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But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 Failure. It is a label I carry around in my heart and mind. One I plaster…
There are certain things I would rather forget. Things I want others to forget. I want to pretend it never happened and move on… Isn’t that what forgiveness is? Shouldn’t everyone just forgive and forget? Move past my mistakes…and just go on? “Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath…
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16 Ashamed. My heart twisted in my chest and my cheeks burned. Hot like the searing in my heart. I did it and now I am done. I knew better, but I…
Ten years ago plans became missiles, buildings burned, people jumped, and to our horror those buildings crumbled before our eyes. One plane crashed into a field as passengers rose up. Our false sense of security gone in mere minutes. My heart burns at the those images seared into my brain. Ten years later I can…
Do you ever say something and immediately wish you could somehow swallow those words back down as if they never were? Then walk off thinking failure… Do you find yourself is situations of your own creating wondering how I got roped into doing this? Do you wonder if your heart is wrong if if you…
I am not a great housekeeper. In fact I would argue that I am not even a “good” housekeeper. I actually pay someone to help clean the house…I am unorganized and I ignore things. If I don’t like the piles on the kitchen island, I don’t look at the piles. I do not think I…
The deed is done and it stabs me through the heart. Their choices and actions stab and scrape against my soul. I cannot change their choices, all I can do is deal with the aftermath. Indignation rings and bounces in my heart and soul. “No one should act like this. Especially a fellow brother or…
Last week was extremely busy. Three programs, one field trip, my in-laws came to visit, and field day at school. I was running, running, running. When days are busy I don’t take good care of myself. I don’t sleep when I should, I don’t eat what I should. I begin to run on empty. Spiritually…
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…
It isn’t easy being me. I don’t mean my life is harder than average. I mean it is exhausting being me. One Saturday night my husband and I had an event to attend. I only had slight acquaintances with the attendees and a bad attitude. I didn’t want to go, I was uncomfortable, scared, and…
Honor has become an important word in my house. In fact it is a word that has changed how I parent, how I think, and how I view my life before God. The idea started when I read a book, Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes in You and Your Kids by Turansky…
Last week I got a call from my sister. She was preparing a devotional talk for the inmates at a woman’s prison. She and several other women go to the jail to play basketball with the inmates and share Christ with them. She had a great idea about what to share, but needed some direction….
My soul feels raw. As if it had been drug down a carpeted hall at break-neck speed. A dry, burning, prickly raw-ness that hurts, hints, points and practically begs to be noticed… Oh, but I am too busy. Want to read the rest? It is over at (in)courage. I have the honor of being one…
“EWWWWWWWW…MOOOOOOMMMMMYYYYY, J pooped,” her voice shakes the paintings on the walls as she flees her brother’s presence. “J we don’t want to play with you when you stink,” his other sister chimes in with the painful truth. I wince to hear her shun her brother. Oh, but I understand why. In fact there is a…
I love the apostle Paul and the words God gave Him to write. He doesn’t beat about the bush. He gets to the heart of the matter and tells you exactly what is going on. “Foolish Galatians…” he wrote in Galatians 3:1. That comment makes me sit up a listen. I love to hear others…
Call me crazy, but I love food and I love to try different things. My kids have watched the movie Ratatouille more times than I can count and I decided I wanted to try to make it. Mind you, I didn’t want to make the difficult gourmet version as Remi did on the movie. No…
I hate to admit it, but I am ungrateful. Often I do not appreciate how hard my husband works, nor do I thank my children when they are kind to each other or pick up after themselves. No, I expect those behaviors. I expect as part of our marriage contract that my husband works outside…
Psalm 40:1-3 “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many…
I rubbed a blister on my hand today. I rubbed the blister into the palm of my right hand with the handle of a plunger. Yes, a NASTY plunger. It wasn’t the first time this week I had to plunge out a certain someone’s toilet. In fact it was just yesterday that I found my sweet…
Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” So Peter and John were ordinary. These are the men who have done miracles and seen miracles, but they are ordinary. These…
So at Bible Study we read and discussed the account of king Josiah from 2 Chronicles 34. He was a whopping eight years old when he became king. I can imagine the people who were behind getting him to the throne at such a young age. We know nothing of their intentions or who helped…
So my last post was on Naaman his account is in 2 Kings 5, but his account has other people in it. Namely two servants. The first one is a young girl. She was kidnapped from her homeland, Israel, during a raid and brought to Naaman’s house to serve his wife. We don’t know her…
Have you ever thought, “God, You want ME to do THAT?! I mean seriously, God isn’t there something bigger, greater, better for me to do? You really mean for those other people to do that, not me. I’m in management.” How often have you walked away from an opportunity God has placed before you because…
Francesca Battistelli has a song entitled Free to be Me in which a portion of the chorus says, “Perfection is my enemy.” Oh how true it is that perfection is my enemy. I convince myself that perfection is good. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for…
Here is a poem I wrote dated 6-20-2002 That Day You cried for me that day. You cried for my waywardness. You cried for my pain. You thought of me and You cried. You prayed for me that day. You prayed for strength. You prayed against temptation. You thought of me and You prayed. You…
So my seven year old has a new mantra…”I hate sin and I wish I never sinned.” I try to assure her that I feel the same way, but God continues to forgive. Isn’t that amazing? That even though we mess up over and over. Many times in the exact same way, He forgives us!!!…
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