Fall: Ready or Not?

I stopped by the coffee shop this week to get a latte and catch up with a friend, and I noticed that at that particular shop, pumpkin everything is back. All the spices and the lattes and such.

To be fair, I'm not a huge pumpkin spice latte fan, so I'm not one who lives all year long for PSL season to return. (Now...salted caramel mocha season? Let's talk.)

But I have been reading on Facebook that there's a tug of emotional war going on in my friends regarding the return of fall. After our cold, wet spring, many are still squeezing every last bit of wonder out of this summer, and they don't want fall. Not yet, anyway. But others miss their sweatshirts and fuzzy socks, and they're ready for all the fall.

So where do you stand? Ready or not?

I'm not ready for shorter evenings. I love my evening walks with Ryan, and those become harder to take when nightfall comes so much earlier. I know each one is getting progressively shorter even as we speak, but that is one of the things I'll miss most about fall, I think. My beloved sunset walks.

But I am excited about the fall colors. I really do love them. When all the trees turn and the crops fade to tan, and everything is all orange and yellow and red? Yeah, I love that.

I'm really, really, really not excited about suiting up in coats and scarves (and hats and gloves as needed) every time I walk out the door. I realize it's all of thirty extra seconds to put those things on before I leave home, but somehow those thirty extra seconds seem to take forever. It is really true that one of my favorite things about summer is being able to decide in one second that I want to go outside...and in the next second, I'm outside!

But there is something cozy about curling up with coffee, fuzzy socks, and fleecy blankets. I'll admit that's pretty fun. (I know. I'm a walking contradiction.)

I miss things like ice cream stands and picnics.

But I do love soup and all the warm fall foods. (And though I'm not a fan of pumpkin drinks, I do love pumpkin foods...breads and cookies and all the things I probably shouldn't be eating.)

So while I'm not in a hurry for summer to go, I think by the time it does, I'll be ready to welcome fall.

How about you?

Reminders and Rainbows

I wanted to tell you about Sunday, because it was a sweet day in my heart (by the end of the day, anyway), and I think sometimes we need to be reminded that sweet days exist.

It didn't start out sweet.

We found out late Saturday evening that Ryan's step-sister's mom passed away. She's been battling cancer for a couple of years and had been very sick recently, so it was news we were somewhat expecting, but the phone call is always sad when it comes, isn't it?

(I found a picture of the two of us at my party last year. She helped with the food!)

Ryan's step-sister had asked me if I would write her obituary, and of course I said yes, but I wanted to get it done right away so she would have it when she met with the funeral home.

I didn't want to go to church on Sunday. I was tired, this task weighed on my heart, and I just wanted to stay home in my jam-jams and work through the words until they were right.

Ryan said we needed to go to church, and I knew he was right. So I got ready and put on makeup, which I promptly cried off before the first word of the sermon had been preached.

Our pastor has been away for about a month recovering from surgery, but he was back and preached from Nehemiah about the prayer of Nehemiah's heart when he felt the Lord calling him to rebuild the wall. I scribbled notes in the margin of my Bible, but God really pressed on my heart that when He plants a dream, I need to be faithful to pray, even when I have no earthly idea how those prayers could possibly be answered.

After church, Ryan went to Sunday School, and I curled up in the corner of the coffee area to write out the words and get them ready to send, and on our way home, he asked me how I felt. I told him I was glad he urged us to go. The sermon had been for me.

That afternoon, out of the wild blue, I received an email from a friend of mine. She's a busy mom of three and rarely has time for luxuries like email. It's not unusual to get a little flurry of messages from her, responding to things from long ago, and simultaneously telling me she got a few minutes to sort through her inbox.

The email that day said, "Just wanted to remind you..." and when I opened the message, she continued, "...of what you said in March."

MARCH? I barely remember what I said last week. I don't remember March.

But then she copied and pasted a paragraph I'd emailed to her shortly after Ryan's mom died. In it, I talked about how I felt like God was on the cusp of doing something in our lives. I said how I felt our time had been needed by Nita in her illness, but following her death, we felt a freedom to be available for what God had next, and though we didn't know where He might lead or when He might show us the way, we felt it would be soon and we were ready.

She concluded her message by telling me that she loved seeing what God had done in us since March and she couldn't wait to see what was next.

A curious message to receive that day, I thought. The day of the "pray and believe He will answer" sermon.

Not coincidental in the least.

My day on Monday was crazy busy with multiple appointments and meetings, so Ryan and I recorded this week's podcast Sunday afternoon and I sat in the office that night editing it. (I don't normally edit it until Monday, but there was no time. Not this week.) The sky outside darkened to black way too early, and a storm blew through. I tried to ignore it. I still hate storms.

I saw the sky growing lighter again, and suddenly Ryan burst into the office and said, "RAINBOW!!!!!!"

I have the worst luck with rainbows. I seriously always miss them. Every time. Either I'm not near a window where I can see, or I don't even know the sky is right for a rainbow. I'll hop on Facebook and see the feed full of rainbows and rush outside only to realize I've missed it again.

I paused my editing, grabbed my camera, and rushed outside. There in the sky was a huge, full, horizon-to-horizon vivid rainbow with a fairly clear second bow right above it. You could see every single color of the ROY G BIV , and not a cloud covered a single bit of it.

And it stayed for at least a half hour. Always bold.

And best of all, I got to see it with my own eyes. I didn't just see pictures of what I missed. I saw it myself.

A third reminder in a day that needed reminders.

Do I have any answers? My goodness, no. I still have no idea what God has planned. But I'm freshly reminded that He has a plan.

If you need a day like this one, I sure hope you get to experience it soon.

Happy 65th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Today's podcast and blog post go hand in hand! We're spending the day paying tribute to my parents, who celebrate 65 years of marriage today!

Listen here

Sixty-five years is a long time, isn't it? I don't know many couples who can say they've been married that long, and mostly because Ryan and I were so old when we got married, we may never get to reach that milestone ourselves. I would actually have to make it to 99 to reach 65 years with him. Hey, that's doable!!! Let's shoot for that, Ryan, mmmkay?

I've shared some of these pictures on the blog before, but in honor of their anniversary, I'm sharing them again today. I discovered a few years ago that Ryan and I had some pictures from our wedding that were similar to Mom and Dad's wedding pictures, so I made comparison collages.

Here are Mom and I as brides. I was twice as old as she was when I got married, but I like to think we both look pretty fabulous in our bridal gear. Mom carried a Bible in her wedding, and I carried a lantern in mine, though it's not pictured in this photo. I feel like our veils were fairly similar. The dresses...well...not so much, other than being white. And the backgrounds were very different, weren't they?

Walking down some very different-looking aisles. Mom and Dad were married at the church where I grew up, though at the time of their wedding, it met in a different building than it did by the time I showed up. I attended that church until I was 19, and in truth, one of the hardest parts for me about leaving was thinking about NOT getting married there. I have no complaints that I was able to get married on a sandy beach instead! Hey...there's my lantern!

I think this picture from Mom and Dad's wedding was the one that made me look for similarities to begin with, because I knew we had a similar one from our wedding. We both had evening weddings, as well, though Mom and Dad's was significantly later in the day, according to the newspaper write-up. It said their ceremony was at 8 p.m. We were married at 4:30 - a time chosen to coordinate after-wedding photos with the sunset.

If you listen to the podcast, you'll hear the jokes about how we weren't sure my Dad was actually present AT the wedding (he wasn't mentioned much in the newspaper article) but I suppose this picture proves he was there. Though Dad and Ryan now sport similar hairstyles, Dad had quite a bit of hair when he and Mom got married.

Our bridal parties! My twenty-something wedding plan intended for my party to be even bigger than the one Mom and Dad had, but when you get married far from home, you scale back pretty much everything. We loved our little wedding party and felt perfectly complete with just two couples!

Mom and her girls...and me with mine.

Dad with his guys...and Ryan with his.

I guess even an 8 p.m. wedding didn't negate a reception. And we had one too! So of course, we have cake pictures:

Pretty sure Mom and Dad didn't have a coffee flavored cake. And we both had bride/groom cake toppers, but ours was actually an acrylic silhouette cutout of the two of us.

So happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! Congratulations on making it to a milestone that very few reach! We love you!

Catching Up the Little Things

As you know, Ryan and I pretty much lost our own schedules from the beginning of October, 2018 until the end of June 2019. Those months were devoted to helping his family (mom and dad) in their times of need, and while we were thankful we had the time available to offer, things in our own life began slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly piling up, because we had no time to tend to any of it.

We tried to stay caught up on the things that mattered most, like mowing the yard (before the city "helped") and taking showers and such. :) 

Once the busy season slowed down, what we needed more than anything was rest. We were just so very, very tired, physically and emotionally. So during the majority of July, we heavily protected our schedule so we could have time at home to do some projects and get some rest. We accomplished both those things - on the big scales.

We completed the big projects, like ripping out the fence around our patio, planting the tree in Nita's memory, finishing up a handful of scrapbooks, painting the deck, and a few other odds and ends. 

But the little things...those have remained. One of my big goals for August is to get through the little things and catch them up so they're done. In the grand scheme, they may not matter, but it really does amaze me how much simplicity we've found in beginning to accomplish the easily-forgotten tasks.

Here's what I've done so far:

* Maybe I'm the only person who does this, but I have a TERIBLE habit of failing to enter contact information for people who text me for the first time. Drives Ryan nuts to see all these random numbers in my text list. So one day last week, while I waited for chicken to boil (without boiling over, so I had to babysit it) I scrolled through all my old texts, deleted ones that are just mysterious to me, and added names to the ones I could identify. Took about ten minutes, tops, but my text feed looks so pretty now! 

* For several months, we've had a stash of pictures and art prints awaiting a permanent home in our hallway. Some were gifts given to use when Nita passed away, and some were ones we had and just hadn't hung up. So a few days ago, I arranged them all just the way I wanted them, and Ryan (who is much safer wielding a hammer and nails than I am) put them in their permanent new home. I love that wall so much now!

* Though I regularly back up my computer files, I am not always that great about organizing things into file folders (so my lists are shorter) or cleaning off things I no longer need. That is especially true of all our podcast files. I had dozens of little unedited segments sitting around, so one day, after editing the podcast, I cleaned out all the old segments and now the desktop is so pretty!

* I refilled all my spice jars, so I could throw out extra mismatched storage jars in the cabinet AND so my shelf looked prettier.

* This one falls more under the category of "in process" than done, but I'm working on making more carefully organized archive of my blog posts. I've blogged for many years, so this will take a while, but at least I've started, right? I'm hoping to make them easier to search when I need to find something I've blogged about before, as well as serving as a better backup than what I have now. 

Here's what I want to accomplish:

* About four years ago, both Ryan and I heavily weeded our closet and went down to a pretty basic capsule wardrobe. For the last few years, Ryan has actually had more clothes than I do! But both of us have reached a point where we need to go through our closet again, get rid of anything we don't like/never wear/don't fit in anymore and make a list of things to watch for as we see sales. My goal is to never again let our clothing amounts get to where they were when we first got married. We definitely don't need that many clothes. I also want to reorganize the closet to make sure we know where everything is.

* I also need to go through the kitchen cabinets/buffet cabinet/pantry/overstock cabinets and clear out all the things we never use or maybe some perishables that have...well...perished. I really don't think it will take all that long to actually do this, but it's just doing it, you know? While I'm at it, I might need to also add the coat closet and guest room closet to this same list.

* I need to reorganize our office again. I do this about once a year. Being an office, it easily clutters up and needs a healthy sifting and sorting. I think this past year, it's ended up being the landing zone for things I've cleaned out from other locations, so it may be a little worse than usual this time. That may also explain why it hasn't been done yet. :) 

There are more projects, I'm sure, but I feel like this is a fine start! 

The Shafferland Shuffle

A happy Sunday to all of you! Hope you're having a great weekend! It's a little big gloomy in the Indiana skies over us, but we are doing well! Here's what we've been up to this week:

* We were totally worn out last Sunday after our long county tour on Saturday. All the Colts cheering and bike riding and sun shining had gotten the best of us, so after church, it was all rest all day! We enjoyed our inaugural Nothing Bundt Cakes treats we'd gotten the day before, and then everyone napped. (Except Ryan when he sneaked in pictures.)

* I spent most of Monday cooking (including some new muffins that Ryan loved...to be honest, he loved them more than I did) and working in the office. I did happen to notice that our rose bushes have gone to round two of blooming, so I enjoyed fresh loveliness all week! I did a little workout that night - and then we got to be home all evening long, and it was delightful.

* Tuesday evening I decided it would be fun to try to do the same workout Ryan did at the gym. Why did I think 600 jump ropes were a good idea??? But I did them! (And a few other things.) Ryan finished the last of the deck painting that night. He had just a few spindles left that he hadn't gotten to. We have been waiting all summer for a concrete guy to be able to fit us in for a project, and he called that night to say he'd be there the next morning, so we had to scurry to clear off the patio. It looked even worse than I remembered. Outdoor carpet doesn't have the best life span and this had clearly outlived its. (I'm sure it's original to the house.)

* The concrete guy and his team showed up Wednesday morning to work on the back patio first. Oh my. Our poor yard. It's all ripped up and I tried not to completely freak out about the mess and the noise. I also felt a bit like a nib-nose old woman, because I kept taking pictures (as slyly as I could) to send to Ryan at work. When they took all their toys and went home, and I surveyed the damage (in its current state), I could have cried. But I kept reminding myself that things have to look worse before they can look better.

* To try to make myself feel better, I tried a new hair twist/braid on Thursday. I learned that I can't do hair. So I'm not sure it made me feel any better - ha! The concrete guy was back to work some more, and by the end of the day, both Braeya and I were pooped. Ryan baked a pie and she and I slept until the timer went off. :)

* The concrete work in the back took shape on Friday. It was fascinating to watch the finishing work! The guys put up tarps over the windows to protect them, and SOMEHOW I think Braeya missed the memo that they blocked her view. She sat there for the longest time just staring at...plastic. Also on Friday - one of my Etsy purchases arrived all wrapped up in its Christmas best! It was just body wash for me, but BOY I felt fancy!

* The concrete work was supposed to carry on Saturday but I'm guessing the guys canceled because of weather. (I was a little upset that they didn't call to notify, because I had built my day around their work at our house, but by about 2 p.m. and a couple of rain showers, I gave up.) No worries, though, because Phoebe came to hang out for the afternoon! And Ryan got me the cutest little apple pie. (It fit in the palm of my hand...isn't it adorable?)

The Saturday Six

One.

I realize we are heading into fall and this is a post about a spring house tour, but it's the little utensil tray at the bottom of the post that I love so much. I feel it may be time to spruce up our counters. (Just keep reading, Ryan. Nothing to see here. No shopping trips in the future. Hee, hee, hee.)

Two.

I love covered bridges, and one of my goals in our county tours is to see all of them in Indiana. This article shows some that are especially beautiful in the fall, and of course NONE of them are in Indiana. But oh, numbers ten and twelve, you have my attention!

Three.

I don't know how many of you have ever listened to Davey Blackburn's podcast, Nothing is Wasted, but this week, his guests were people I knew, so I made sure to listen. Back in my IWU days, Simon (the husband of this couple) worked in the Admissions Office, and I worked in Financial Aid. So we worked collaboratively, really, more than "together." He and his wife lived relatively close to campus, so sometimes Ryan and I would see them walking around with their kids in the evening. We remember when this event happened, but I had never heard this much of the story. Powerful. (Note: if you have triggers from sexual abuse or trauma, please listen with care - or don't listen if you know you can't handle it.) (Note #2: this is a two part podcast, so the second half will release next week.)

Four.

I happen to really love this burlap wreath. Everything about it is just YES. (If only I had wreath talent, right?)

Five.

I happened upon this website that has some really cute Christmas printables, and then I realized they had MANY cute printables for many occasions. You have to subscribe to get access, but if you need some new home décor ideas, it might be worth it! My inner decorator nerd is feeling pretty happy today!

Six.

I really don't have time for another project right now, but I kind of wish I did...I'm not gonna lie. To make all my books look uniform???

Well Hello There, Friday!

This was the situation in our living room about 7 p.m. last night:

I just hit a wall and crashed. My mind had been spinning all day with all kinds of work projects, and then I went for a two mile run that went better than I thought it might, but not nearly as well as it should have. I should pause here to mention that two nights ago, I tried to be a hero who could keep up with Ryan's work out, and in one night, I did 600 jump ropes, 160 squats, 120 push ups, 80 pull ups and ran a lap on the treadmill.

I texted that info to my mom, who said, "Are you preparing for something?"

I responded, "Dinner."

(Kiddingnotkidding.)

So two days later, my legs stopped speaking to me, and when I told them they had to run two miles, they got really upset. So after dinner, whilst we waited on the razzleberry pie to bake, this was Ryan's view. (I feel I had some merit to my nap. This is Braeya's full time job, so I'm not sure why she was so tired!)

Anyway. So clearly my ability to produce deep thoughts on this fine Friday is...um...not really there.

It's been a while since I've done a What's Up Wednesday post...and in true Bekah fashion, I'm not doing it on Wednesday.

* What we are eating.

This week I made Dashing Dish's creamy enchilada soup in the crock pot (a total winner), my healthier hot chicken salad with asparagus on the side, and chicken quesadillas. It's been a tasty little week around the table, or at least I like to think so!

* What I'm reminiscing about.

My parents are about to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary (!!!!) so this week I got out the scrapbook of our little family vacation that we took for their 60th anniversary. That was such a fun weekend in Shipshewana! (Here, here, here, and here if you want to reminisce, too!)

* What I'm loving.

Being home! This has been a busy week of work around the house (we're having a little project done) and it is a blessing to me that I can work from here and oversee all that's happening. I remember when Ryan and I were double commuters and we had to have our plumbing replaced, and we had to ask Mom to come sit all day at our house while people worked. This is a blessing!! (What I'm not loving? Said projects are noisy, and when it all began, I feared the neighbors were allllll going to hate us. Please see the video above. )

* What we've been up to. 

Enjoying our home. For the last month, we've been home so much more than we were home in the eight or so months prior to that, and it has been an absolute joy. We've been able to work on things around here. We've been able to rest. We've been able to remember the absolute luxury of down time. We've also been prepping for our fall semester of small group. We are excited for that to resume!

* What I'm doing this weekend.

We are watching Miss Pheebs for a day or so, so I'll be refereeing animal encounters, taking walks, and snuggling with the little furball!

* What I'm excited about.

I GET MY HAIR DONE NEXT WEEK. I haven't had it cut since January, and I haven't had a color treatment since April. It is ridiculously gray at the roots and so so so full of tangles and split ends. Every time I try to get the snarls out, I remind myself that I'm just a few days from fresh hair. IcandoitIcandoitIcandoit.

* What I'm watching.

We are fully immersed in the current season of America's Got Talent, so that's a standing date every week. I'm also watching the current season of Good Bones. (If you don't watch it...it's on HGTV and is a house flipping show set in Indianapolis, so I love seeing things that are familiar!)

* What I'm listening to.

Don't hate me for it, but my hit-repeat in the car right now is David Phelps Christmas. I know. I know. It's August.

* What I'm working on.

Most of my time right now is devoted to trying to organize both women's ministry stuff and small group stuff for our new responsibilities at church. Lots of time goes into doing both, so that's my main task. On the side, I'm catching up on organization projects around the house, archiving some blog posts, and juggling multiple Bible studies.

* What I'm wearing.

Because I've been home more, I've been living in workout clothes most days. Tank tops for the win!! Thank you, summer, for being here. I love you so.

So there you have it, Friday! I'll try to stay awake and enjoy what you bring!

Collections

Do you collect anything?

My first collection began before I was born: a bell collection. It began because when my sister found out I was on the way, she ran around the house ringing a souvenir bell she'd gotten on her senior trip. And so began my bell collection. That collection is now boxed up in our attic (because dozens of bells collect oodles of dust), but I have fond memories of my bell collection and all the unique pieces that comprised it.

I did collect some weird things along the way: the balls from roll-on deodorant bottles (don't ask) and business cards.

But now, as an adult, I don't think I really officially collect anything except scrapbooks. In fact, I don't think collections are as big of a thing now as they were when I was a kid. People are minimizing, not adding to their possessions.

Maybe people do still collect, but the collections just look different than they used to. Rather than setting out to collect all (fill in the number blank) of something to have an entire set, they simply want mix and match pieces to fill their home that tell a story.

***

Source

* Like cutting boards, for example. I'm not sure how much actual chopping these boards see, but I've seen many Pinterest-inspired kitchens with a variety of cutting boards in all shapes and thicknesses leaning up against the backsplash or hanging from the wall in a gallery-style gathering. And since charcuterie boards have gotten so popular, people need cutting boards to house their groupings, right?

***

Source

* Rae Dunn pieces seem to pop up in many of my Instagram feeds. I confess I wish I would have thought of it. Plain white pieces with simple words printed in black? And everyone wants them? I could have done that! But alas, I did not. I fear that this one would be a collection I'd feel the need to own in its entirety if I started collecting, so I just don't start. But I do think they're pretty.

***

Source

* With the increase in the popularity of farmhouse style, I've seen a lot of enamelware everywhere. (Authentic and manufactured.) I really do like it, but I would want mine to be functional, and I'm not sure some of the true vintage pieces would be, safely, anyway.

***

Source

* The same goes for milk glass, and I've started to be more drawn to it than I once was. My mom gave me a cake plate that sort of jump-started my love for that look. Plain and simple and pretty. (And so far, I've managed to keep it mostly free of cake, which helps the old waist-line, right?)

***

Source

* Globes and clocks - all vintage, of course - show up in a lot of the decorating blogs I read. (I haven't even managed to buy one regular globe yet, so I don't think I'm on track to be considered a collector.)

I looked up collections on Pinterest and found a million ideas, including: erasers, shells, spoons, clothespins, irons, radios, typewriters, buttons, magnets, lunchboxes, marbles, postage stamps, mirrors, coins, rolling pins, and more.

I think I'm content to keep my collections confined to the Christmas season, when I have themed ornaments for each tree, but it's fun to look at and think about having a collection. (And not of deodorant balls.) So what about you? Any collections living at your house?

Encourage Each Other

My life is very much made up of juggling no less than a dozen projects at any one time. I like it that way, because then I don't get bored!

(Side note: this was one of my favorite things about my producer job at WBCL. Every day had no less than a dozen different tasks in it, so every moment felt fresh and new!)

One of the projects I'm working on right now (slowly) involves cataloging and archiving old blog posts. I'm currently working in the oldest of the posts, and it has been quite eye-opening for me to travel back to Bekah of over a decade ago.

Back then I was single and in desperate need of non-feline outlets for communication. This blog became that for me. My readership was small - probably smaller than I even knew, actually - but I wrote to my readers as though they sat across from me in my living room. I processed my thoughts, declared my opinions on American Idol episodes, and checked in with the happenings of my days.

I remember so much of it in living color. As soon as I start to read the stories, I remember when they took place. I remember the emotions, even if I didn't document them all.

Most of it.

But every now and then, I happen upon a moment I'd forgotten. And those are the moments I'm especially glad I blogged about, because these are the treasures of life that would completely escape me if not for my careful documentation.

One such moment inspired today's post.

It took place when I was on the cusp of turning 29 (for real, not for the third time) and immediately after the great tornado that obliterated my sister's home and town. I was sort of in a fragile emotional place at that time, even beyond the general mess of a single-and-losing-hope girl that I was on a good day.

This particular day, I'd gone to the BMV to renew my license, and it required a new photo. I was particularly fond of the old photo and was sad to see it go, and the new photo was, in a word, awful. (And that was before they took away smiling normally and leaving bangs where they should be!)

Something about that bad license pictures utterly unraveled my day. I returned to my job in Financial Aid and locked myself in my office, hoping I wouldn't have to see anyone for the rest of the day.

According to my post, our secretary came back to tell me someone was at the front asking for me, but she didn't know who the lady was.

That walk from my office to the front was a complete gamble. Working in Financial Aid meant you were mostly loved or hated by your students and their parents. And since you worked with money, your chances of being hated outweighed your chances of being loved most of the time. That day I didn't have it in me to handle an angry parent. I just didn't.

When I arrived at the front desk, I found a mother (and though I didn't name her in the post - for obvious privacy reasons - I do still remember her!) whose two daughters had been part of my caseload for five years. That mother was a delight of a human being at all times. Money stressed her out just like it stressed out everyone else, but she had found a way to be loving and polite, even when terrified. And in a beautiful twist of life, her two daughters were shaping up to be just like her. The whole family was always a welcome sight.

And that day, that mother stood in our lobby with a vase of flowers just for me. Verbal thank-you offerings were rare enough. I'd never gotten flowers. After passing the flowers over to me, she produced a book, a candle, and a card. No particular reason. Just because.

In my original post, I wrote, "I told her this could not have come at a more perfect time and hugged her so tightly she probably lost all her air. The secretary had already told her I was having a bad day, and this mom looked me straight in the eye and said, I don't know what you think you've done wrong today, but for my family, you've done five years of right."

I went on to write, "If I could have framed her words, I would have."

I've written about the importance of encouraging others before, but I don't think any of us can ever say it enough, so I'm writing about it again today. What if we looked around us and found someone whose day is falling apart, and we offered a gesture to let them know they've done a good thing by being part of our lives?

Maybe it means offering a gift. Maybe it just means offering frame-worthy words. Words can mean so much. I know it, and I know you do too.

Let's make this a day of bringing beauty to at least one other person around us! Let's make sure someone knows that we are better because of their presence.

Go! Encourage!