Hope With Feathers and a Giveaway

**Wonder*FULL**

February 2026

A Beautiful Pause in a Fast-Paced World

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I have a special spot in my heart for red birds, both the vermillion flycatcher and the northern cardinal. In the bare branches of winter, the birds lift my spirits.

In my office, I have a cardinal snow globe from my parents’ estate. When both my parents were going through chemo at the same time for cancer, my dad gifted Mom the cardinal.

We all have seasons of bare branches when we need reminders of hope.

For an old blog post about the cardinal snow globe, please click here.

On a recent trip to Boyce Thompson Arboretum, I hoped to see a cardinal, a familiar bird to the area.

Several friends are struggling and in difficult places. In fact, the entire world seems to be in a difficult place. I have been experiencing the chill of that wintering.

I walked for two hours. I heard the cardinal’s familiar call but saw no flashes of red in the trees or underbrush.

I documented twenty-one different flowering plants. I saw a few I had never seen before, including henbit deadnettle and miner’s lettuce.

I saw ladder-back woodpeckers, verdin, and a melodious song sparrow, but no cardinal.

Discouraged, I sat to eat my lunch in the picnic area. As I peeled open a package of string cheese, I heard a rustle in the tree above me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her. A female cardinal!

In the nearby underbrush, chirped an interested male.

The birds lingered.

Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.

Something shifted inside me. Something strong.

Real.

Life-giving.

Emily Dickinson wrote:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

May you discover hope in the bare branches of your own wintering.

Welcome to Wonder*FULL February.

INVITATION 1

Your Soul’s Backpack

A male and female flycatcher in the same frame. She was hidden for several minutes. I prayed, “Shift into the light. Shift into the light.” She shifted.

A verse for your soul’s backpack:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Romans 15:13

INVITATION 2

Discover Beauty Where You Live

Here are three moments of beauty in northern Arizona. Hoarfrost—delicate, feathery, hair-like crystals—form when water vapor directly turns to ice on clear, cold nights.

Hoar is an old English word meaning “gray, white, or aged.”

On two separate mornings, we went down to where a fresh-water spring flows on the edge of Mormon Lake. The spring had not yet frozen over.

delicate seamstress

winter edges her white dress

crystal embroidery

Hoarfrost is best viewed on your knees.

May I know

grace to embrace

my own finite smallness

in the arms

of God’s infinite greatness.

--Pete Greig

INVITATION 3

A Giveaway!!

This month’s drawing is a winter story set in our cabin when the power goes out, entitled “Which Bird Will I Feed?” As the temperature drops, my worry rises. And my angst! Even my husband is chewing too loudly!! It’s from the series, Too Amazing For Coincidence, Volume: God’s Promises of Hope. Discover how God meets me in that unplanned circumstance.

I will hold the drawing on Feb 6. Please click on the green button to get on the list for your chance to win.

Note: You can purchase hard-cover copies or sign up for the series at Christian Bookstore - Guideposts. The code, Author15, will get you a 15% discount. Amazon has paperback copies.

EMAIL ME FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

The FINAL PHOTO with suggested captions from my social media followers:

I was ever-so-carefully focusing on the hoarfrost in the foreground, that I did not notice Sadie being the camera diva in the background.

Suggested captions:

The last straw.
I see skies of blue…What a wonderful world.
Dog gone it.
Wild thing. You make my heart sing.
Changing the focus.
Coated in frost, coated in fur.
“To every thing there is a season... The fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals is the same... I have seen that nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his lot.: (Eccl 3: 1, 19, 22)

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All photos are from Lynne Hartke, unless otherwise noted.

Cardinal photos and wildflowers from Boyce Thompson Arboretum, near Superior, Arizona. Vermilion photo taken at Arrowhead Park in Chandler, AZ. Hoarfrost photos at Mormon Lake, Arizona.

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