At Home With Sally

Growing older wisely means to have more ability to love generously, to forgive, to allow people time to grow as you need time to grow, and to watch over your heart that it might not be eaten up by self-righteousness of bitterness. Put anger and harsh criticism away and put on love.

We came up with a model that worked for our family called LifeGIFTS. Each letter in the word gifts stood for one of the five areas I held as a grid in my mind to focus on each day: grace, inspiration, faith, training, and service.

Giggling, belly laughing and guffawing they say are good for your soul — even scripture teaches that a joyful heart is good medicine. Today on my podcast, Keelia, Nathan, and I could not stop laughing. We hope you enjoy the merriment.

God is with us, He will answer and He cares for you. Today, in my podcast, I speak of ways and rhythms I practice in my life to bring my being back to health and strengthen and ways to keep myself going forward.

It took a lifetime to build our home and environment and books and rhythms that echo through all of the days -- tea mornings, breakfast every day, evening meals… it is fun to see how much my children have adopted and applied these things in their own way.

It is simple to see all the flaws in my children, my husband, and myself. But that is not healthy or biblical. I am practicing several commitments to help me see each person for who they are inside and to bring a fresh wind of grace to each moment. 

I snuck out of the house, I betook myself to a lovely breakfast in an outdoor cafe and breathed in peace, and centered myself for an hour before jumping back into the wild of life. Finally, my life began to be centered, ideas flowed and peace ruled. Take time for yourself to sit, ponder and sip.

Our multitudinous little tasks, washing one more dish, correcting one more attitude, kissing one more cheek, when given from a heart full of love for Him,  pleases Him far more than if we made millions & had a title of strategic importance.

Habits of grace -- I call these rhythms that bring moments of civility into your day -- or give pause and peace to your week.

As a mother who has raised four children from birth into adulthood, engaging my life & faith in the lives of my children has been my most fulfilling, fruitful work.

When we value a person, we speak well of them, affirm their worth, cherish their lives. They have significance in this world; God has created them with purpose and meaning to His story in the world. Celebrating someone takes time and energy and planning.

We will never be perfect or adequate on our own, but we are adequate when we walk by faith and live into God's provision for strength, joy, growth and wisdom.

As I have watched my girls flourish as women and as professionals, I see them stretching into the women God made them to be. I absolutely love women of every background, story, and personality and want to champion them all.

Whatever we water in the souls of our hearts will certainly grow. And if we water "weeds" in the garden of our souls, they will certainly take over and devastate the crop of faith, love, thankfulness, grace, joy.

Collecting details about Queen Elizabeth's life was the source of Tea Time Tuesday podcast today. Enjoy and celebrate with me, one whose life has so much wisdom and experience to fill our own vision for life.

When a child has a sense of family culture, the traditions they practice over a lifetime, it provides a sense of confidence in who he or she is and what light and goodness that culture has brought to the world.

All of us can feel quite overwhelmed by the darkness of circumstances around us. Yet, courage means: exercising mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

The older I get and see my heart more clearly, the more humbled I become, wondering at God's generous mercy and grace. Let your relationships be ruled by love and grace.

Today, I speak with my wonderful friends about their lives and how they have grown together through gathering on my membership, Life with Sally. If you are interested, you can find out more at LifeWithSally.com. I do have to tell you, it is a pretty wonderful community to be in.

What an exciting time it was for me to be at W&F with hundreds of women, making new friends, speaking, signing books, enjoying conversations. Truly it was deeply fulfilling for me. I’ll share all about my week on today’s podcast!