Shelly’s Blog
The intersection of storytelling, biblical truth, conversation, and beautiful images. My goal is to help you think differently about life.
How to Live the Life that Seems Beyond You
My search for certainty began when I was two years old. Though I didn’t realize that certainty was what I was searching for until four decades later, standing in a queue for a cup of tea in the corner of a conference room. H and I were in California attending a three-day coach training...
Why We All Need a Sabbath Journey for Lent
On Christmas morning, tucked into our stockings, H and I opened the gift of a one-hour massage from his mother, Geri. A gift she purchased from a friend at church because the word was getting around: the masseuse is good, and she works from home. We were giddy. What a fantastic gift! Geri...
Why Faithfulness Wins in an Age of Instant Gratification
Every Tuesday evening for the past five weeks, I leave a warm, cozy house to brave the cold, blustery weather and assist my H in a course called Focused Living. We’re helping thirty people answer the questions, “What has God been doing in your life? And do you have the courage to join him in...
On Openings: One Small Detail That Makes a Big Difference
A few years ago, I was a journalist covering a conference in Houston, when I met a childhood friend for a hotel breakfast before the work day began. We hadn’t seen each other in years but picked up conversation like two teenagers sitting cross-legged on shag carpet and flipping through Teen...
How To Really Rest Once Summer is Over {An Invitation}
At dusk, I stand behind glass doors, staring into the garden from the dining room, a voyeur to the pleasure spreading across the faces of my husband H and son Harrison. Their satisfaction from a simple task is a wonder and a revelation. As powerful sprays of water pulse from a wand, peeling...
On Tuscany and Why Beauty Matters
The world is not a pageant: beauty is as unquantifiable as love. Geography is not something that can be ranked. Anthony Doerr, Four Seasons in Rome For weeks, maybe months, when I close my eyes to pray about unknowns, a scene replays in my mind like a filmstrip. I should tell you that seeing...
