STAY, in the Breath

letters from a writer & photographer's journey

Learning to Lean

Many have asked me, “How did you write a book while homeschooling six kids?!”. And many days when I ask myself the same, I come up with this: How do I describe the way I wrestled for it? I poured out my tears and then discovered how He caught them in His bottle and named each one “purpose” and “truth” or “lie” with the tenderest of compassion. All the while.. Read More

Learning to Float

Becoming an author…or a mother (in every new or repeated season of it)…growing, into anything really…it comes with tension. {insert 3 year old war cry for independence here} Atleast that’s what it sounds like at my house. Or, if I dig down deeper I’d tell you it looks like fear, worry and doubts, ugly cries that threaten breath, and bursts of laughter too far in between. The tension between “push”.. Read More

Thank You: Human & Hearty Folk

What a wild and wonderful couple of months it has been! I want to send out a HUGE thank you for everyone’s support for me and my book. I know I haven’t said much about it lately but there’s been a lot of good going on, including a second edition of the book complete with a slightly revised title and a foreword written by the precious jewel of a lady,.. Read More

Calm Campfires and other Myths

It was a campfire kind of night at our house last night. It’s a little crazy with the buzz of excitement for a while and then we settle in. (Yeah right.) As long as that fire is going, the buzz is strong. You might have been imagining something quiet or calm if you only saw the photo. Nope. Imagine loud, and me on high alert until that fire was out… Read More

Pregnant?!

Those of you who know my husband know he has a quick wit and let’s just say (by comparison) I do not. So when I wrote in my recent book release: It’s called Like a Woman in Labor, (and for the record, we should be very careful what we name things! …) …all you other amazing people with quick wits (including my husband) read it as though I was cleverly.. Read More

News Release: Raynna Published a Book.

News Release: I’ve published my first book! (Backstory in last post.) It’s called Like a Woman in Labor, (and for the record, we should be very careful what we name things! More on that later.)     From the back cover: “In the quiet (and not so quiet), deep places in us call out to the deep of God. We often call it anxiety or fear, but it is miracle.. Read More

A Free Fall into Becoming an Author? “SURE!”

I’ve embarked upon an experiment! (And by that I want you to think: free fall on accident.) About four years ago that’s where I was at (falling), but somewhere in the midst of that fall, I relaxed. About two years ago, I began to write about this in the form of prayer. It became a message I really believe in: prayer and the reality of God’s presence in the midst.. Read More

Still, here…

Hello! Just in case you are stopping by to see what’s going on here I thought I’d leave a small note to say thank you for your patience as I have not posted anything here for a little over a month. By the title, “Still, here”, I mean a few things: First, I am literally “still here” and looking forward to posting more often and soon. Second, kind of like.. Read More

Story Written Everywhere

I see story written everywhere, in the earth, in the sky, in our exquisite form and functions, at the market and at the theatre, in scraped knees and scrapped lives, in triumph and pride, broken hearts and bent over limbs.

When I came upon this place, pictured, just a little ways from my home, it was the story of beauty being closer than I thought and inviting me in. I needed that and even still ached to absorb it, to believe it—in a practical way….

Destroy Imagination: method 1

…our trail-mates are considering the path ahead as we had, all eight of us (although I hardly hold the 3 year old accountable on this one!), managed to leave our trail maps back in the car! It was a pivotal moment where we all decided to push on, discovering 5 miles later the full impact of our decision!! hahaha! … More of the story, images from summer to warm those of us experiencing winter up a bit, poetry and hopefully some inspiration to get outside and have an adventure – on the site today…