Category: Moments and Musings

Posted in Moments and Musings

Be Light

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Whenever something tragic happens, I try very hard to find the right words to say. Folks on social media are always talking in loud, screaming voices but mine is often never heard. 

That’s because I usually just choose to stay silent. I don’t want to offend anyone. I have people I love who believe all sorts of things so I don’t say much except to tell myself that I’ll just pray for the situation and that will be enough. 

It’s not enough though. Not anymore. I’m sick of being silent. 

Last night, we lost a young man. A father. A husband. A son and who knows what else Charlie Kirk was the people he surrounded himself with. 

I want to respond to this. I want to say something more than “I’m praying for the Kirk family” because that doesn’t feel like it’s enough. Like many others, I’ve looked at social media. Not for inspiration, mind you, but perhaps I just want to see what others are saying. I want to know there’s still some good in this world when proof of evil is so evident. 

Thankfully, I seen an outpouring of love. But I’ve also seen a lot that hurts my soul. Comments like, “karma…” and posting about how the far right supposedly reacted when so-and-so was killed. It’s as if to say “the Kirk family doesn’t deserve compassion. They deserve just what they got so why should we care”. 

It would be so easy for me to react emotionally to this. For me to remind them of a time when someone they loved was ripped away from them leaving us all to deal with the shock and awe of an unexpected death. It would be easy to say, “if that’s how you feel, unfriend/unfollow me”. I’ve heard many say that also.

But that wasn’t what Charlie Kirk was about. Moreover, it certainly isn’t what Jesus is about. 

Jesus is all about love. But make no mistake, some of us don’t understand what that means. Jesus didn’t love us the way some “churches” teach about love. He loved us enough not to tickle our ears with false words of comfort, or watered-down religion that cherry picks through the words of the Father so as not to offend. 

No, that’s not Jesus. 

He came to turn the tables over. He came to uninstall puffed up religion and install the hardware called a very real relationship with the Father. He came to replace outdated software with the Bible. And it’s not The Bible 2.0, or the new and improved version. The Word of God was never meant to change with the times. It’s not going to. Not ever. The Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Fact!

Jesus came to be lifted up on a cross of love. It was the love the Father had for us that held Jesus there ever so much more than nails. It’s a love we cannot hope to ever understand with our mortal minds. It’s a love that requires trust and surrender. Everything Jesus ever did was because of love. 

I decided that will be my reaction to this – love. I don’t want folks who think Charlie Kirk deserved to die to unfriend or unfollow me. Trust me, if you truly feel that way, you need the same Jesus I did when I was locked in discord, unrest, hate and fear. He is the only one who can truly heal our hearts. Anything the world or other “religions” might have is fleeting.

Nothing and no one heals like Jesus. 

Will I pray for the Kirk family? Yes! I know the sting of sudden death and whether it’s through violence or accident, the venom that comes from that sting is every bit as painful. They’re going to need every single prayer any of us can muster during this time.

I will pray for my country and when I do, the words “conservative, Democrats, etc…” will not come from my mouth. We ALL need Jesus and he’s not interested in our politics.

He’s interested in our souls.

I will do my best to love like Jesus at all times, and I know I probably need to do better moving forward than I’ve done in the past. 

I will no longer be silent but instead, I’ll ask the Holy Spirit for the right words to say at the right time. 

I’m not going to worry if people want to leave my life because I choose to be uncompromising in the face of a world determined to make sin a way of life. 

But if you do choose to leave my life, know that I love you and I will never stop praying for you and you cannot stop me from praying for you. Know that Jesus is real and really loves you and you cannot change that either. You also cannot stop it anymore than you can change the FACT that he died on a cross a horrific death because he loved you just that much. Know that if you were the only person on the face of this earth, he STILL would have gone to the cross for you. 

I would suppose there are many who feel as I do in this moment. Let me urge you not to be counted among those who would sow discord. I know we’re grieving and angry but let me urge you to be mindful of your words and be guided by the Holy Spirit when you do speak. But also do NOT be silent. That time has come and gone. Do not let your souls be lukewarm anymore. This world is hurting. This world is dark. It needs the Jesus in us to be a light. 

So go….be a light. Be Jesus to the world. 

It’s all about Jesus anyway. It always has been. It is now. It always will be. 

I love you ALL and I’m praying for all of us.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

Storms are My Favorite

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

This morning, I took Percy for our usual morning walk. Multiple storms had come through the area two nights ago making the ground soft and wet. As we walked to the park, I thought about storms and how they relate to life. Storms come and they go and while they’re here, they change everything they touch, if only for a moment.

We hung out at the park for a good long while before heading home. I looked up at the sky. To my left, it was partly cloudy. To my right, dark clouds still loomed. But then, directly above me, the sun broke through. It made the raindrops hanging on to the leaves look like diamond drops. All the trees lit up, bright and green. I could almost hear them sighing in the aftermath of a terrific shower.

We started to walk home and I noticed these mushrooms on the side of the walk. Such growth in such circumstances. Beautiful, delicate and perfect in their own way. They grow just as they’re supposed to.

Percy wandered on the grass, also glittered by the sun. Looking up again, I found the clouds to my left dispersing. Bright blue patches became bigger and bigger as the clouds retreated.

I think about my life in these moments. How many storms I’ve weathered. How many times I focused so hard on the dark clouds to my right that I neglected to see the sun shining above me. How many times God has waved His hand, dispelling the dark while giving me blue skies and diamonds on leaves to focus on.

He has never let me down. He has never left me. Like the sun follows the rain, every storm must end and when it does, the earth is left cleaner, brighter and ready for something new.

New growth. Like the mushrooms, something beautiful with raw edges growing in the seam where concrete meets the earth. I’m most alive during these times. Most in tune with God and most grateful. God isn’t absent in the storms but very much present during them. Afterwards, He paints the sky in rainbow colors, symbolizing His promise and its unfailing power.

What God has promised, He is faithful to see it come to pass. (Romans 4:21)

Maybe that’s why storms are my favorite. I love to see the endurance of nature and how it survives. I love the new growth. I love the freshness of it all. I love how it reminds me that I am never too old to be made new for this earth is very old and she is made new every time it rains.

Thank you, God, for each and every storm. Thank you for being with me during each one. Thank you for my rainbow afterwards. Thank you for mushrooms in the morning, for diamond raindrops, glitter in the grass and blue skies that chase away dark clouds.

Posted in Moments and Musings

Summer 2025

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

I’ll never understand myself. Why would I plan to write monthly posts only to never write monthly posts. I don’t get why consistency is so hard for me! I think there’s something wrong with my wiring.

To be honest, outside of my job and crochet, it’s hard for me to finish anything. Sometimes, I think it’s because there’s a neurodivergent part of me that just finds certain tasks overwhelming at times. It’s what I like about crochet. Your only focus is the next stitch.

But I digress! This is about life updates and there’s been much to talk about since February!

Personally, I’ve been basking in the glow of being a grandmother. I still can’t believe it! I’m a grandma! I say it over and over again to myself. I feel like I should feel older than I actually am but little Miss Sophia makes me feel so young. She’s a happy, healthy, squirmy, curious 4 months old now and what a beauty she is!

I know most grandparents will say that about their grandbabies but in this case, it’s true! She’s got kissable cheeks. Her big, beautiful eyes miss nothing. Her feet never stop trying to take her somewhere. Her smile is as big as the ocean and lights up her whole face. I love how her eyes smile when she does. Already, I see joy and wisdom growing in her. She’s special; set apart. She will do great things for the Kingdom of God. It’s my privilege to watch her grow.

If you’ve actually gone back and read any of my posts, you’ll know summer is my least favorite season. Hot and humid aren’t my gig. I like being cool. I like being able to put a sweater on and some socks and crawl under a blanket. I like hot drinks with something foamy on top, soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner and twinkling lights. If I have to have summer, I prefer a gradual increase leading up to it instead simply being put in the center of the fire.

That’s what this summer has felt like. One day we were in the 70’s with low humidity. The next day, we had heat advisories, temperatures nearing 100 with dew points in the upper 70’s. The humidity has been relentless and I’ve been thanking God every day for my air-conditioning and ceiling fans. They’ve been my mainstays during this long, hot summer. In previous years, we’ve had heat and humidity but never with such consistency. It’s been consistently hot and humid with no end in sight.

67 days until the official start of Autumn.

Creatively, I’ve been motoring along. Check out here for details on my recent crochet projects. I also did a yarn-reorganization moving my yarn from the lowest level of my house to the highest level. It took two days but it was worth it see all my yarn in one happy place.

Scholastically, I’m in the process of studying for my math placement test in the hopes of not having to repeat a remedial math class. I have decided that if I do, I’m just going to work through it and do my very best and not be upset. Already, preliminary studying has gone well and I’m very encouraged!

That being said, I’m praying to find a balance in all this. Work. School. Crafting. Family. Myself. I want time for it all and I don’t want to miss any of it!

So, let’s get the rest of this summer over and done. I can’t wait for fall and school and all the ‘ber months!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Vikki’s Beef Stew

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

I am not a writer of recipes. I rarely create anything new. That’s because I’m a process-driven person and prefer to always have a process, or in the case of cooking, a recipe to follow. I didn’t grow up with women who were great cooks either who could teach me. My aunt and mom cooked to feed their family in the best way they could afford. Both grew up in the ‘meat and potatoes’ era where food choices weren’t abundant.

When I got married, I wasn’t really allowed a budget that allow me to do anything much beyond Hamburger Helper, tuna casserole and the occasional shredded beef. Sometimes, the beef would work out and sometimes it wouldn’t. I never researched why.

When I got divorced, my girls and I moved in with my mom who still hadn’t really refined her cooking skills. She did her best though with a picky meat eater for a daughter and the ever changing tastes of two young children. She tried different recipes. She adapted when my older daughter wanted to be a vegetarian. She got creative when my younger daughter would only eat her vegetables smothered in gravy. Most of all, she fought to put to memory who liked what and how they liked it cooked. We weren’t easy on her at all but we were always very grateful for the food she put on our table each night.

The one appliance I introduced to my mom was the wonder of the crockpot. Pretty much, anything I put in my crockpot is magic. Chicken with Italian dressing, chicken with my mom’s pasta sauce, applesauce….it always was a hit.

Except for beef. That still was a hit or miss and neither Mom nor myself could figure out why. Then one night, I was watching Ralph Fiennes’ version of Wuthering Heights. There’s a scene were he’s eating stew of some sort and the gravy was super thick on his fingers and on the bread and my mouth just watered.

Up until this time, we’d been making beef stew with a broth and I couldn’t figure out how to obtain that rich, thick beef gravy-like consistency. It was nothing short of beef soup. No one told me about cornstarch. So off to the store I went in search of the perfect beef stew ingredients. I bought our usual beef cubes, baby carrots and potatoes, an onion and some minced garlic. Only this time, instead of getting beef broth, I bought a jar of beef gravy.

We got home, put it all in the crockpot but my Mom was still concerned about the seasoning. We went on a treasure hunt throughout our kitchen for that perfect beef stew flavor. We found it in the form of soy sauce. I looked at Mom and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Why not?” she said, and proceeded to give our stew a good five to six shakes. We put the lid on the crockpot, turned it on and waited 8 hours.

It was THE BEST beef stew ever! The meat was tender, the veggies were soft but not mushy. And the gravy was divine!! Of course, I’d had successes before so I wasn’t sure if this was a fluke or not. A few weeks later, we made beef stew for the family. Again, she gave it 5-6 hard shakes with the soy sauce and magic again!

So, I’m no recipe writer. I don’t know anything about food except that I like to eat it. But here’s my easy version of beef stew as enjoyed by my family. I hope you like it.

Vikki’s Beef Stew

  • lean beef stew meat, 2 lbs
  • frozen pearl onions, 12 oz pkg
  • minced garlic, 2-3 teaspoons (we like garlic in our family)
  • baby peeled carrots, 1lb
  • red or yellow baby potatoes, 1.5lb bag
  • 1 jar of Heinz beef gravy, 18 oz
  • soy sauce (for best results, don’t use the low sodium), 5-6 shakes

This is super easy. No chopping of vegetables is necessary. Simply dump this all into a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with a crusty bread and a side salad for added veggies, if you’d like. You can also add more vegetables to the stew, if you’d like. I like the simplicity of this so I choose not to.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to provide measurements, calories, etc….this feeds my family of 4 adults usually with a little leftover for a lunch or two. This also freezes very well.

Posted in Moments and Musings

The Five Unexpected Gifts of Becoming ‘Grandma’

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

A few weeks ago, I announced the birth of my new granddaughter, Sophia. What a little bean she is! We’re completely in love with her, as you can imagine.

Becoming a grandmother—it’s still strange to even say it—has been both beautiful and unexpected. I never had a clear picture of what I thought it would feel like. We go from season to season in life, and while I knew this one was coming, I didn’t expect it to arrive wrapped in so many unanticipated emotions and thoughts.

I know it’s normal. Change is as inevitable as the sun rising and setting. I’ve raised two daughters; I’m a mother—and I still don’t entirely know what that means, even though they’re grown. Sometimes I still feel like a kid myself, even in this 56-year-old body with all its menopause weirdness.

But being a grandmother? That’s something different. I always imagined it as a place of honor in my daughter’s life, yet that’s not exactly how it feels. I’m not sure what I expected, but what I’ve experienced has been beautifully strange. So here are my top five “unexpectedlys.”

Unexpectedly Different

Growing up, the word grandmother was spoken in one of two tones: a quiet, reverent one for the matriarch who ruled my aunt’s house from the kitchen table with her Solitaire cards and Jeopardy, or a whimsical one for the Italian woman upstairs who yelled at my dad and bought our affection with candy from her underwear drawer.

I feel neither regal nor whimsical. I feel pure, unfiltered joy. That’s it. And it surprises me every time.

Unexpectedly Wealthy

Financially wealthy? Absolutely not. 😄
But suddenly I feel this deep desire to help—to ease the burden of the endless list of baby expenses. No one prepares you for that part, and my daughter and son-in-law are in the “shock and awe” phase even though they prepared well.

I find myself tossing diapers and formula into my cart and then reminding myself (more than once) that my son-in-law is a fantastic provider and my daughter is wise and frugal… which means I can put the diapers back, slowly back away from the formula, and return that money to my retirement fund. 😄

Unexpectedly Energetic

I am a proud couch-dwelling homebody. My life, my job, my cozy hobbies—crochet, embroidery, reading—they all happen from the comfort of my favorite spot.

I’m healthy, but as my older daughter insists, I am fluffy, not fat. And yes, I could stand to lose more than a few pounds. When I first learned Sophia was coming, I got motivated… then unmotivated… then re-motivated… and then my birthday happened, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. You know how it goes.

But now she’s here. I’ve held her. I’ve seen her tiny face. And suddenly living a healthier life doesn’t feel optional—it feels necessary. For me, yes, but also for her. I want to be the grandma who rides bikes, plays on the floor, takes long walks, goes exploring. I can’t do those things for long stretches right now, but Sophia has become the best unexpected motivator I could have ever asked for.

Unexpectedly Prayerful

There’s so much facing kids today. Even more facing parents trying to raise a godly child. Social media can be brutal—post one picture of your baby and complete strangers feel entitled to tear you apart. And women… we can be the worst to each other. “Women empowering women” is sometimes more slogan than truth.

As my daughter grew up, she lived out her faith boldly, especially in high school, and she paid a lonely price for it. But she never wavered. And God blessed her with a husband who won’t waver either. Together, they’ll be a strong, steady, Christ-centered force in Sophia’s life.

My role is to pray for them—and it is both my job and my privilege. They will need it.

Unexpectedly Hopeful

I feel a kind of hope I’ve never felt before. I’ve visited Sophia twice, and each time I take a thousand pictures. My daughter sends me pictures constantly, and I look at them several times a day.

I think about who Sophia will be. What she’ll love. What I’ll get to teach her. What she might teach me.
I hope she likes me.
I hope I’m enough.
I hope I can pass down the wisdom my own sweet mother gave me.
I hope that even though I live three hours away, she always feels me near.

I hope, I hope, I hope.

Pam Brown once wrote, “Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you’re just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric.” It’s true! I hold a kind of wisdom my daughter doesn’t have, simply because of the era I lived through. I remember phones attached to the wall, VCRs costing $700, VHS tapes over $100. (I saved $80 for my first Duran Duran video—an eternity of babysitting money.) I remember libraries before the internet.

A whole age of technology unfolded while I grew up. I’ll be able to tell Sophia all about it. And then I’ll teach her the simple things too—the joy of a blooming flower, the beauty in a piece of classical music, the deep appreciation for everything God gives us to enjoy.

This feels like the best season of my life—one I’ve been preparing for without even knowing it.And now it’s here.
And it’s wonderful.