Tag: #gratitude

God is in the details

I’ve been slightly quiet for awhile. Life has a way of rolling on with or without us.

If you’ve followed my journey, you know that THE121 was born in Ohio, my own motherland. My personal journey has led me back to the motherland for a few weeks which has taken up the majority of my time, hence my absence.

My plan to return to Teaberry Acres was thwarted by my sick little cockapoo. I trust her vet in Ohio and decided to delay my departure to make sure she was ok.

In between, I received a text from a dear relative “I received a random dog bed, would Maggie like it?”

My relative attempted to return the bed as they have no dog and never ordered the bed. However it got sent right back to their house!

“Yes!” I replied back.

The bed was delivered Thursday and Friday she was at the vet.

Every night since, Maggie Marie has been curled up in her beautiful new bed.

Why do I take time to share this story with you?

Because maybe you’re like me tonight, feeling sad or discouraged.

Maybe you need a reminder that God is in the details. You may be tempted to think He doesn’t see you or doesn’t care. I want to remind you, that is a lie straight from the pit of hell.

Matthew 6:26 says:

“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”
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My rendition might say “God cares for Maggie Marie, He surely cares for you.”

He cares enough to send a luxurious dog bed to a relative you will be seeing, so that she will have a soft place to recover.

God is in the details. He sees. He cares. May you have eyes to see Him all around you.

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It came and went…

I laid down to bed, thankful for another day. As now has become my routine,

I pat my pouch

my Ostomy pouch, that is…(I know I have a stomach pouch and I’m working on that too!)

I try to gauge how long I have until it needs emptied.

Tonight as I patted my pouch, I pondered to myself how long this has been my life.

Or how short.

6 months.

2 days ago, 6 months came and went.

It’s almost normal now.

How has it been?

While life will never be normal.

I have adjusted to my normal.

I have a little inquisitive 3 year old friend whom I adore. Today at church while we waited for a meeting she began asking many normal 3 year old questions.

What’s in your purse?

Why do you have a bag in your purse?

What’s in the bag?

Can I see?

So piece by piece I opened my ostomy “emergency pack” and we discussed each piece. Including the extra underwear.

I explained that it was “kind of like my diaper bag.”

My. New. Normal.

Was it normal for two people to dissect an Ostomy supply bag in the chairs of the church?

For us. Today. It was.

My ostomy has given me my weekends back. I’m no longer living in the bathroom each weekend emptying my colon.

My ostomy has taken away pain that once knew my name.

It has given me some tiredness and new rhythms.

Overall, I am so incredibly grateful.

Today I celebrate.

6 months and 2 days.

God gives good gifts even when they aren’t wrapped like we would expect them to be.

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The Good & The Bad

Thanks for journeying with me. What a journey 2026 has been so far!

If you’ve been journeying with me, you know that in the middle of January I had a pipe burst and have been without water ever since.

In my last post I wrote about how each day I’ve been without water, the Lord showed me that HE had indeed, provided water. I just needed to go outside and scoop it up.

Which leads to this weekend…

The Bad News:

Another leak.

The Good News:

Friends who showed up. Friends who sacrificed several hours of their weekend to help this tiny house girl with a super basic need: water. They were able to repair the initial break and patch the secondary

DRUM ROLL PLEASE….

This amazingly glorious liquid poured forth from my faucet yesterday! Which also means the melting snow IS filling my tank!

I may or may not have sent a video to a select few of me singing the Hallelujah Chorus…!

If you’ve spent any time here or with me, you know I’m passionate about one word “REMEMBER.”

In Exodus, God said to Moses & Aaron

“Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the Lord to preserve it for all future generations.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While we clearly don’t live under the law, there are so many Old Testament principles that serve as beautiful Reminders.

And so…

This morning I found a jar and poured in the remaining melted snow I had reserved and marked the top

Manna 2026

I set the jar in a place reserved for the things I need to Remember

When you come to visit THE121, you can ask,

“What’s with the jar of water?”

And I will say

“It’s the manna God provided.”

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Manna for today

If you’ve listened to K-Love radio lately, you’ve heard Annie F. Downs quote her pastor, “God hasn’t forgotten the recipe for Manna.”

I’ve been pondering that a lot lately as I just finished reading Exodus.

Shortly after reading about God providing manna for the Israelites, I sat on my couch and was complaining to God.

“God please give me water.”

“God, did you bring me to tiny house living to allow me to fail?”

I was in full complaint mode.

And then…

I lifted my head and looked out onto Teaberry Acres…

“I’ve given you 2 acres of manna….”

Sure enough. 2 acres of all the water I could need.

And so each morning, I collect enough for the day.

I thank God for the VERY TANGIBLE reminder that HE has given me what I need for today.

I believe fully that when the “manna” melts, the rain will begin.

Today Manna also showed up in the form of friends coming to replace the pipes…more on that in another post.

Today we focus on the manna.

He had given us what we need, for today.

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When words run short..

I’ve been silent lately because truly words have fallen short.

My last post was on Jan. 26. Two days before that was when my pipe burst…20 days ago. For 20 days, THE121 has sat dry. Here in the mountains of Pennsylvania, the winter has been BRUTAL. Temps well below average including multiple days of negatives…

I sat with some friends last week with tears streaming down my face.

I. Am. Tired.

Literal survival mode had taken its toll.

The next morning a text came through from a good friend.

A warm house, family away. Come.

I took the gift.

Gratitude.

So I’ve been able to rest this week away. To regain my strength.

Please pray with me as friends come on Saturday with the hopes of fixing the broken pipe in warmer temperatures.

During the sitting with friends, our task was to write a name of God and pray around that name for our situation.

The name I wrote down was

El Roi

The God who sees.

He has indeed seen me. My distress. My discomfort. My cries.

He has seen me. I have seen Him.

Such a loving and gracious Father in the midst of one of the hardest times at THE121.

Tucked in tight enjoying the gift of a warm home with water 💧.
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And here we are…

It’s the eve of December, the last month of the year.

I had the opportunity to sit around the Thanksgiving table with 42 relatives and 3 new friends this past Thursday. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Multiple reasons solicit this answer, but mainly the opportunity to gather, reflect, eat lots of my favorite food and of course stretchy pants.

At the end of each year, I ask God for a word for the next year. The word He gave me for 2025 was “hard.” I asked Him for another word.

MULTIPLE TIMES

Each time, His answer was the same…

Your word is HARD.

I think we all can attest we like fluffy words or words that inspire. Not worlds like HARD.

I walked into 2025 bracing myself for what was to come. Without the ability to see into the future, I stepped in faith knowing that God had more of my sanctification in mind.

2025 has been HARD.

Relationship difficulties, two job changes, health challenges, major surgery and a host of other personal obstacles.

This Thanksgiving as I ate an ENTIRE plate of scrumptious offerings, it wasn’t lost on me that this was the first holiday in elven years that I ate my entire plate with family and I wasn’t sick.

This Thanksgiving was the first time I was able to spend valuable time with individual family members thanks to a remote job.

This Thanksgiving was the first time I left my tiny house for more than 7 days and returned to a home without incident.

Has this year been hard? 100%

Am I different because of the hard?

You bet.

I am stronger.

I am healthier. Physically, Mentally and Spiritually.

I am learning.

So as the calendar flips tomorrow to the last month of 2025, I am thankful God isn’t finished. He continues to push me, to challenge me and sanctify me.

Why?

Because he loves me that much.

He also loves you.

I am grateful for both.

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