Popular television reality shows that “flip” old houses and give them a more modern, updated look are all the rage. While it might be as easy as hiring a handyman that can paint and change light fixtures to give it a cosmetic upgrade, sometimes it requires something more drastic. The hashtag, #demoday denotes a certain…
“Lord, this is hard. Some days I feel like I have it all under control; life goes along swimmingly until the next thing comes along and I feel like I’m drowning. Just when I think it’s all under control, I realize that I have taken the reigns and am losing my grip. Arms open wide,…
Expecting my first baby, I was suddenly put on bed rest to prevent premature labor. I was only 28 weeks along and was not even allowed to sit up, rising only to go to the restroom (because I refused to use a bedpan!). The goal was to get me to at least 32 weeks– and…
I’m not very good at waiting. Especially when I am in not in control of the wait. One of life’s necessities, waiting will sometimes take us down a hard road that affects us emotionally. Fear, frustration, anger, or anxiety can become our new normal, and despite our best efforts we struggle to see the good.…
Standing on the precipice, I am paralyzed by the sound. ~~~ Unable to move or even think, the waves of fear and grief crash over me like a tsunami. ~~~ Overpowering. Taking over and completely subduing, submerging. ~~~ Drowning, I can see through the crystal clear water that wants to fill my lungs with death:…
No matter how dark the night, despite what the future may hold, the voice that I hear whispers a tune.. right into my soul. The music is all around us. Can you hear it? In the quiet I am surrounded by the sweet sound of birds outside my window. Oblivious to the human condition these…
A dying art, the handwritten letter is slowly but surely being replaced by emails and texts. I confess, I just am as guilty of letting this age-old practice diminish in my own life; and yet, reading Paul’s letter to his young charge Timothy in my Bible, I am inspired to write a few of my…
Surrender. It’s a word that sounds defeated. Discouraged. Beaten. Surrender: verb (used without object) “to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield.” [dictionary.com] While the word may seem to carry a negative connotation, in the Christian life is a cumulative word that describes what happens when a person, 1.) recognizes…
“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 “…today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. …
More than beautiful presents wrapped in paper and bows, the gift of Christmas begins with a baby in a manger, swaddled in cloth and sleeping in a manger bed. The gift of Christmas came. Heralded by angels, He entered the world He created, in a stall built for animals; all of creation crying, “Hail the…
It only took one second. One. My toddler was fussing to get out of the cart, and because I was close to being finished with our little shopping trip, I caved in to the pressure of a 3 year old and let her get out. Holding one little hand in mine while pushing the cart…
I wake up early and hear the sounds of the night orchestrating a beautiful transition to morning. The night owls and the crickets quiet as the songbirds take over in a rhythmic chant that almost sounds as if they are saying, “wake up! wake up!”. On a cool, crisp fall morning the dried leaves fall…
Young girls carefully slip the perfectly white gloves onto their little hands, working to fit each finger inside the correct hole. Almost instantly, it seems, they are whisked away to a land of make-believe. Transported to another time and place, they begin to speak in a polite accent, go through the motions of being “proper”,…
I woke up to a new reality. A sobering thought. A haunting question: What if? What if the passion I have is misguided? What if my thoughts–my desires are not from Him? Does this passion that I have honor the One I have declared to be my Lord? The One True God. The Maker of…
