It is Sunday morning and I am looking out my big windows at the way the sun is hitting the trees behind my house. From here you’d never know that there is a brisk snap in the air as we slide from autumn and into winter. Even as the leaves are slowly shifting from green to yellow, I am still grieving the end of summer and my daily swims out there beneath the trees.
I am becoming an expert on those particular leaves because today is my 5th day of riding this couch with a flu bug. (“Riding” is really not the right word though.
Continue Reading »
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”Colossians 3:12-14
I had a small bible study with my husband on these verses and I felt so encouraged by God after reading them.
God calls His children to love and obey His commands because of what He has done for us. He loved us so much that He sent His one and only son – Jesus Christ– to this earth so we could all have the chance to follow Him and spend eternity with Him.
Continue Reading »
Do you like me? Am I valuable? Am I beautiful?
Have you struggled with any of these questions? The desire to know that we’re loved, valuable, secure, and accepted is part of being human. These are the questions that our hearts ask when we are depending on ourselves to feel beautiful and whole.
What’s underneath this need to know that we have what it takes? Have you tried to build an identity on what you can accomplish or what you look like? The longing to prove we are adequate, valuable,and loved lurks beneath the surface of all our trying. You may think you’re the only one who feels this way, but we all feel this way at times.
Continue Reading »
This sweet girl is Summer, our new fur baby.
About two weeks ago we adopted Summer from a local shelter. Before we brought her home, the kids and I went to our local pet store to load up on treats, toys, food, and a new crate. We’ve got a lovely new bed for her, a stuffed duck that squeaks, an assortment of balls, and a toy raccoon. She’s not using any of those things, though.
Summer is afraid to come inside the house.
Before she came home with us, Summer had lived almost all of her life at the shelter. They were good to her, but she had no experience with things like tile floors, carpet, swinging screen doors, or noisy washing machines.
Continue Reading »
“Because prayer happens while we are immersed in the particulars of life, there is no single formula to follow.” Winn Collier
I sat with journal open, seeking to pray but finding that the words were not forthcoming. Praying with my pen has always helped me focus my prayers, clarifying my thoughts and words. But on this morning, I could only sit, quietly staring out the window at the Red Maples in all of their splendor. My thoughts were focused, and on God’s beauty- the wonder of it all. I felt swept up to a heavenly seat, with my Father by my side, but I had no words.
Continue Reading »
Fall is beautiful where I live. The velvety Blue Ridge Mountains have spun the color wheel and landed on warm yellows, oranges and reds.
I’m blessed to live in an area that enjoys all four seasons, and I enjoy watching them come and go.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Continue Reading »
Okay, I’m certain that statement makes me sound a little crazy, but trust me, it’s a personal object lesson in Faith. I am inclined to get agitated by the little things, e.g., misplaced keys, lost documents, items I just had my hands on. Oddly enough, the bigger things I am adept at managing. Trust me, when disaster rolls in, I’m your go-to girl. But it’s the little things, conversations I anticipate will be difficult, silly things that manage to get under my skin, waiting for information beyond my control, until I decided to get a handle on them, those lost things would have been my undoing.
Continue Reading »
She reaches out weekly. Sometimes through email if we miss our hug at church. And when she asks how I am, I know she wants the honest truth no matter how long it takes me to get it all out. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like, but I know she lifts me up to Our Father in prayer often. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the best kind of friend there is.
I trust her with my heart because she handles it with love and always lifts it up to Jesus for Him to take care of.
Continue Reading »
