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Last week I watched Clemson trounce Alabama in the NCAA’s Football National Championship game. Clemson was up 31-16 at halftime and never looked back. After a botched fake field goal at the beginning of the third quarter Alabama’s loss seemed imminent. Failure, at least in that game, was coming. Still Alabama did not walk off…
It doesn’t make sense. At least not this side of heaven. Cancer stealing years from folks who live and love well while rapists continue their lust for power and flesh. Infertility leaving wombs and arms empty while others abandon and abuse their children. Addiction powerfully pulling its prey away from work, family, friends. A momentary…
It is a wonderful thing to know that God is omnipotent. It means that every seemingly impossible circumstance is not hopeless. Miracles can happen. Things can change. But God’s ways are mysterious. He isn’t simply a divine vending machine. “I go to church every Sunday, I tithe, and I even went on that mission trip…
Some questions linger unanswered – questions that weigh heavy on your heart, mind, soul, and strength. They threaten to suffocate the joy out of life and life can feel barren, hopeless, endless. Everyone else seems to have all the answers or they never had any questions. Their lives seem purposeful, full of meaning, with no…
For my current seminary course I had to write a short-ish post about courage and how it relates to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love…I thought you all might find it interesting… According to Merriam-Webster.com courage is the “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” And courage…
They said it as they stood near a furnace hot enough to kill men who came near. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told king Nebuchadnezzar, “. . .our God, whom we serve, is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And from your hand, O king, let him rescue us. And if not,…
My scars and old wounds, I revealed them this weekend. Tore the bandage off the hidden ugliness behind the pain and wounds. In front of women I never met, but I knew a part of their struggle. I stood in a room full of women dealing with infertility or pregnancy loss and I spoke…
Hi friends. Today I have a post featured on The M.O.M. Initiative titled Let Dad be Dad. If you are a mom, check it out. Today I want to pray for you all as you wait. God often brings us into waiting times. If you are in a waiting time you may want to check…
Hello blog friends. Today I have the privilege of being featured at Encouragement Cafe. Check out my post The Word, Actions, and Words. Also check out The M.O.M. Initiative today to see about entering their big giveaway! Some days I wonder when my sinful self will get out of my way. I hear wonderful news…
As I read through Amos 4 this week a phrase struck me. It was repeated five times in the short chapter. God said, “. . .yet you have not returned to me.” God mentions hunger, drought, thirst, famine, plagues, and war. He takes credit for all the terrible things and then He simply says, “….
Today I have a guest post at Keeping It Personal titled March Madness. You can check it out here. Welcome to all of you… I like it when things make sense. I want to think deeply about how to handle a situation or what path to take and I want all my paths and directions…
There are some days I just want to gnash my teeth. My shoulders tense, my heart clenches, and every thing I see seems to scream out, “You are a failure Angela.” I guess I am not the only one. If I am the only one you can skip this post. It won’t do you a…
It has been quite a while, but God needed to slow me down and shake me up a bit. The flu, an ear infection, and a sinus infection were His tools to force me to rest. Rest is exactly what I needed, but in the rest I also discovered some things I needed His light…
Happy Birthday to me and my twin sister! Last year I posted some pictures of us when we were cute…You can see them here. Anyway, last night I spoke to the fifth and sixth graders at my church about joy. Sometimes God just takes hold of me as I speak and shakes me hard….
School came easy to me. Things that were difficult I avoided. Basketball required too much practice so I quit. The flute meant I had to try hard to be first chair…I stopped. I avoided classes in college that were difficult and opted to do what came easily. For most of my life I assumed if…
Somehow words don’t seem enough to convey what is going on in my heart and soul. God using His eternal chisel, breaking bits of the ugly, sinful parts of me away. God using His hammer with truth that hits its mark swift and hard and parts of me that I held close crumbles. My frustrations…
Stories. Our lives are full of them. Interwoven stories that bind us to others, divide us from some, and leave impressions on our hearts. Stories that are not mine to tell, but that I live out. I live my part of supportive wife, encouraging friend, loving daughter-in-law, praying sister, admiring daughter, and the list goes…
I have an attitude problem. I am cranky, easily irritated, and downright frustrated. UGH! I think if only my kids would behave, if my husband would meet my every need (even when I don’t know what it is I need), if health wellness and prosperity marked my whole extended family, if my dreams and longings…
Discontent. It hangs like a fog around my heart and soul. My gaze turns to myself–what I have, what I don’t, dreams unmet, longings unfulfilled. My dreams of more give direction, but if I am not careful they feed discontent. Why don’t I have it? I want it for His glory. The discontent changes the…
I stumbled upon Lesli’s website as I was researching for the book I am writing and attempting to get published. She has a firm faith and great message that applies to more than just my infertile friends. I pray her words encourage and bless you. Here is Lesli: As you can tell by the…
I claw and scream inwardly as I cling to unraveling plans–my plans for a good life, great kids, a perfect marriage. But lives don’t follow carefully laid plans and great kids have minds of their own. Perfect marriages don’t exist–there are no perfect wives or husbands. Still I tie myself in knots when my plans…
A flash of color catches my attention as I pull out of my driveway. There among some dead and dying bushes was one bright red flower. I never planted flowers there. In fact we have spent three falls in this house and have never seen anything like it before. In defiance of the very dry…
My mind reels and churns as my heart thumps wildly. My neck and shoulder muscles tighten and my brain hurts. Every where I look seems a black pit swallowing me whole. Why? Why me, why now, what did I do? What must I learn? How can I get out? If I can only figure out…
A battle rages. Daily, moment-by-moment. The chaos surrounds us. Often we stumble and fall. But the battle is not what it seems. Our struggle is not caused by disobedient children, angry bosses, broken bodies, or crazy drivers. No, it comes from our sinful flesh and the enemy of our souls. They engage the Spirit that…
Today I have the privilege of guest posting at Hannah’s Prayer Ministry’s blog called Held. You can check it out here. Let me add that Hannah’s Prayer Ministry is a wonderful place for women struggling with infertility. Those women have walked the roads of infertility and found intimacy with God. They will not promise you…
Today I have the pleasure of being featured on Encouragement Cafe. They are doing a series on detours…My post is titled Refined. I hope you jump over there to read it. If you are visiting here from Encouragement Cafe. Welcome! Refined, purified, cleansed. It is the process God uses to make us more like Him….
“I don’t want to,” I stamped my foot for emphasis and stormed into my bathroom. But storming and stamping did not change His mind. “It is just too hard and painful. I can’t do it. I won’t do it and You can’t make me,” I nearly stick out my tongue as I obstinately crinkle my…
Some things happen and there are no words. Winds tear apart cities, homes, families. Cancer spreads. Office politics crack and things change, maybe for always. Birth moms have rights that do not make sense when the spirit of the law is to protect children. Children die. Families mourn the gaping hole. Marriages crumble and shake….
Joplin, Alabama, Mississippi, Minnesota, tornadoes, floods…My heart breaks, my mind reels. Tornadoes touch down and damage and kill both in the West and East of my town. My mind wonders…Why not us God? Thankful it wasn’t us, but why did He allow the tornado to jump? Humbly I feel blessed and I hurt for those…
The question hangs in the air. It asked by countless people across the world. “Why is Good Friday called good?” That question reverberates with me each year as Easter approaches. I wonder how I can celebrate a sham of a trial, an innocent man sentenced to die, a gruesome death, and all for me. But…
My pulse quickens and my mouth goes dry. I take a deep breath because I know I cannot trust my first response. I need to pray as I gather my breath, I need words to say, I need to not say what my heart is screaming. My heart is twisting itself into knots, arching it’s…
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