Have you ever taken on a project that felt impossible? You don’t know where to start. It feels overwhelming. There are too many steps in the process. Certain things have to happen that are out of your control in order to accomplish it
A Display of His Splendor
Spring! After months of gray skies, bare, spindly trees, and brown grass, green emerges. Flowers bloom, showing their beauty. Sap makes its way to the tops of trees, filling them with life-giving nutrients to come alive with fresh foliage.
Just Do the Thing!
God has called me to do a task. A big one. He’s confirmed it over and over, and yet, for the past two years, I have done all manner of things to avoid it. Why do I do this?
Trusting
I play a little game with my son where I ask him how much I love him. He replies in numbers. The joke is that he usually says, “zero” or “one.” Then I correct him with the craziest number I can make up, which is undoubtedly unscientific, followed by tickles and laughter. There is no number that can express quantitatively how much I love my children. Though we play silly games, my son knows that I love him. He believes it. He trusts me, he trusts in my unfailing love.
Waiting
Have you seen all the hype about the releases of new phones, video games, etc.? People guess about release dates, and news is made when information about the product is leaked. People line up, maybe even camp out for days, to get the latest and greatest.
Falling
I live in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Yep, you guessed it, surrounded by pine trees. The school district I attended from Kindergarten through graduation is even named Pine Tree Independent School District. I have to admit, I love the pine trees. I love walking in the woods, and I love the smell of these evergreens.
Drifting
I watched my husband and our daughter paddle out into the surf in a kayak. They moved through the water to look at the array of fish under them. At times they stopped paddling, but they did not stop moving. Sometimes they drifted further away from where they wanted to go. It required intentional effort to move in the right direction. To go where they wanted to go, they had to pursue it. Just drifting was not going to be enough.
Condemning
Doesn’t everyone have it all together? My house is clean. I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish at work. My attitude with my husband has been perfect. I have excelled in parenting and disciplining my children.
How Can We Pray for You?
I’m not sure what made me say it, but as I started to speak, I knew it was right.
“We are about to pray over our meal. How can we pray for you?”
Reframe
Have you ever had a conversation that helped you reframe a current circumstance? Recently my husband’s comments about a difficult situation provided me much-needed perspective.
Singing and Running
They tried everything they could to reduce her fever. Witch hazel. An ice bath. They knew a doctor was the best decision to save their daughter’s life. With no phone and no vehicle, they did the only thing they could.
Fighting Back
I’ve heard the story so many times I can see it in my mind.
My grandmother’s chili simmered over the campfire. My dad and his brothers, fishing in the nearby stream, noticed movement in the trees. A bear with a fondness for beef sauntered toward the fire.
The Wrong Voice
My family recently visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum where we took a self-paced tour guided by iPhones and earbuds.
Trust God’s Discipline
My older daughter was given a cell phone when she started getting involved in a lot of drop-off events. When we gave her the phone we also included with it a set of rules that we expected her to respect and obey.
Trusting God Can Cleanse You
Zechariah had a vision from the Lord. It was set up similar to a court setting and standing on trial was Joshua, the high priest. Zechariah saw the angel of the Lord and Satan standing next to Joshua ready to accuse him for his wrong doings.
Trusting in God’s Hands
My six-year old daughter was in the bathroom staring in the mirror with tears rolling down her face. She was torn with emotions of fear and courage trying to wiggle out her extremely loose tooth.
Trusting God Through Worship
I love singing worship music while in the car listening to the local Christian radio station or at church during worship service. I just love to sing!
The Sounds of Silence…revealed by His Spirit
Ladies, put yourselves in the shoes of Jesus’ closest followers in the forty days between resurrection Sunday and His ascension. Think how absolutely amazed on one hand and bewildered on the other you would have felt. He was alive! He was the Messiah as the prophets of old said! There would indeed be a kingdom of God on earth! But He would be leaving—it would be up to you to testify to the world about this kingdom. Oh yes, and I have promised you a gift from the Father; only you must wait for that gift (Acts 1:1-10).
The Sounds of Silence…in God’s Word
While snow may be a dirty word in Texas this year, it’s not really the snow per se. Think how beautiful your backyard looked blanketed in white as the snowflakes drifted down. If only the freezing rain and sleet and hail and temperatures that dove to minus six had not lingered for all those days.