31 Days ~ Preserve Your Story
Chances are today you’ve been scattering bits of your life’s setting and scene out for friends to read in the form of status updates and tweets. You are writing, and sharing, but soon after you do, the pieces slip to the bottom of the newsfeed, like scraps of dinner...
Just Two Eyes to See
I pivot the tiny screen on its hinges and almost slam it away in the ceiling of the minivan. “Don’t even ask,” I tell them, “we’re keeping our eyes on the real world today.” I’m lecturing by now, a woman with a diatribe, “There’s so much beauty around us….” A...
When I Cannot Write a Story
Four years back, this room smelled of acrylic and turpentine. Stained brushes fanned out in jars, bouquets of spotted color on horse hair. Canvas after canvas leaned against these walls…Summer Yellow Wheat, Reading Tree, Starbursts…all windows to...
Eat These Words {Undistracted Devotion}
I’ve been putting off the week’s trip to the grocery…don’t want to take the kids, but too tired to go late night. One morning I go to the half-bare pantry and settle on what’s left for breakfast…carb-heavy, sugared-up CoCo Wheats. It tastes like childhood,...
A Bowl for Stars
I have a thing for words pounded out, a mallet to metal spreading sky like a bowl for stars. What is the creative life but this brush with infinity? One more keystroke at the end of the page, edge of the formless void, the yet wordless place, and a new page springs...Back up to the Waterline
The dock stands awkward like a kid in high school swim class, skinny legs and tan lines showing. Our little ones sprawl from the diving board into muddy water and go airborne off slides that jut out three feet above the surface. Even toward autumn, the lake feels the...
What He Will Learn
The day before kindergarten, he quizzes me, wants to know what he’s going to learn at his new school. I place containers into his lunch pack like I’m putting together a puzzle. “Well, you’ll be working more on your letters and numbers,” I tell him. “You’ll learn how...
Time Capsule {Gift from the Sea Re-opened…and Giveaway Winner!}
From The Dress of Many Colors, by Darcy Wiley: “Help,” Libby mouthed toward Clarence, too late to catch his eye. She pressed her lips between her teeth. Should she try and break free? This was so much so soon, Paul wrapping his arms around her like they were going...
When Your Wish Gets Grounded
{A special welcome to those visiting from Naptime Diaries. So glad to have you here! To keep up with Message in a Mason Jar, be sure to follow via email or RSS feed on the sidebar of the homepage.} Sometimes you put a wish on your summer list, like, let’s say, a ride...
I’m Darcy Wiley, co-writer of The Yes Effect: Accepting God’s Invitation to Transform the World Around You. I’m an explorer at heart… Read more