His Words for When You Can’t Seem to Let Go
I was talking to a friend recently who is really struggling with some control issues. She knows in her heart that she's basically trying manage a herd of cats, holding onto things over which she has no control at all, but she can't seem to let go. I don't know about you, but it happens to me all the time, too. He has something to say about that. Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. ~ James 4:1 MSG Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have...
The Wasted Time of Defiance
It was beautiful here yesterday. Unseasonably warm to the point that the gal across the street from my daughter's house was washing her car in shorts and a tank top, her toddler "helping" in nothing but a diaper. Personally, I was very comfortable in my long-sleeve t-shirt and running pants, but, hey, I'm old. When Lilli got home from school, I told her that I would take her, and her brother, to the park after she finished her homework. Spurred on by thoughts of slides, swings, and possible friends from school to play with, she gave it her utmost and we were soon out the door. It was a double score on friends, as she spotted two right off the bat and off she ran to play. Brody had...
Defining Moments
Yesterday, I had this picture pop up in my "On This Day" on Facebook. It looks like a picture you'd dump off your phone, but, to me, it's hilarious and perfect. That's a very unfortunate capture of Beth Moore, and me, running behind her to get my camera. Yes, camera, because this was taken 7 years ago and that's what we used back in the olden days. I was at a live recording of a Travis Cottrell album, at First Baptist Church Woodstock, just outside of Atlanta, and I was meeting a bunch of other bloggers for the first time. Most of us had met virtually on Beth Moore's blog, and when she walked in as a surprise that day, we were all a little flabbergasted. I reposted the picture yesterday,...
Completely Different
Sometimes you pray, and pray, and pray, and then you pray some more. You throw yourself down, face to the carpet, begging God for the deepest desire of your heart, crying what seem like tears of blood into the fibers that brush your face. You ask others to pray with you, believing, trusting with everything in you that God will answer. And then He does. You're beside yourself with joy! You understand the scriptures anew that claim to praise His name from the mountaintops, and if you had a mountain, you would do that, too. You spread the news of His marvelous works, and rest in awe at the gift you've been given. You plan and dream and hope for the future of that gift, celebrating with...
Dinner Bell
I was outside with the dogs last night, just as the sun was beginning its descent and the light was all golden honey goodness. Hearing the gate making an erratic clanging, I looked up, already knowing what I would see. Every single day, at the very same time, they come, up from the back pasture, or the middle, or back in the trees. From wherever they are on the property, it's as if they hear a dinner bell being rung and obey it's call, knowing something more substantial than the pasture grass awaits. It makes me think about church, oddly enough. Truthfully, we've struggled to settle into a church home since we moved into this house four years ago. We've visited and visited, finally...