A Writers Block

What would I do to be remembered by Christ? The picture above is one of a woman whom many believe to be Lazarus’ sister, Mary, down at Jesus’ feet. Jesus commented in some of the gospels that her action of pouring very expensive perfume on his head and feet and wiping it away with her hair was something to be remembered wherever the gospel was preached. Why did Christ want her action to be remembered? I wonder how she felt when she entered that room of men. She wasn’t invited to be there, nor was it proper. And letting your hair down in public was even more taboo for a woman of that time. But Jesus had brought her brother back from the dead so she knew better than most who he was. She knew his heart, she knew his importance, she knew his power. She knew that her life could have meant nothing to him, but it didn’t. Mary would do anything for Jesus, even something as scandalous as entering a room of men and letting her hair down to do a servant’s job. She didn’t care what it cost her in ...

“AAARRGGGHHH!!! I’m having a Life crisis!!” That’s what my hubby heard from the Laundry room this afternoon, though it wasn’t what he thought. I had tried to dump the last of the Life Cereal into the trash can but totally missed, pouring all the crumbs into the cabinet and onto the floor. That’s the equivalent of a couple cups of sugar and oats all over. Not an easy mess to clean up. I grabbed the dust-buster, sucked most of it up, and shook the rest out of the rug. As I turned the buster over to hang it back up in the charger, the contents of it spilled all over the dirty laundry and the floor. That’s when I hollered. Sometimes life is like that. It’s messy, not easy to take care of, and doesn’t always go where we want it to. On top of all that, we tend to make a bigger deal out of it than is really necessary. It’s just Life! God can fix it, clean it up, redirect it… No biggie! Needless to say, it was just cereal. I cleaned it up, chuckling at the new perspective God had given me on L...

It had been a rough couple of weeks with me playing the role as housemaid, mommy, wife, butt wiper, laundry service, and ... well, you get the picture. I was about to lose it. Then God heard my whimpering... whoa is me, I know. Being a mom is hard work! Saturday morning Scott let me sleep in and get ready without interruption! Then we got in the car to run an errand and I asked Kayla to pray for us. She said she would and blessed the socks off me when she read this IN her prayer… “There are troubles all around us but we are not defeated; we don’t know what to do but we do not give up.” (2 Cor. 4:8) I was floored. Needless to say, I told her how much God loves it when we pray scripture aloud and how proud of her I was. Then I just about cried telling her how much she blessed me by what she’d done. Kayla was my own personal angel that day. I left that afternoon, got to the beach in time to watch the sunset from my room and see a young buck walk across the grass outside my condo. I spent ...

I came across a thought this past weekend and realized I only had half of the idea. Kind of like when you go to your boss and say “this doesn’t work” and he tells you to go back and come up with a solution instead of just telling him the problem. Pain should not be the arrows we fling at God , the never-ending “why” questions, the shaking of our fists at Him, or the blame-game… but what should it be? In each of our lives we have experienced psychological pain, like when someone close to us dies or someone else hurts our feelings. However we experience this type of pain we choose whether to ignore it, nurse it, or heal it. In the first two choices, it is easy to be angry or bitter. “I can’t deal with this right now,” or “Why did you let this happen, God!?” Blame can play a big part in our lack of healing. What if pain is intended to help us build a bridge to God, taking us to the very presence of our Comforter and Healer, becoming a pathway to His grace and healing. Through Christ, the ...

Why don’t I run to my time with the Lord? When I’m there I am so full and so happy. At peace, even. But it seems like study time is the last thing I do in a day, if I do it at all. I was reminded today of His presence and love in my life. How did I go so long without really “checking in” with Him? I feel so dull and wall-flowerish when I'm not in communication with Him. I’ve started another Beth Moore study on Daniel and it hopefully has me back on track to feeling vibrant again. There were a bunch of moments when things hit home today but the biggest was the simplest. I need to be deliberate in being an influence in the world so that I can be prepared against the influences of the world. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” “You’re either with us or against us.” “It’s black and white.” Wow, is it really? Does that idea really go that far? It seemed like a natural progression of thought. And when it comes right down to it, I think it does go that far. We ar...

I have to admit, life has been really difficult lately. Not that I expect it to be easy but I don’t think it has ever had so many facets to it. I feel like there is never more than 5 minutes of uninterrupted time when I can think on just one thing. If that happens for too long, I feel like I’ve got ping-pong brain and I can’t keep anything straight. But God is good, as usual, in sending me reminders. Part of my bible study the other day was to read Philippians 4:4-13, a scripture that I’m sure I’ve read a million times, but that blew me over this time. Maybe it was the late night hour, maybe it was fatigue. Whatever it was, God was able to speak to my very weary soul just when and how I needed him to. Verses 5-9 were the most impacting. “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard y...

“In all His dispensations God is at work for our good. In prosperity He tries our gratitude; in mediocrity, our contentment; in misfortune, our submission; in darkness, our faith; under temptation, our steadfastness; and at all times, our obedience and trust in Him.” Anonymous I keep this quote where I can see it everyday and remember why I have to go through what I will that day. I am constantly amazed by how God can use each uncomfortable situation in my life for something good. Oh, that I could just do the obedience and trust part each day, then I might be able to come through each adventure triumphantly. I think I should start the day with the old song, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

It had been a nice weekend getaway but Mike had to leave early for work. He said goodbye, jumped in the car, and headed in to town. The drive would take a couple of hours so he decided to use the “free time” as preparation for the day. He had two whole hours of much needed refocus and prayer time ahead. Not bad for a start to the morning. Ten minutes into his drive and prayer Mike heard a huge “THWOP!” and pulled the car over to see what had happened. There in his grill was a gnarled mess of feathers. “Stupid bird,” Mike said. Not the most pleasant thing to deal with. He pulled it out with much disgust and got back on his way. Once in the car he got back to praying and tried to refocus on his objective for the morning. He knew he needed this quiet time with God. Like many of us, there were many things going on in his life that he wanted to check in with God about. Not ten minutes went by and there was another “THWOP!” at the front of the car. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mike thought...

Movie Meme, courtesy of JR. (Jenny made me do it!!) 1. One movie that made you laugh - Grumpier Old Men 2. One movie that made you cry - Awakenings 3. One movie you loved when you were a child - Star Wars... the first three, which are really the last three... AAAAHHH! 4. One movie you’ve seen more than once - The Count of Monte Cristo 5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it - Undercover Brother 6. One movie you hated - Unforgiven 7. One movie that scared you - that scary movie we watched after Snow White or Tron at the drive-in theatre that we were supposed to be sleeping in the back of the station wagon while mom and dad watched it. 8. One movie that bored you - Wag the Dog, although the "This is nothing" line is now a part of Scott's and my daily reassuring of each other. 9. One movie that made you happy - Dan In Real Life 10. One movie that made you miserable - Anchorman (sorry honey) 11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see - Braveheart - the end...

I have had so many conversations lately with moms who are worried about how good a mom they are and I couldn’t help feeling the same way. Some days I feel like I should be fired!! Then God gave me something wonderful to let me know that Scott and I, in doing our best with God’s help, are giving our children just what they need. I hope their actions below can inspire you as they have me. Kayla and Scott were out on a date a couple nights ago and while they were sitting at the table for dinner Scott noticed that she was staring at someone. She was trying hard to look away and then they would catch her eyes again. Scott let her ponder for a while and then asked what she was doing. Kayla replied that she was trying not to stare at a little girl but that it was very hard. Scott told her to look once more and then tell him what she saw. She did just that and then told him about how she couldn’t tell if the girl had legs or not. Scott asked if she was in a special chair. “Yes,” Kayla replied....

Something to ponder. I love the idea of the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose. Click the link above (the title) to challenge your perspectives.

The sun came out, the weather is beautiful, the earth is green, and the most amazing transformation in all of this is my offspring… THEY’RE POSSESSED!!! My girlfriends were talking about this today – children and our roles as mothers. Just when our kids seem perfect they up and paint the cat purple or cut their sisters bangs down to nubbins. Whether they are a reflection of us or not, there is no excuse great enough to save the little mini-me when red Sharpie has been colored all over your white car. How can I raise them to be good? Am I doing something wrong? Why can’t they be the perfect children I see walking quietly beside the grocery cart with their mom? How can I know that God will be the ONE THING they cling to in life? The Holy Spirit wouldn’t let me rest today until I had read something so I picked up a book I hadn’t touched in a while. Stasi Eldredge, the author of Captivating, wrote these words and I wanted to share them with you. They caught me off guard but showed me a new...

“That dumbass driver just….” I know many of us could finish that sentence rather colorfully. Or how about this one: “Bob makes my life so miserable at work. Why should I have to do his job and mine just so things get done right?” Or maybe you didn’t have your coffee yet and someone was just too perky, thereby causing gleefully vicious daydreams of putting their head in the toilet bowl and flushing it. I confess I am the overly joyous morning person so I would appreciate any patience you could muster. Everybody has experienced feelings like these, emotions that are projected outward from yourself toward someone or something else, but what about empathy? What about taking the feelings of another inward? According to Wikipedia, “empathy is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes", or to in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself, a sort of emotional resonance.” Have you ever experienced someone else’s emotio...

What is it about our lives that makes us crazy? Kids? Family? Obligations? Friends? Work? Expectations? Money… or the lack there of… or mismanagement of? Love? I wonder about this often and I can find only one answer… ME. If I would just chill out once in a while and let God take control or even give myself permission to relax I could enjoy a little more of my life, I think. Like writing this blog. I don’t write much because there are so many other things that demand my time, whether it’s supposed to by my free time or not. I should realize that most of my stress is self-induced by what I feel a good mom and wife and friend should be. A wonderful quote came the other day: “The barrier between the women who appear to have it all together and the rest of us who often feel like we are floundering does not exist.” What?! My house isn’t supposed to be immaculate 24/7? I’m not supposed to wear make-up and jewelry each day? My kids aren’t supposed to be the perfect little angels that I see e...