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The Lemonade Jamboree

My poetry series was SUCH a wonderful exercise, but once March began, my life turned back in earnest to the Jamboree. It has been on my mind for roughly a year, with many more months to go.
The Lemonade Jamboree was a dream within a dream. If you will permit me an odd analogy, it has been my child for the past year.

It was conceived in the early days of quarantine and birthed in the summer of social distancing. I have been charged with raising the Fall Series, tending to it, and eventually, sharing it with you. It is a tremendous responsibility, and one I do not take lightly. Possibly like a parent, I feel its success is a direct reflection upon my ability as one of its creators and its guardian.

There are five days left to watch the fruits of this labor, this figurative child that was raised in the middle of a pandemic. After that, it steps back into the shadows for a while, a moody teenager, as its little sibling, The Spring Series, is raised and brought out in debutante fashion later this year.

As with any child, the Fall Series was not created by just one person. An entire village stepped in to help form it, mold it, and make it who it became. I wanted to take a moment to thank those people, those visionaries who saw a dream that wasn’t yet finalized and stood with me, shoulder to shoulder as we figured it out together. Absolutely none of this would be possible without them.

Earlier in the year, we entered a few of the sketches into film festivals, and are thrilled to say that so far, four have been accepted into various festivals, with two making into the International Christian Film and Music Festival, the largest and most prestigious festival of it’s kind in the US.


Thank you to the faces you will see in this slideshow, and the many faces behind the scenes that you won’t see, for believing in me, and for believing in The Lemonade Jamboree.

Featuring Josh Martin’s nominated song, “It’s Such a Good Day To Have a Good Day.”*

*ICFF nomination for Best Music Video, featured in the Fall Series of “The Lemonade Jamboree”

Tickets are available at: https://www.onthestage.com/show/the-theatre-downstream/the-lemonade-jamboree-part-one-72585

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Self-Published 

So many times, we're told
that we are the writers
of our future, 
but after some reflection...
I think we're most likely...not. 

Oh, we like to imagine 
we have a little control - 
What shall I eat?
what shall I wear?
and even...
Who shall I marry?

But then, realization
dawns - a foggy sunrise.  
We cannot control  
whether our very next 
breath will arrive. 

It is automatic, and
we were not given
the keys to that ignition. 

So I think...
in the big picture,
our imagined control
is just to placate us.  

However,
it can be very freeing
to realize you are 
a character in the story,
and not the author. 

It is especially 
encouraging 
when you summarily 
realize, 
that your particular
author is a best-seller, 
and clearly,
already has the plot 
all figured out!





Thank you for joining me on my 28 day birthday month celebration. It has been a challenge, but also a unique experience, and I'm pleased with myself for completing it. Thank you also for all your kind words and encouragement...they have made it all feel extra special. 🙂
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Self-Helpless 

I am the opposite of "self-help" - 
I am here to say that you cannot
do it on your own.

You are not strong enough, 
or powerful enough, 
or even really smart enough.

Not you. Not in your own
human-ness. 
So I wonder why - 
there are so many self-help
books that essentially
repeat the same mantra.
You. You. You.
When it's never been you
it's always been
WHO. 

Who do you put your trust in?
From where do you get 
your inner power?

If it's you, then,
oh dear, how fallible.

If it's Darkness, then
oh my, how temporary.

But- 
if it's the Light of the world, then
Oh yes, how powerful.
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Direct My Path 

We wander through the woods
of our lives,
tripping,
winding, 
pulling away branches,
and getting caught in the
brambles. 

It is a long road.
A rough road.
And then, a clearing up ahead.
We breathe the sweet nectar
of the open field,
feel the sunshine, 
and cooling breeze.
It feels like heaven. 

But the dark woods draw us back,
and soon we find ourselves,
tangled,
tired,
and bruised.

All the while, 
the Lord goes before us, 
clearing the path,
absorbing the blows, 
and wishing 
we would only take His hand,
so He could lead us to
the next clearing, and
the path of His design. 

Even so, He walks ahead.
Never forsaking us 
and our chosen pathway.
Even when He knows His is easier, 
He allows us to choose.

And then He clears the way. 



Happy Birthday to me, and my dear friend Olivia, and all the other souls who celebrate their arrival on this earth today. 
We made it. Keep walking the path, the destination is more beautiful than we can possibly imagine.

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A Sky Full of Stars 

Forty years is a twinkle 
in the annals of history books.
Only four decades, only forty years,
only a mere moment.

But when you put the days on a string,
the hours and the minutes, 
and the seconds - you begin to see 
how much Life can be lived 
in this twinkle of time.

Laughter, Tears, Sadness, Fears -
Joy, Relief, Depression, and Victory
all combine to create
a unique human experience. 

Forty years is a twinkle,
but compile each moment together,
and you have a lifetime of 
sparkling moments - 
a sky full of stars. 




(I felt this was appropriate for Birthday Eve, and my last day of being 40...this draft was written for myself on my 40th birthday last year - it was edited and given as a gift to a dear friend who celebrated her 40th birthday a week later. Her version is better, but I didn't keep a copy, because it is hers.)
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The Perfect Cup of Tea 

Metaphorically,
true friendship is...
a good hair day,
the perfect cup of tea - 
no red lights on the
way to work,
and the first night of sleep
on freshly washed
sheets.

Socially, 
it's a smile at the 
caller ID, 
a long conversation
full of honesty,
and empathy -
and the ability to 
pick up where 
you left off...
after two hours,
two days, or four months. 

Emotionally, 
it's companionable silence
where words are not 
necessary,
laughing at the ridiculous 
when it is,
and prayers in -
and through, 
the pain. 

Essentially, 
true friendship
is the ability to 
be your utterly
weird, and
wonderful self,
and feel perfectly 
and completely 
at home. 


Celebrating all of the wonderful people who let me be my weird little self, but especially my friend Candy, who is having a birthday today, and who is learning to love tea as much as I do. 🙂

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A Spinning Wheel 

Life right now -
feels like a spinning wheel
that someone wound up -
but forgot to stop. 

Time is racing faster
than my thoughts.
The year has barely begun,
but is scheduled down 
to the near-end. 

When do we breathe?
Between the cracks?
Do we rise up, gasp for air,
and then get pulled back under?

Is this what Life is truly meant to be?
Where is the "stop" level...
and how can I pull it? 



This title could have been, "8 days before covid shutdown" but I didn't know it at the time. Speaking for only myself, as someone who has remained relatively healthy this entire time, when people ask how I've coped with the complete stop and pause of everything that I once knew - I think back to this moment, and this girl, and I remember how overwhelmed and helpless she was feeling, and how this time of complete reset has been something both completely unexpected and also an opportunity for an overhaul of what was once important.
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New Life 

At first glance, you would not
consider furniture 
as an item needing rescue.
But it is. They do.

Cooped up, buried under
garbage and piles of
paper and humidity -
A table, a chair, sits - 
waiting to be remembered
to be cared for - to be clean.

It is made from material 
that was once alive -
and after being plucked
from purgatory,
and given a new home, 
it almost audibly sighs
with relief and gratitude 
for the gift of new life. 

Useful, Hopeful, and Wanted,
but most of all, 
Restored, 
in every sense of the word.
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The Gift of Time 

One of the greatest gifts
the Lord has bestowed to us,
is the gift of time.

And the greatest gift
we can give Him in return -
is how we spend that time.

We can fritter it away,
or pile it up with study,
or work, 
or mindless activity.

But what He would love, 
what He would ultimately prefer - 
is if we just took a deep breath, 
and said, "I'd really just like 
to spend my time with You."
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Dinosaur 

Dino-saur.
Dino-Roar.
Why do we obsess over 
that which scares us?
To regain power? Control? 
"We never had control." 
But! 
We always have the power. 
Fear is what we allow it to be.
Whether it's the dark, 
or spiders, 
or a large, scaly lizard
that ROARS. 




Dedicated to my first best friend and cousin, who shares my love of Dinosaurs, and so many childhood memories, and whose birthday is today. 
Happy Birthday, Lauren!