Quarter till midnight on New Year’s Eve, the night dark and chilly, and somehow the stars that always twinkle just there, where He placed them, look like other-worldly confetti, like polished sterling fresh from the Refiner’s fire, scattered wide, celebrating glory. Â I glance up and I know deep: this new year is all His too. […]
We gather, curling into chairs and each other, a half-moon twice bonded by blood—blood in our veins and scarlet-robed in Christ. There’s something important about this—the gathering. Â Living, we circle each other as satellites, moving in and away, making different bright constellations. Â But in these moments of worship, we are all here, all present, all […]
“DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) is a medical emergency, and without treatment it can lead to death.” This truth makes me shudder as I kneel beside my son and scrub the leg of his jeans where he points, where some of the toxic sickness missed the bucket beside him and soiled his clothes. Â Sick Adam is strong, […]
We walk in the museum as the day turns to shadow—my sister-friend and I and our bouncing scribble of children. Â Our group moves like an earthworm—fat and thick in the middle, undulating in a thin, crooked line in front and behind. Â We are multi-colored coats, scarves, boots and tennis shoes, wading into the snarl in […]
“Mom, I need you to pray with me about something.” It’s the first thing she says to me—she who is both daughter and sister by grace, she standing framed by the car window, the afternoon sun making her hair all blazing light. Â The breeze rushes in, stealing the heat. I smile, nodding. Â “Okay. Â What shall […]
“Good government…what is that, anyway?” Kevin says this as we unwrap for the day, as he laces his shoes, puts his keys in his pocket. Â He saw the sign while running, his breath coming hard, the knit cap on his head a dot bobbing down Fall streets, his thoughts lost in the loud chatter of […]
The day Fear lays my friend flat, pressing her back, her head on the hood of my car, the day her tears dot the pavement at our feet, Adam is the only one who knows what to do. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with what he lacks. Adam and I have a routine […]
It makes perfect sense to me that God brought me here, beside a clear, turquoise sea that shines like burnished silver, iridescent in the day’s dying light, to remind me to be available to Him.  Every day, He asks me to be available, waiting, watching, surrendered.  The doing remains His, the surrendering entirely mine. God gave us […]
She sits, curled on my bed, the polish on her toes slightly chipped, and she reads, absently pushing an errant blonde wisp back from her forehead. I am struck by her beauty, the beauty of having her near. The reading has absorbed her, first her Bible, then the devotional book we gave her for her […]
It’s time. I glance at my watch and sigh, not ready to stand, not ready to gulp the last of my coffee and sit the mug by the sink, not ready to see Kevin off to work, not ready to help Adam brush his teeth. Â Not ready. Â Never quite ready. Upstairs, we stand in the […]
“Your public speaking ability radiated your passion for Jesus. There was a true sense of comfort and peace as well as joy and truth.”
“Having Elysa speak for us has been such a blessing. She speaks with such a level and ease and comfort. It is like sitting across the kitchen table with your best girlfriend and a cup of coffee. Elysa has such an incredible passion for God’s Word and it is apparent as she speaks with great knowledge and understanding. We at Essex Village have had the pleasure of seeing God’s handiwork in Elysa throughout her life. She has allowed the Potter to mold her and make her His Workman.”
© 2025 —Elysa Henegar