The Promise & The Problem

Sometimes it seems as if a every promise has a dark side. The overwhelming joy of things to come soon gets replaced by a storm rolling in. I get so quickly discouraged when there is any opposition to what God has spoken.

For a while I believed that if God promised something it was Him giving me a heads up that it was all about to hit the fan. “I will be with you” really means “Its about to get real bad. So dark you’ll think you were abandoned so remember that I’m still there when all hell breaks loose”. I dreaded the promises.

What I have learned is that God’s promises aren’t the balance to a curse. They are His goodness tucking me into peace. That no matter what happens, He has the last word. John 16 lays it out pretty clear that we are gonna have some troubles in this life. 

His promises anchor us so that life doesn’t whip us around, but we walk confidently and without distraction through any storm that comes. 

My heart doesn’t crave safety, although my logic does. Deep down I long for an adventure of the ages. An epic battle with a nail bitting rescue at the end. Every promise comes with a battle. Every miracle starts with a trial. 

This week has reminded me that I have to stop dreading the problem and start dreaming of the miracle.  

He who promised has been, will be, and IS faithful. No matter how stormy it looks.

Ciao Baby

It is about that time. The time in the summer where I get busy, busy. 

Lark & Bloom will be taking a break this week to allow me time to work on other writing projects. 


Since this means I am missing Father’s Day, here is a shout out to my dad. He is amazing. Really, read about him & you will see.

If you just miss me too much, follow me on twitter. @larkandbloom.

See you ladies & gents next week. 

Throwback Thursday – God Doesn’t Triage

Triage: the sorting through victims to determine the level of priority for treatment

We are all familiar with it. You go to the waiting room in the ER and they take your vital signs. ‘Oh, you aren’t on the complete verge of death. You can wait nine hours while we handle the really wounded people.’

Naturally I want the doctors to save those whose lives are at stake before they set my broken bone. But, sadly I transfer this mindset onto how God handles me. 

I have been thinking about Africa today. This is nothing new since I am adopting two kids from Uganda. But, today was a bit different. I thought of how dire the situations are for so many in that continent. Ravaged by disease, war, corruption, famine…so many things. My natural reaction is to feel embarrassed that I think I have trials in my life. What is my small need compared to famine? So I wipe my tears and sit in the corner waiting until the important issues have been dealt with. Except, I hurt too…

I found balance and rest in this thought: God doesn’t triage.

He doesn’t look at the widow in Nigeria and then look at me and say “Oh, Elizabeth sit over there. You can wait.” 

No person is more valuable than another to God. He doesn’t compare life stories and then respond to the most emotionally compelling one. God doesn’t triage because He doesn’t have to. He is more than capable of taking care of each of us.

He isn’t limited in time, resources or emotional capacity. Each of us get the same treatment whether we come to him with a scrapped knee or a life threatening infection. God is just as concerned with healing my pain as He is yours. 

He is a Great Physician and in His presence none of us have to wait in line.

Words To Live By

Source: Pinterest

Life would be better if I did these three things more. 

Be Silly.

Be Honest.

Be Kind.

Youth Camp & A To-Do List

Pool time with the kids at camp

 My husband is a speaker  at youth camp & we brought the whole family along. It’s been fun – lots of swimming, eating beige food, and feeling very old. I swear I was just 13 myself and trying to decide exactly how high my tube socks should be to qualify as ‘cool’. These kids have been blessed to be the ankle sock generation & know nothing of the agony of getting tube socks scrunched correctly. 

However, it is incredible to see God raising up a fresh generation of passionate people. I’m sure I’ll be posting on that in a few days.

Until then…I saw this hilarious list making the rounds on Facebook & thought I would share it here. No clue who the author is, but I think you will enjoy:

To Do List

1. Make vanilla pudding. Put in mayo jar. Eat in public.
2. Hire two private investigators. Get them to follow each other.
3. Wear shirt that says “Life.” Hand out lemons on street corner.
4. Get into a crowded elevator and say ” I bet you are all wondering why I gathered you here today.”
5. Major in philosophy. Ask people WHY they would like fries with that.
6. Run into a store, ask what year it is. When someone answers, yell “It worked!” and run out cheering.
7. Become a doctor. Change last name to Acula.
8. Change name to Simon. Speak in third person.
9. Buy a parrot. Teach the parrot to say “Help! I’ve been turned into a parrot.”
10. Follow joggers around in your car blasting “Eye of the Tiger” for encouragement.

Personally #4 is my favorite. What else should we add to this list???

Is Ugliness Next To Godliness?

Old pulleys. Great design.

I read a great post yesterday called Why Design? . It got my wheels turning. So often we think that to be humble means we can’t be exceptional. Would it be prideful to spend time on the visual aspects of who we are? Is ugliness next to godliness?

Nope. God is big, bold & creates beautiful things. He didn’t only focus on function when He created the earth. He made it extraordinary, inspiring & unexpected. 

So lets put away our assumptions that humility is a quality that can be seen. It is an internal attitutde, not an external image. Some people act flashy to impress others & some people act boring to impress others. There is balance in the middle. 

Celebrate how God made you. Ladies, feel free to wear red lipstick. Gents, wear clothes that fit.

Pop over & read Why Design? for yourself.

Happy Designing! 

Confessions on Whisper-Yelling & God.

Sure, I look nice. Truth be told, I am a recovering whisper-yeller. You know what whisper-yelling is, right? When you want to yell, but don’t because you know it would be inappropriate. So instead you whisper but with all the intensity & frustration of a yell.

There are lots of scenarios where the whisper-yell comes into play. Telling your kids to sit down in the shopping cart, asking the receptionist in a quiet waiting room why your doctor is running an hour late, or perhaps reminding your co-worker that they are past the project deadline.

Last night a particular child woke me up at 1:00 am because they needed my help rearranging their stuffed animals next to them in bed. Are you kidding me? The same child asked for music about 30 min later.  Sad to admit, there were a few whisper-yells.

Walking back to bed afterwards I thought about how I do that with God too. I get really mad & frustrated so I pray-yell to God. Really, I think He would prefer it if I was just straight up honest. God doesn’t need me to mask what is going on internally. He already knows I’m a mess. I’m not saying I should yell at God, but an honest conversation with Him is what my heart needs the most.

I’m thankful God doesn’t whisper-yell. He doesn’t say things through a forced smile. God doesn’t say nice words due to obligation & He doesn’t say them with an underlying emotion of irritation.

He is truly kind. Every word He says is deliberately sincere.

” I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
              -Jeremiah 31:3

We Are Gonna Get Old Together

Some people take relationships for granted. Not me. I love you guys. Now that we have met , I think we are going to be friends for a long time. You were there when I was fired , when I gave up on being famous , and when I did the crazy thing. 

Wish I could give you all a high-5 and tell you how swell it is that you read the stuff I write. Thanks for being a Lark & Bloomer. I love when you email me & tell me what is going on in your neck of the woods. This is a great relationship we have. The kind that goes the distance, you know? I think we’re gonna grow old together. What do you think?

Have We Met?

I don’t know if we’ve met. Looking at my stats it appears we have not. I’m in Texas and you are from places like India, France, Russia & Indonesia to name a few. I’d love to chat with each of you face to face, but this will have to do for now. Here is what you should know if we are going to be friends.


1. One thing you should know is that I may not look the same when you see me next.  I get bored with my hair very easily. OR maybe I am a spy. You pick

Here I am with the current red. The husband stays the same though.

2. I really love Subway sandwiches. They are truly a delight to me.

3. In my mind there is something fundamentally wrong with buying groceries from non-grocery stores. Purchasing oranges at the same place I can buy tires is just unnatural. Sorry Walmart.

4. I am a type A/ Bohemian hybrid.  You will find me trying to figure out a plan for how to run an AIDS clinic while swaying to Frank Sinatra with my hair up in an Italian scarf. It can really throw people off…

5. I am NOT laid back. People think I am because I am low-maintenance and pretty even keeled. I don’t like ‘chillin’. I like going. I always want to go somewhere new and do something new. No thank you to summer break.

6. It took me 2 years to learn how to cook a baked potato.  Literally 2 years. I will save you all the time and toil that I spent. Put the potato in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. Now you can use your two years to do something else.

7. When I was little I created a plan to convince my parents that we could, in fact, have monkeys as pets. I figured what they needed to eat, the cost, sketched a diagram of the monkey , planned out their vaccinations…They didn’t go for it though. My parents are not quite as visionary as I am.

8. When I type, I hear my voice saying the words out loud. Kinda like Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.  I’d like to think that I don’t smirk and smile thoughtfully into the distance like she did while typing, but it is very possible that I do.

9. I am very old fashioned. Surprise! I use a pen and paper. I think handwriting is an important art. I will also physically dial the phone numbers of people instead of just clicking on them in my contacts. It bothers me that people don’t actually know each other’s phone numbers anymore.

10. I think I would really enjoy gardening if it didn’t involve dirt and bending over so much. But, I do love gardens. Particularly wild English gardens. Could sit in them for days. But, if left up to me I would never do any work in them.

See, wasn’t that nice. NOW we are friends. Honestly though, I wish I could sit and chat with each one of you. Hear your stories and learn about where you are from. AND if you are one of those people from Finland, Kenya , Chile or wherever, please let me know who you are. I’d love to hear about you! Have a great weekend everyone!