by Ashley Larkin | Aug 2, 2017 | Faith, Grace, Surrender
Currently our thermostat reads 84 degrees. It could be worse. Outside, the temperature has risen to 102 — more than a bit jarring to our Northwest sensibilities. Lala and a friend play store downstairs. When I bring them fruit and crackers, they tell me that...
by Ashley Larkin | Apr 20, 2016 | Faith, Fear, Grace, Gratitude, Love, Perspective, Redemption
I’ve recognized over the years, though I still don’t get, that some people are simply not animal people. No judgment here, friends. I just don’t understand. So for you, maybe this story is not about a dog at all, but perhaps hope and audacious prayers and receiving...
by Ashley Larkin | Aug 7, 2015 | Five Minute Friday, Grace, Gratitude, Mothering
“Come here,” I said, pulling you from the bed and onto the floor where I sat. You cried as I stroked your long bangs and wisps of hair from your forehead. “But I don’t want to be seven tomorrow,” you said. “I want to stay six....
by Ashley Larkin | Jul 27, 2015 | Grace, Gratitude, Mothering, Truth-telling
I read of longing and desire from bed, covered in the quilt I brought from home and a rightly heavy down comforter. The walls are yellow like sun, and I am sick. Not the worst sick I’ve been in my life, but sick that looks weak and tired in the eye, feels the cold...
by Ashley Larkin | Jun 5, 2015 | Grace, Gratitude, Hope, Perspective
We draw to the close of another school year, and I can’t decide if it feels like nine months have passed, or nine days. The way time suspends like a hammock, the way it marches forward like ants in a line. Sometimes I see the calendar and my own soul as a...
by Ashley Larkin | Mar 30, 2015 | Faith, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Mothering, Perspective
I miss blogging and the freefall of ideas, the connecting with you here. I never thought these last months would be a period of so many long separations and breaks from this place, so much else needing tending. And they are good things, and there are a lot of them. I...