On My Own – or not
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9 *The first morning I saw the white-haired couple on the Riverwalk, I nearly stared. Not because of their age, but because of their unified presence. The woman wore

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Resting In His Shadow

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer (Excerpted from Always Before Me) American lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, said the hills were alive with the sound of music. Where I once lived, that music played against spring-green hillsides. Black angus cattle dotted the scene like quarter notes on a musical score. In

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Find a Mother
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Not everyone has a living mother to hug, call, or send flowers to on Mother’s Day. And not every mothering woman has a child. Many of those women are aunts, neighbors, sisters, or friends. Like that little lady at church who always knows exactly

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Mom’s Best Advice Ever and a Giveaway
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Mothers are good at giving advice. (I see some of you rolling your eyes.) Mom would say, “Don’t roll your eyes, they’ll fall out of your head.” Well, a few Moms would say that. But honestly, some of the best advice I’ve received came

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Out of Control
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer A small natural disaster created a major inconvenience here a few years ago. On national radar it was a blip. Locally it was a rockslide. Literally. Seven thousand tons of rock slipped off the mountain and across U.S. Highway 50 like a broken string

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Part 3 of 3 – Grief: The Healing Place
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer This post first appeared July 31, 2022. Due to the number of people who have contacted me privately regarding their own journey with grief, I offer these words again praying that they bring comfort and encouragement. Grief breaks into our lives whether we are ready

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Part 2 of 3 – Grief: Sorrow Shared
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer This post first appeared July 24, 2022. Due to the number of people who have contacted me privately regarding their own journey with grief, I offer these words again praying that they bring comfort and encouragement. We all meet grief at some point in our lives.

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Part 1 of 3 – Grief: The Intimacy of Suffering
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer This post first appeared July 17, 2022. Due to the number of people who have contacted me privately regarding their own journey with grief, I offer these words again praying that they bring comfort and encouragement. Everyone faces grief at some point in their life.

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Out of the Storm
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  Early afternoon light dims beneath the gray underbelly of an approaching storm and thunder rolls from one side of the river valley to the other. Twenty minutes later, “… the rains are over and gone….the cooing of doves is heard in our land” (Song of

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It’s All About Perspective
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Park rangers may have set the flat stones in a stairstep pattern that curved up the small rise, but whoever it was, I appreciated their efforts. The path led to a lonely juniper standing boldly against a piercingly blue sky. A picturesque pose just asking

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Words Matter
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I have a friend who often says, “Words matter.” I couldn’t agree more. Words started this whole thing – divine words, when God said, “Let there be light.” And there it was. Words also perverted perfection when the tempter whispered to Eve, “Did God really

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Grief: The Healing Place – Part 3 of 3
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Grief breaks into our lives whether we are ready or not. Usually, we are not. But with God’s help, the broken pieces can be fit back together and made stronger. For Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on grief, see July 17, 2022,

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Grief: Sorrow Shared – Part 2 of 3
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer We all meet grief at some point in our lives. There is no right, better, or perfect way to grieve, but sharing our experiences with others can help us in our own journey. For Part 1 of this 3-part series, click here. Part 2  During

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Grief: The Intimacy of Suffering – Part 1 of 3
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Everyone faces grief at some point in their life. There is no right, better, or perfect way to deal with it. We just deal with it. In our own way. But there are many little broken bits we have in common with others, and we

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Mom-Care

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer What is it about a mother that makes her do things for her children all the time? Even when no one knows—especially her children. I believe it’s the God-gene in her—not in a scientific, physiological sense, but in a spiritual sense. God’s fingerprint is

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