What's the Plott?

The simplest way to explain the difference between Paris and Bordeaux is Paris made me look up. Bordeaux made me look in. Paris felt big and glittering and almost unreal. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the crowds, the lights — everything felt like it had already been introduced to me by movies and pictures and history books. Bordeaux felt different. Not less beautiful. Just quieter in its invitation to see all it had to offer. It didn’t shout for my attention quite the same way. It waited for me to find and notice it's treasures. The first thing we found in Bordeaux was a local artist whose work had this dark Alice-in-Wonderland kind of feel. My brother and I both bought pieces with canelés — the little Bordeaux dessert I am still not sure I pronounce correctly — and I also bought one with a three-minute egg because I had eaten one for breakfast and apparently that is enough reason for me to buy art now. I found a baguette magnet for John Grady and am still looking for s...

Bon jour! A little different this week due to recently becoming a world traveler.....  Travel makes the world feel bigger, but it also makes people feel more human. I have been in Paris for two days, and I feel like I have seen all there is to see. Which is not actually true. But it feels true to my legs and feet. 😅 We figured out the subway but you still somehow find yourself walking everywhere and there are stairs... So.  Many.  Stairs. But also, so many people everywhere . Languages everywhere. Buildings everywhere... And all of them look like they belong in movies or fairy tales or history books or all of the above! And all of it is real. Every corner feels like it has a story. Every building looks intentional. Every street seems to hold layers of people who came before, people who call this place home, and people who are just passing through.  Paris is beautiful in a way that is hard to explain without sounding dramatic. But I will say this: I haven...

There are some moments you can’t manufacture. You can plan, prepare, and pray for the message. But you cannot make the Holy Spirit move. You can prepare the ground, but only God brings the growth, and only in His time! This past week at youth camp, I watched God move among our students in a way that was both deeply familiar and completely new. Familiar because I have experienced those moments before. When I was a teenager, I remember being in rooms full of students where the presence of the Holy Spirit felt as real as a rushing wind. I remember teenagers praying over one another, hands lifted in worship, hearts softened, tears flowing, lives being marked by moments none of us could deny once we came down from the mountain. Those moments shape you. They stay with you. And when God calls you to lead the next generation, you carry those memories with a holy kind of longing. You want your students to experience Him like that, too. Not just to know about Him. Not just to atten...

I had fatigue scheduled for August. That sounds reasonable, right? 😂 When I had Gamma Knife radiation a few weeks ago, they warned me that delayed fatigue was a common side effect. But they also said it might show up two to three months later. So, naturally, in my mind I thought, Perfect. I’ll pencil that in for August. Because May and June were already full. Fifth grade graduation. End-of-year celebrations. Youth camp. Wedding showers. Photography jobs already on the calendar. Family responsibilities. Farm responsibilities. All the things. The surgery was the unplanned thing. Everything else had already been scheduled before we knew “it’s time to do something” meant two weeks from now. And most of those things weren’t mine to cancel or reschedule. So when I felt “well enough,” I did what I usually do. I kept going. Honestly, the procedure went so much better than expected. I am deeply grateful. I am doing well. God has been faithful. My recovery has been smoother than I c...

Summer has a funny way of making you feel like you have more time than you actually do. The mornings don’t have to start before sunrise. The evenings stretch longer. There’s no school-night panic, no bookbags to check, no bedtime routine breathing down everyone’s neck. A Tuesday can start to feel a lot like a Sunday. Calmer. Unplanned. A little less urgent. But slower does not always mean less busy. And it definitely does not always mean less full. This week, I have plenty that needs to be done. Camp is coming. Lists are forming. Things need to be packed, bought, washed, printed, planned, confirmed, and remembered. And yet, today there we were… sitting on the dock. At 6:00. Then 7:00. Then 8:00. The river water was low, slow, and peaceful. The teenager was content to nap on the dock without friends and the music choice was singing summer memories from years past. The evening was easy. The Memorial Day company has gone, but plenty of no-plan-necessary leftovers remain... no one is rushi...

After last week’s post, I was honestly overwhelmed. Not by the numbers — although I’ll admit, seeing almost six thousand people view the social media post and more than six hundred read the blog was humbling — but by the people. The messages. The prayers. The check-ins. The comments. It reminded me of something I already knew, but needed to feel again: We are not meant to do this alone. I am grateful for the community that poured over me and happy to report that I am doing well and recovering as expected!  In all this, I keep hearing the same message over and over lately. " The body of Christ." "The Bigger Church." "The Kingdom Focus." The Community of Believers." These are phrases I’ve heard my whole life, and if we’re not careful, they can start to sound like one of those churchy phrases we all nod at without really sitting with them. But this week, it didn’t feel like just a casual expression; i t felt real.  Paul says it plainly: “Now you are the ...