I’ve never been good at celebrating myself. I’m not sure why, really, but birthdays have always been… Awkward. Why is that? Even when it wasn’t about my age, I never liked the attention that a birthday brings. While I should be thankful for another year–another day to be alive, I focus instead on the awkwardness…
Just a quick reminder that whatever it is that you’re seeking, it all starts with desire. We can desire riches or fame or even comfort–but wisdom says, “Seek me. Search for me. I AM is the one who will guide you and guard you and rescue you.”
I’m not good at resolutions. So I’m not resolving, I’m reaffirming. I know that there are a lot of good resources out there to encourage us and inspire us. As we look to the possibilities that a new year holds, I never want any other book to be a substitute for our most important resource: …
Wealth is not just summed up by dollars and cents, but if you make more than $10K a year, you are among the wealthiest in our world. [worlddata.info] I have a dear friend that has seemed to always struggle with the thought, “Why did God bless me more than others?” She is uncomfortable in her…
Just over a year ago, my sweet mama had a stroke that left her with an impaired memory. Events of her recent past have been erased, causing her to struggle in her understanding of the present. What she does remember, though, are stories from her past that I have never heard before. The pain of…
One of the ways that I enjoy showing love is to give gifts. Not expensive gifts, but simple, thought out gifts that say to the person, “I love you” or “I am thinking of you.” My eleven grandchildren flock to me for that one piece of gum or the tic tac that Nana always has waiting…
The door opens slowly as the anxious groom sees his bride-to-be adorned in her white wedding gown for the first time. A classic moment. Everyone stands, and most eyes are on the bride entering the room, but mine are on the groom. Anxious to see his first reaction, I am unaware of the eyes assessing…
Seriously. I don’t hate laundry. It’s not that it is a difficult job–for me, at least. An automatic washer and dryer, though dated, does the work for me and all I really have to do is fold or hang them when they’re dry. So why does it seem like a chore? Truth is, any mundane…
The voice inside my head said, “You’re not good enough.” And I knew it. I was a mom of four, my youngest still in diapers, and I was overwhelmed. Thankfully, I had a loving husband and friends who recognized that I needed help. My husband is a pastor, so we’re supposed to have it all…
I have always had a strange fascination with doors. Especially the colorful ones. The unique ones. Doorways can represent an opportunity to enter the life of someone you love and cherish–or a threshold to something new and different. In our travels to Israel I was drawn to the colors and the variety of doors in…
Service. Serving. More than putting food on a plate and bringing it to the table. More than doing our “duty” and fulfilling the job or role assigned to us. Even more than giving our time to help someone in need. Our acts of service become nothing more than a pat on the back with our…
Hymns are a part of my story. I can remember songs from my past where I don’t remember many sermons. I can still remember songs from my childhood that I know I haven’t sung for decades, but the words still come… Walking in sunlight all of my journey, over the mountains, through the deep vale;…
Marriage is a partnership. “For better or worse” you said. (Or maybe you didn’t and should have!) Entering this commitment of a lifetime, you most likely underestimated how big and how hard this choice really is… When I said, “I do”, I already knew that this man I was choosing had made a commitment to full-time…
When singer/songwriter Keith Green, along with his 3 year-old son Josiah and two year-old daughter Bethany were killed in a plane crash in July of 1982, it rocked my world. I was a fan. My husband was a fan. We had only been married for six months and Keith’s song, “Make My Life A Prayer…
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 ** I want that. Overflow. So full that there’s no room for more. So filled to the brim that hope overflows. Spills out. …
