writer.
empty nester.
caregiver.
painter.
paddle boarder.
scavenger of words and beach treasures.
……one who waits for morning.
Hello. I’m Vina.
I first began a treasure hunt for words when I was five years old. I was drawn into the adventure of reading between the lines of imagination in my mother’s textbook: Anthology of Children’s Literature. It was one of the few books in our small house. Snuggled in the corner of my little room I lost myself in the fine print of stories.
Five decades later my love for words continues as I craft stories of my own, reflections from 31 years as a mother of four, 38 years married to my high school sweetheart, and 10 years as a caregiver for my mother. Living with my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me to reset life into the present moment, to seek the beauty in each moment, and to create wonder in words and with paint on canvas. The greatest wonders of all have been uncovered through my forty year journey with Jesus.
At the edge of these forty years of wandering I step into a new landscape of empty nesting, the prospect of changing roles, and a widening perspective on faith.
Like you, I live in the middle of shifting stories, searching for the points where God meets me in the storyline. That intersection is where He rewrites the purpose. That intersection is where he restories our story.
Our restoried stories can restore our souls. Encourage others. Strengthen others.
Since the very beginning of time, that is what God does with story:
create something new with words.
love restoried
Stand on solid ground.
Take a step forward.
Let love restory your life.
Allow the warmth of God’s light… a new day, a sunrise over the mountain….to uncover the foundation of his love. His glory, his presence framed you, even in the shadows.
Your shadow may be an empty nest. An empty space where life once bustled in your home, now empty.
Your shadow may be an empty heart. An empty space vacant by the recent loss of a loved one. A loss, not matter what form it takes, still demands a space to grieve.
Your shadow may be an empty faith. A space void by discouragement or disappointment in the church or in God himself.
He longs to restory your story in that same space,
the space between shadow and light
to give you a new song to sing.
