A Writers Block

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...