Hiking in Pearls

Month: June 2026

  • Three Word Story – Part 5

    Three Word Story – Part 5

    Flibbertigibbet – Undefeated – Power

    The first three minutes confirmed my suspicions. I was standing face to face with a flibbertigibbet. Words continued to pour like water from his lips. The nonsense of the one-sided conversation pulled my eyelids down.

    Boredom stood undefeated on the horizon.

    I took a deep breath and shook my head. Stretching my eyes open wide as saucers I looked at the clock. Thirteen minutes and I still had no idea what he was trying to say.

    I questioned myself, is this how I speak.

    Do I cloak what I want to say with a plethora of descriptions until what I meant to communicate is lost?

    It occurred to me in that moment as I was drowning in a sea of vocabulary that fewer words hold more power.

    I hope that it will be said of me one day that, “She didn’t say much, but when she did you listened. You knew it was going to be important.”

    May our words be few and spoken with intention.

    In grace and peace,

    Sharon Rose

  • Three Word Story Challenge – Part 4

    Three Word Story Challenge – Part 4

    Thankful – Stillness – Finished

    Blooms on the mimosa tree filled the air with a soft, sweet fragrance. The wispy, white, and pink puffs were radiant against the green fern shaped leaves. Like opening a gift, the scent brought my grandmother to mind and the smell of the delicate powder she once wore.

    I sat under the tree and drank the memory in while the sun lowered in the sky. The heat of the day was forced to concede. Giving way to the cool night air that was sent to refresh man and beast.

    Dusk lured the fireflies out for their evening dance. A sprinkling of fluorescent green dots peppered the air just above the lawn. They invited me to rest in the stillness that had begun to settle over the day.

    I accepted the offer and lifted a steaming cup of coffee to my lips. The warmth of the liquid left an easy trail to follow. Crashing over my tongue it gathered at the back of my mouth. Next, it took a slow and easy descent down my throat and towards my stomach.

    Muscles in my chest tightened as my lungs filled with air. This is why I drink coffee.

    To remember.

    For comfort that comes from relationship. Bonds that were strengthened over conversations shared while enjoying the juice of the java bean.

    The voices of my parents’ echo through my thoughts as an old reel begins to play. I can hear their laughter. The dogs barking as one of my siblings comes through the door. This was home.

    Coffee is home.

    I swirl the last sip in the mug before drinking it down.

    Staring at the bottom of the cup I wasn’t ready for it to be finished.

    I wasn’t ready to let them go.

    Averting my eyes to the sky the stars speak of the promises of God. I am thankful that I belong to a much bigger family now.

    I only have yet to meet them all.

  • Three Word Story Challenge – Part 3

    Three Word Story Challenge – Part 3

    Kerfuffle – Run – Love

    Things like this can happen when you’re passionate. When each of us run toward our own victory. Even if it is absurdly in the wrong direction.

    We both saw the storm building. On the horizon and in the other’s eyes. The clouds continued to drape themselves with darkness until the day resembled night. Neither of us willing to buckle until a clear champion could be declared. That’s what brought us to this moment. Standing in the rain, in the middle of a kerfuffle.

    What was it that could draw out the depths of our soul to expose ourselves in such a way?

    Why, love of course.

    Over the ink and pad I can hear your sigh as I read the question in your mind.

    Isn’t love supposed to look different?

    Yes, but this reader is what love looks like when it is not in balance.

    Authentic love poured out is the clearest picture of splendor and beauty. It brings life, joy, and peace.

    However, love heaped upon oneself out of measure is putrid and rots. Quickly becoming a thick decay that devours everything it comes in contact with.

    Equally damaging is love not shared in balance between two. This will leave hearts wrung out. Like a dishcloth made void of water until there is nothing left to give. Dry threads begin to break form the continual twisting. A heart left rendered in two.

    In writing this, I hope that it may remind us to be diligent, and to remember that:

    Love does not strive to win; for it already has.

    Love can walk away from vain arguments.

    Love is secure and can listen intently.

    In the words of Paul,

    Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

    May we find ourselves working to avoid the kerfuffle’s and running towards the true love that flows from a pure heart.

    In grace and peace,

    Sharon Rose.