No Resolutions this Year!

 I'm learning that New Year's Resolutions are slightly over-rated.  

I love the fresh start of a new year.  I do!  The chance we have to make better choices.  The blank slate of a new calendar after the crazy sweet chaos of the weeks just past.

But...

Resolutions always seem to set me up for failure. Maybe you feel it too?  Especially if your plate is filled with doctor appointments, cancer treatments and waiting on endless test results.  Some days it's all we can do to take the next step.  I know.

There's a longing for the simple things...

- getting outside and feeling the sun warm my skin
- taking time to watch the colors bloom at sunset
- breathing deep and long
- celebrating small victories each day
- spending time with the ones I love

This year let's choose to lead with grace and give ourselves the gift of presence!

Welcome 2023!  Let's see what beauty unfolds!

My Love,
           Jane

 

It Makes All the Difference!

Extend Grace Today... It will make ALL the Difference ;-)

Happily Hermitting...

 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a contestant on the crazy "hit" series Alone??

Yep.  We might have binged on a season or two.  Cuz we just got wi-fi in the cabin and we can. Lol!

I mean, 5 years with just our hotspot and very limited data, way out in our little, backwoods, down a dirt road bit of paradise.  We didn't know how much we've been missing! With the new wi-fi connection, the world has opened up...

And now we're watching 10 complete strangers willingly jump on a plane with their 10 carefully curated items and allowing themselves to be dumped off ALONE in the wilderness... to see who can survive the longest pitted against the elements... It's beyond crazy!! (and slightly addicting!)

So, it came as a surprise to realize we are playing out our own ALONE series in this on-going pandemic... and kind of enjoying it.

In a happy hermit, peaceful days, midnight-black, starry nights kind of way.

And surprisingly we've gotten a lot accomplished around our neck of the woods.  I guess that happens when you're ALONE in the middle of no-where with no distractions to de-rail your plans!

So, while the computer's been gathering dust, we've been busy checking important boxes off our never-ending to-do list.

In no particular order here are the happenings this month past!

Honey Harvesting

Landscape Designing

Flagstone Sidewalk Laying

Workshop Constructing

Front Gate Building

Wildlife Watching

Kayak Relaxing

Happily Hermitting this season together.  Doesn't get much easier than spending days working alongside your best friend.  Blessed more than I can express!

Praying these trying days find you filling your heart with the things that matter most.

Graced to be holding life and love close tonight...

In Love, Always,
Jane

Finding Grace in the Shadow Valley

How do you even breathe after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis?

The mind and heart can shut right down when this cancer comes to shatter your life.  We know.  It can be a living nightmare... an all-consuming darkness that threatens to extinguish any light of hope. 

If pancreatic cancer has touched your life in some way, then perhaps our book, Finding Grace in the Shadow Valley, will offer hope as you journey.

It is the story of our walk into the dark pit of a terminal cancer diagnosis and the Grace that carried us through...

In November of 2010, cancer interrupted our very comfortable, extremely ordinary lives with a vengeance when our mom was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer.  I believe it was the moment our Shadow Valley walk began.

Finding Grace is written as a diary of sorts… the day to day battles, the difficult decisions, the roller-coaster ride of a cancer treatment… we share our heart, the emotional questions, the hard answers.

We also recount the joy and grace that surrounded us in the midst of the terrifying darkness.

This is the story of Finding Grace in the midst of a cancer diagnosis and the way it changes how we live out our stories.

If you are wondering what it is like to walk this valley road, if you are desperate to find hope for yourself or a loved one, we pray this book will offer a light for your path.

We are humbled to know that mom’s story has resonated with so many.  Perhaps it is as one reader so aptly put, “It is good to know that I am not alone.”

Yes, It is good to know we are not alone.   We are walking hand in hand, taking a journey together that none of us wish to take.  Never doubt that Grace walks that road too, each and every step, right alongside us.

Finding Grace… it is what makes facing those horrific days possible.

And it brings Hope to the Shadow Valley every. single. time.

Available Now

@ amazon