The Freedom of Self-Denial

The Freedom of Self-Denial

by | Sep 24, 2020 | ,

“Mom, are you serious?? What is wrong with you? No one else in the world has stupid rules like this. I hate it! You’re ruining my life! You and dad are the worst!”

I sat there suppressing a smile and polishing my Mother of the Year trophy while the child-who-shall-not-be-named stomped out of the room.

Sorry, kid, this isn’t our first rodeo.

In case you’re wondering about the preposterous rule, Jeff and I recently implemented a “No technology during the school week” policy. You can imagine how well that went over.

Y’all, sometimes parenting is really hard. Okay, most of the time, parenting is really hard! Making our kids mad at us is no fun. Setting limits and boundaries we know they won’t like is terribly difficult. Listening to them tell us that we are ruining their life (and wondering if it’s true) is heart-wrenching.

But sometimes a mom (or dad) has to do what a mom (or dad) has to do…

Letting Go and Trusting God

Letting Go and Trusting God

by | Aug 15, 2020 |

“Now, all you have to do is let go and lean back,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as though he wasn’t really asking much. Didn’t he know we were standing on the edge of a cliff, several hundred feet in the air?

The last thing I wanted to do was let go and lean back!

He must have noticed my white knuckles gripping the rope, because he went on to remind me of what would happen if I didn’t listen.

“I know your instinct is to hold onto the rope and hug the side, but trust me, you don’t want to do that. If you lean forward, you’ll slam into the rocks and it won’t be pretty. This is what you came here for! Just trust me. Count to three, let go, and lean back, parallel to the ground. I won’t let you fall. Trust me!”

Trust me…

The Best Way to Prepare for Something New

The Best Way to Prepare for Something New

by | Jul 31, 2020 | ,

If you are anything like me, I tend to pray either very generally for my kids (Lord, let them love You!) or very selfishly (Lord, keep them safe. Lord, don’t let me kill them if they sass me again!). While there is nothing wrong with these prayers- I am a firm believer that God loves for us to come to Him with whatever is on our hearts- I have found that praying God’s Word releases an entirely different kind of power.

Finding Balance When Life Feels Out of Control

Finding Balance When Life Feels Out of Control

by | Jul 26, 2020 | ,

I tend to think of life as though I am standing in the middle of a see-saw, trying to keep either side from slamming into the ground. In order to keep it balanced, I am constantly making little adjustments. I lean this way and then that way, but not too much- just enough to keep everything in the air. When something happens that pushes one side down, I respond by shifting my weight a little, so that one thing doesn’t overwhelm the rest of my life.
But sometimes, someone (or something- like COVID) plops in one of the seats, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t regain my balance. For awhile, I jump up and down on the other side, trying to make something happen, but to no avail. Eventually, I give up and sit down… or lose my balance and fall off altogether. Then what?

Listening to the Right Voice: Hearing the Quiet Whisper in a Noisy World

Listening to the Right Voice: Hearing the Quiet Whisper in a Noisy World

by | Jul 8, 2020 | ,

When there are too many voices shouting all around us, or when God seems to be absent from our circumstances, it is THEN that we most need to listen for His voice. He is still working, even when we don’t see it. He is still present, even when we can’t feel it…
Haman had a plan, but He didn’t plan on God. Esther didn’t have a plan, but she chose to listen to God and walk in obedience. The result is a story of God delivering the people of Israel through the faithfulness of two ordinary people seeking HIS voice in extraordinary circumstances.

Embracing Transition: 4 Steps to Making the Most of a Milestone

Embracing Transition: 4 Steps to Making the Most of a Milestone

by | Jun 25, 2020 | ,

This milestone got me thinking about those mile markers along the interstate. I often think of them as telling me how much farther I have to go, but really their purpose is to remind us of where we are and how far we’ve come. That little number on the side of the road is the sum of all the miles we have travelled so far.

Most of the time, I get caught up using that number to determine how many miles I have left on my journey, but when I do that, I miss the whole point.

I forget to celebrate how far I’ve come. I miss out on the landscape of that particular part of the path. And if I’m not careful, I may even end up overlooking an opportunity to take a better route.

Friend, are you partway along a path, in need of a mile marker to give you perspective? (Keep reading…)

Moving Forward

Moving Forward

by | Jun 8, 2020 | ,

The past few months, and the last week in particular, have made it difficult for many of us to know how to move forward.

We don’t want to move on too quickly.
We don’t want to be insensitive to others.
We don’t want to act like nothing ever happened.
We don’t want to say the wrong thing or not say the right thing.

We want to make a difference, but we’re not sure how.

We find ourselves paralyzed, not sure when or how to move forward.

And yet, life continues on around us. Family and children and work await our attention. For just a little while, the world seemed to hold its breath, but at some point it needs to exhale and start breathing again.

And that’s okay.

It’s okay to move forward.

You don’t have to forget, and it doesn’t mean you didn’t really care. Your emotions may still be all over the place, or you may be confused about what to do next.

It’s okay- in the words of Elisabeth Elliot, “Just do the next thing.”

Sorting Through the Mess: A Thoughtful Perspective on the Division in America

Sorting Through the Mess: A Thoughtful Perspective on the Division in America

by | May 30, 2020 |

I am implying that as long as we ignore our contradicting voices, as long as we are easily persuaded by the power of suggestion, if we continue to react on emotion instead of thinking critically and engaging all aspects of a certain issue, it will be very difficult for us as a society to make any kind of lasting change.

And the enemy loves this.

Satan loves to distract us and deceive us and divide us. He loves to whisper to us about our rights, about vengeance. He loves to make generalizations and cast blame and stoke anger. And if he can keep us busy fighting each other, he doesn’t have to worry about us fighting him.

But there is One who is greater..

Memorial Day: Embracing the Freedom to Remember

Memorial Day: Embracing the Freedom to Remember

by | May 25, 2020 |

It’s Memorial Day.  For most of us, that means a day off of work, yummy food on the grill, and quality time with family, preferably near water of some sort- a pool, a lake, or an ocean. I wonder how many people actually pause the celebrations in order to reflect...