 2016There was once a kind, well-meaning young man who asked me out on a date during my high school years. I knew it was not meant to be when he couldn't find our driveway. Now, many people had a hard time locating our driveway, but most eventually found it. Not him. He decided to just park at the mailbox and walk across the bridge over our irrigation canal.
This was my routeDaynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-45086889439609290932016-11-07T05:44:00.002-08:002016-11-07T05:57:55.166-08:00Twelve: Musings and a Poem
It so happens that upon the week entering into the twelfth anniversary marking my middle child's birth, we read the story of the boy Jesus at the temple. He, too, was twelve.
Luke the doctor shares this story, the only picture we get of Jesus as a youngster. What I find incredibly interesting is that Luke shares two stories in a row of the young Jesus at the temple.  Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-54187861639650290892016-08-17T05:58:00.001-07:002016-08-17T06:10:01.994-07:00A Summer Lesson
I finally silence my cell phone as the text tone rings incessantly. My dear aunt is posting pictures to all the grandkids. The photos are nostalgic items from my grandfather's yellow farmhouse, for she is cleaning it out.
It has been a truly marvelous summer, exceeding my expectations. Almost none of my summer goals are checked off, but somehow that's okay.
In June I Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-73079866497508311402016-08-04T11:27:00.000-07:002016-08-04T14:15:17.920-07:00Jailhouse Traditions
Walking away from a place you've lived your whole parenting existence, which for me is now fifteen and a half years, offers opportunities for new adventures.
That's what people kept telling me. I now understand that "adventure" in our culture is acode word for pain, heartache, and opportunity for growth. It could also be a really awesome time. Then again, it might turn out Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-44540619687143829532016-06-23T22:16:00.002-07:002016-07-02T09:54:17.224-07:00On Assignment
.
Recently I became an Instagram user. I really enjoy observing how people express their creativity in word and image.
First, I had to create an account and set up my profile page.
As I worded and reworded my IG profile, I finally rested on a description that summed it up fairly well.
"On assignment in North Dakota as a pastor's wife and mom of 5. Loving it. Every Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-8779116250089150222016-05-10T06:45:00.000-07:002016-05-10T06:45:01.414-07:00Lies and Grace
Reposting this from the archives: I've had two conversations this week (and it's only Tuesday morning) about lies and imperfection and grace. This caused me to think about some of the times I've wrestled with these truths. Here's one of them.....
We sat in the front row this year. All the kids had a clear view.
It was our church's annual Thanksgiving and Baptism Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-31025385966238773572016-04-23T10:11:00.003-07:002016-04-23T10:16:36.122-07:00storage almost full I keep getting a notification from my cell phone.
It reminds me at peculiar times that my icloud storage is almost full and has not been updated in 129 days and counting.
For awhile it would increase my stress...another thing to attend to at some point.
But lately I've just smiled.
What a good reminder--my storage is almost full. Better purge somewhere. Maybe today I should Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-42737278544869295932016-04-16T05:40:00.000-07:002016-04-16T10:30:28.235-07:00Real Visions
It's funny how twenty years later I still reach to the back of the toilet to flush. Somehow, the toilet in the bathroom attached to my childhood bedroom was installed with the flusher on the back. It tricked a lot of guests.
My parents have redone the bathroom, and probably ten years ago they put in a new toilet with the flusher in front. But still, in the middle of the Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-47748239274852260252016-03-17T06:41:00.000-07:002016-03-17T15:15:24.009-07:00BetrayalI hit a rebellious streak in high school.
Oh, not completely, outwardly rebellious. Just trying to live two ways.
I wanted good grades and leadership positions and positive friendships and esteem from my elders. I also wanted to be loved and seen as beautiful and cool and worldly wise by my peers.
It was hard to keep up both. I would feel elated while in a new relationship Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-59228181301536796512016-03-05T06:49:00.001-08:002016-03-05T07:12:07.802-08:002015 Books
Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.
-Joyce Carol Oates
It was a good year of reading.
I am not sure how you choose books. I am not sure how even I choose them.
For the most part, I pick reads that intrigue. I hear an excellent interview on a podcast and decide their mind is one I'd like toDaynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-34789237347656645452016-02-25T12:56:00.000-08:002016-02-25T17:06:27.174-08:00"I Don't Have the Patience For That"This title is a common response to the answer to what I do with the majority of my days: homeschool.
I've been trying to think about what it really means to not have patience for something. Because my immediate thought is often "neither do I." Unless it's been a particularly good day. Then maybe I am pridefully smug. That's very rare. (The part about a great day, I'm sureDaynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-56103495011097311222016-02-18T05:31:00.000-08:002016-02-18T05:49:14.024-08:002015 Before I Forget
Three things that define my 2015.
1. I learned to like grapefruit.
There is something really fun about finding a new food to savor. That's why I waited so long, apparantly!
2. I grew lemon verbena.
It's the sound of the name, the smell of the leaves, the sight of the delicate, viney plant with little white flowers. I've been wanting to Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-23137761241724168822015-12-31T15:16:00.005-08:002016-01-01T05:35:05.182-08:00How to Hang your Goals
Every once in a while I get smacked in the face with a reminder that I should think about how to bless my husband.
I think about how to school my kids, how to train my kids, how to inspire my kids, how to feed my kids,what to read to my kids, whether I should help with this or that opportunity, or contact this or that person about such and such.
But blessing my husband gets left behind.
Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-12714506818188340392015-12-06T05:38:00.000-08:002015-12-06T05:51:58.151-08:00Living on a Prayer
This academic year marks my first year parenting a high schooler.
An underlying feeling of anxiety has pervaded my days, my soul, my mind, my heart. Can I do this? It is sort of like that feeling expecting mothers get a month or so before the baby is due to arrive. I've changed my mind, I'm not sure I can go through labor. But it's too late by that time.
Now I Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-69322065411290464392015-11-08T17:28:00.000-08:002015-11-08T17:28:26.652-08:00Middle ChildThey all play piano minus my middle child. He chose violin.
We celebrated his eleventh birthday this week. He wanted to play football with friends and have ice cream mixers.
I think about his life. Today my hip hurts and I'm pretty sure I can trace it back to him as a baby. He never wanted me to carry him, was always leaning out and grabbing. That's all fine exceptDaynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-74245060926211830452015-10-09T07:46:00.000-07:002015-10-09T16:06:41.668-07:00Weather Changes
Yesterday was a windy, warmish October day. So I washed my dirty sheets and blankets and even mattress cover and hung them outside to dry.
I breathed the smell of them thankfully as I snuggled into bed last night. I am pretty confident that was the last hung-dry-outside opportunity till May. And it makes my heart ache, because I was made for warmth.
But I will be Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-28515745239067227932015-08-29T10:58:00.000-07:002015-08-30T08:09:41.813-07:00A Divine Appointment
I stand in the surf of the Pacific Ocean. The northern Washington beach breathes rugged and beautiful life and I am in awe. We've just explored the tide pools, and now they are tucked away by the summer waves as the tide rolls in.
Timmy and I take one last frolic in the waves before ascending up a half mile to the parking lot. I hear my name called by my Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-16066412750373351402015-05-07T05:55:00.000-07:002015-05-07T05:55:40.749-07:00Thoughts on Being a WomanLast month my cousin bore her second baby. A second man-child in which she labored hard to receive with joy, almost from the moment of conception she struggled in labor. Those who are sick for nine months know.
Then a few days after his arrival her kid neighbors knocked on her door asking to borrow hairspray. She said she didn't have any and they said of course not, you stay Daynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8678354923000818701.post-5570483143687008412015-02-26T08:46:00.000-08:002015-02-26T11:24:35.103-08:00Living Our Mission
February's back is toward us, she's sidling out the door. Her departure beckons me to make good on my year's goals. For February leaves March in her place and after March, hold on.
This year I determined to use January as a month of prayer for 2015 and seeking God as to what I should aim toward this year. I realized that November and December are not months that offer a lotDaynahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11252643836727449068noreply@blogger.com1