Recently, my life has had a running theme of “Catch and Release.” A few years back, my husband and I took our kids fishing in a place that promised us glorious trout to no end. My logical husband said that we needed to let the fish go after catching them though because he knew that my daughter and I would not eat them because we detest fish. Knowing full well that I had no intention on eating these trout, I refused to let them go. I wanted to keep them, because I caught them. They were mine! I spent precious hours of my time luring these boogers in and I am not about to put them back into that lake.
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“Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” ~ Romans 6:13
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in my garden lately. And – as Easter has drawn closer – I’ve found myself comparing the new life in the ground before me to the new life we find in Jesus. As I tend my garden I realize that my heart needs tending every bit as much as the ground I kneel on.
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As we slept, the snow fell.
In the middle of April we awoke to a blanket of white covering the days before almost greening yard. While months ago we would have rejoiced with excitement over this then autumn gift, seeing it in the days prior to Easter left not much joy or excitement in our hearts.
Even my five year old responded in disgust as he lamented over having to wear a hat outside.
“I wish it would just stay spring,” he cried.
This year spring seems to be taking forever to actually arrive. I’m teased with bursts of green and then the next day by blustery winds.
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What fun it is as a little girl to dress up in mommy’s clothes: Clomping around the house in her shoes. Putting on mommy’s necklaces and make-up. I remember how I loved to go to my great-grandmother’s house and put on her sparkly clip-on earrings. I felt so grown-up and beautiful.
But lately, I have noticed my daughters have been putting on more than just my clothes and jewelry. They have been wearing some of my unlovely attitudes. They have been trying on some of my not so pretty tones of voice. Yuck. Is that really what I want my daughters dressing up in?
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Written on
April 13, 2011 by
Mary in
Blog
In the midst of California’s unusally stormy past couple of winters, there’s a story that’s been unfolding for some time. One day it took a dramatic leap as a cliff gave way, taking the hillside (and a couple of back porches) from an apartment complex on the coast.
Funny, we’ve known since biblical times that it’s not wise to build on shifting sands, but in California and Florida, and even along the shores of rivers and lakes in-between, people sacrifice security for the view.
As one evacuating resident said “The beauty is still here, but there’s no safety.”
If you grew up in church, you probably remember the children’s song that says, “The foolish man built his house upon the sand…the rains came down, and the floods came up…and the house on the sand went SMASH!”
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Have you ever wanted to program your husband to say the right things?
Imagine. You walk down the stairs for a coveted date night with the man of your life after spending hours choosing just the right outfit to disguise your left over baby weight. You’ve spent extra time putting on your “face,” even taking the time to Google some make-up tips and tricks. With your smoky nighttime eyes, you walk past your man looking down at your freshly painted toes, hoping he’ll notice your lids.
You twirl, pretending to look at the television, giving him a view of you from all angles.
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I love reading the Song of Solomon in the Bible. This book has two interpretations. One interpretation is that of a natural love between King Solomon and his bride, the Shulamite maiden. It emphasizes biblical principles that honor the beauty of love within marriage. The other interpretation is symbolic of the spiritual truths in our relationship with Jesus behind the natural love story. I remember how embarrassed I used to feel when reading this book because I often felt as if I were imposing on the love between this man and woman.
Over the last year, the Lord has began to unlock my heart and give me greater revelation of His love for me.
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We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
I awakened this morning with the title of this post running through my mind. What if the first time you had a thought, it was just that . . . a thought? The second time you thought it, you were granted a mulligan by God’s grace. But if you continued spinning it around in your head, it appeared across your forehead in ticker tape format. Right there for everyone to see!
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