“Take my hand, Claudia, I will keep you safe crossing this road.” I cannot count the number of times my parents said this when I was a child.
Between A Rock And The Best Place
Many “several years ago” when I had a hard body and long hair, I did some mountain climbing and rock climbing. During those times, I heard many climbers making pleas and promises to God such as: “Help me, Jesus! Lord, if you just get me off this mountain, I promise I will never do this again.” Sometimes during climbing the fear level on a Richter scale of 1 to 10 can be a 25.
Beauty in Barren Places
Last month, while jeeping on an alpine trail at 12,500 feet altitude, I was astounded at the bounty of glorious flowers. There were natural-formed bouquets of golden sunflowers, delicate lavender blooms scattered among them, and an array of pink and white blossoms peeking around the rocks.
The Real Super Glue
My professional background is in healthcare, and ever since my very first anatomy and physiology class I have been fascinated with the beauty, complex simplicities, and precision of God’s creation-----us!
Worth the Wait
Waiting is hard. The Bible is full of people who waited for God to fulfill a promise. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for God’s promised son to be born. Jacob waited for Rachel for 14 years. Moses and Joshua waited 40 years in the wilderness before God allowed the Israelites to enter the promised land. David waited 15 years to become king after his anointing.
Where Are Your Roots Planted?
The Lord led us to move to the Fort Worth area after living my entire life in East Texas. How exciting! What an adventure! Okay, Lord, lead and direct our path! It seemed so easy. Our house sold in one day. We began packing.
So Little to Give
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.