When we hear of someone being “in a valley”, we know someone is in a hard place. But if I google valley or mountain valley, beautiful images of lush, dark green, flat land appears with streams and lakes. Going through really hard times isn’t like a valley, it’s a desert. Where my feet are hot and I look around for a spot to hop over to for relief and all around me is hard, hot, dry, cracked ground. I am thirsty. My only hope of water is a hot hop away in a cactus that I have to chop down, open with my hands and then suck out the middle, fleshy part of the cactus which is suppose to contain water! There is no dark green, lush, lawn by a stream to rest for awhile before I get to climb to the top of the mountain and experience the joy and exhilaration from being on top.
Continue reading Thirsting for God in the Desert →
As an emotional person, I get the feeling sometimes of having to play Christian. To present myself as a godly women, I must only be happy and grateful. The message of good Christians don’t feel angry, sorrowful, anguish or depressed at times has pervaded our churches. Yet when I open my Bible and read it, I don’t find just the happy verses we hear quoted. I find it filled with raw emotions.
Continue reading Joy, Hard Times, Anguish and the Christian →
I think of raising my children and all of the things I tried to teach them. The lessons I’ve wanted them to learn; how to handle problems, how to extend grace to others, how to manage time and money, questions about eternal life….. But if I knew I was going to die tonight what would I want my last words to be to them?
I would want to make sure they stay close to each other and get together regularly. I want them to read their Bible and teach my grandchildren the importance of their Christian faith. I want them to know life is hard but Jesus is faithful. I want them to laugh and enjoy life, marveling at what is in creation and appreciating the beauty. I want them to appreciate how God made us different and to learn the best from others. I want them to be humble and forgiving. I want so much for them. So much would be flowing out of my verbal existence. It’s hard to boil it down to one thing.
What would be the most important thought I want them to remember and pass on to their children?
Continue reading Last Words →
Numbers Game
I think blogs are weird. I sit and write to no one and hope someone will magically happen upon my page and critic my thoughts. I also think the concept of using my day to follow others is odd. It’s creepy to waste time scrolling through the lives of people I haven’t seen in thirty years. Yet it is amazing how much of my day I can waste doing it. This is our culture. We live in a society of modern day voyerism but not voyerism because people proclaim it openly for me to see.
What is even more odd is spending time writing a public blog that no one may ever read or follow to read again. If I was just blogging it wouldn’t be so bad because writing isn’t really the time issue, it’s the formatting and figuring out pictures so the site doesn’t look as technology incompetent as I am. With blogging, my life becomes a number game. Who I am following becomes less relevant then how many people are following me.
My husband has a tolerance of the kitchen being less then clean as I start this because he wants to be encouraging, but encouragement has a time limit. If in three years he has lived with a neglected house and my mom is the only who cares to read this I think I’ll hear, “it’s time to stop the blog and just pick up the phone.”
Life really isn’t about who is following me but who am I following.
Continue reading Is life about who I follow or who is following me? →
“Do you fast?” was the first question the muslim man asked me as I sat down next to him in the airplane. I wish I had a picture of his shocked face as I answered yes. “I have never met a Christian yet who even knew their Bible said they were supposed to fast,”he answered.
I contemplated fasting for several years before I tried it. I was in a Bible study with a woman named Stephanie who told me about her fasting and being able to hear from Jesus more clearly. I wanted to fast and experience hearing clearly from Jesus from the moment I heard her talk about it but…… I’m a foodaholic. How does one addicted to food give it up for prayer?
Continue reading Fasting →
Blah blah blah….
I hate to admit this but sometimes when I read a section in the Old Testament I find myself saying blah, blah, blah, blah. There just seem to be so many long chapters about small details I don’t relate to in my life. My quest lately has been to change my attitude and find releventacy in the Old Testament and look for Jesus in them. I’ve been praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal something to me in those chapters I’ve had a habit of skipping or tuning out. While I was reading through Exodus, I came upon some of those chapters, law chapters. You know those laws about slaves, restitution with animals, minute details about how to build the the temple with everything in it, and other things I can just skip over as not relevant to me.
God reveals Himself
Continue reading Set Apart →
It’s easy to read through my post and tell I’ve been studying Exodus. Sometimes I like to read through the same book in the Bible two ways; the whole book in one setting and then verse by verse slowly. Digesting the book in one setting helps see overall themes and the character of God. In Exodus, I see God really revealing His power and patience. On the other hand, is anyone else struck by how many miracles God does to reveal Himself to the Israelites and they still didn’t trust Him? If you grew up in church like I did, one can’t help but read through the Exodus story and be exasperated with the way they never believed God was going to keep helping them after everything He already had done for them.
Miracles verses day to day provisions.
Continue reading miracles verses living water →
Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I think if we were honest most of those who are preparing food have a yea and yuck attitude toward holidays. It’s the excitement of having my family home and being able to relax and catch up on their lives verses the house should be clean and I should have some food ready to eat.
Serving verses Serving
Continue reading who shall I serve? →
Who I am?
I am a stay at home mom. That used to mean more when the house was full of little children. I feel like nowadays I am just at home. My children have grown and I look around and think, “now what?”
I am obviously not looking for a computer job or as I write-nothing that requires really good spelling skills. I wonder if I hand out a resume that shows once upon a time I used be quite accomplished or one that is blank for the last twenty years?
I wrote that who I follow affects how I act and the choices I make. Jesus determines my choices. But as I look through job openings, I wonder if who I follow affects my future?
Continue reading Who I am? Now verses my Future Purpose →
WHY NOT SUGAR SWEET?
SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR
I grew up in a home where at anytime, anyone could walk into my house, walk downstairs to the freezer and find at least ten different types of cookies. There are bakeries all over the world that would love to have my mom bake for them. She was known for her baking, the incredible taste and the variety: cherry bars, m&m cookies, orange chocolate bars, mint cookies, peanut/raisin cookies, chocolate fudge bars, peanut butter balls…. I have grown up and continued the baking tradition with some variances. I’ve added brownies to this list due to my husband’s cravings for them, and my friend Barb convinced me truffles were easy to make, then my daughter and I decided to dabble in wedding cakes. It’s my mom’s and daughter’s love language to bake– bake sweet things that is. We are not a family on a paleo diet. In fact, when things don’t turn out well in the kitchen, our motto is “the only thing that makes sugar taste better is more sugar!”
TOO MUCH SUGAR IS A BAD THING! WHAT?
Continue reading Why not the so sugar sweet servant? →
committed servant of Jesus
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