Grandmother smelled of sugar lemon drops, Juicy Fruit gum, and the mustiness that follows a morning mass filled with incense and random splashes of holy water. She was round, soft, and good for planting several sloppy kisses on me a … Continue reading
“from another place…” Esther 4:14 How often are we convinced that we are irreplaceable? If we don’t do it, no one will? We convince ourselves: “If it’s gonna be done right, I’ll have to do it!” Esther was chosen to … Continue reading
Aah…the middle school years…somewhere between ‘old enough’ and ‘not quite.’ We encourage our children to be independent thinkers among their peers. We also expect them to rely on our wisdom. It’s a struggle to define the line between: Independence and … Continue reading
Divide and Conquer was our strategy. There were five of us attending Lifeway’s DotMom conference in Birmingham and the break out sessions offered were so intriguing we decided to divide and conquer to get as much out of the conference … Continue reading
In what is now the new norm for communication, social media, it seems that every day there is an opportunity to engage with or against those we are connected to through this medium. And honestly you don’t even have to be connected to them to read and respond to what people think, feel and want to say. But with all this accessibility comes responsibility, especially for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. While we may hold tightly to possession of “our” Facebook wall, the irony of it is that we relinquish possession in some sense by giving mass access to it, thereby making us accountable to all those who see it in the manner in which we conduct ourselves when posting on it.
I am one who reads a lot and tries to stay informed in the hope of having a more balanced view of our world and the people in it! I like to be in the know! But after the recent weeks of emotionally charged issues, my spirit was crying “I need a cultural detox!” Anyone else feel that way? I honestly wanted to hole up in my house and purge and cleanse with the Word of God! While that is a necessary thing, we can’t stay “holed up” in our homes or we are not a light set on a hill but rather hidden under a bushel basket.
So how can we navigate the turbulent waters of our cultural, political and religious times, baring our thoughts and feelings through social media while remaining Kingdom focused, above reproach and gracious? I have been reminded of a few things from God’s word that I would like to share with you.
1) “Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Col 3:2 Continue reading
At first glance this morning I noticed a difference in the Rock Garden. My white impatient flowers were all missing! Once before I had noticed this phenomenon…last year and now again. The clues all indicated a garden intruder. With trampled pine straw, chewed off Hosta leaves and missing impatient blooms, this could only mean one thing—the deer had made a visit.
I had set the table for them with delicacies too tempting to resist as they passed over our backyard on their jog down the creek bank. So today I resolved to find a deterrent plant before I re-invest in more flowers. With no consequences to pay—my rock garden has become an open invitation to ‘come and dine’ for our deer friends!
God in His infinite wisdom designed our life with deterrents set in place to aid us in making right decision—not just acclimates when the right decisions have been made. I Corinthians 10:13 instructs us that temptation is common to all of us, but with the temptation, He will provide a way to escape that we will be able to resist succumbing to the wrong pressure.
The deer in my back yard need a way to escape—a deterrent from my rock garden flowers—and I’m determined to find it at the garden center!
I found the remedy for my rock garden dilemma! Continue reading
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