Lightbulb in the Dark
Well, I have had a lightbulb moment of colossal proportion...at least for me! I think as women in this world of ladder-climbing and achievement, that we often feel pressed to make our mark or make a significant contribution in some "important" way. I have battled an inner struggle for years, especially as my children grew older and less dependent, that nagged at me to do something bigger. Yet, for as long as I can remember, the only occupation I really ever wanted was that of wife and mother...even all through college. Certainly, I prepared myself for jobs that interested me during those years, and even did try my hand at a couple later on when the inner struggle won out, but it was never...
Words to Grow On
"Sometimes storms surround us, and the discordant sounds of our circumstances are so loud that they drown out the music. But deep inside us is a song that can rise from God's presence in our life. We can respond to the life that is inside us, not the storm that is outside us. Even when the storm rages, our response can echo the melody of freedom within us."Jennifer Rothschild
All in Good Time
Man I like to be in control. Don't you? I think one of the hardest things about being a Christian is turning over the wheel without taking it right back again. And the timing thing...God's timing that is. How often is God's clock running in the same time zone as ours? Almost never, in my experience. So, we're supposed to take off our watches and sit in the back seat (without being a back-seat driver!). Why is this so difficult? E just graduated this past week. When we started the process of college applications in the fall of last year, it was with eager anticipation. Which of the colleges would she choose to attend? She had a couple of favorites and was torn between which would be her new...
Cup of Tea
Today I was reading something that said we should "steep ourselves in Christ". Immediately, I thought of making tea, steeping the teabag in the hot water and waiting for the water to change into tea. As I continued to think about it, I discovered it really is a great analogy.What is a teabag, anyway? It's a little sack full of dead leaves. When you pour the water over the teabag it brings the dead leaves to life, so to speak, turning the dead into something new and full of flavor. In and of ourselves, we are dead in sin. When we are "steeped" in the Living Water, the old and dead becomes new and vibrant; something altogether different.Even after we've been changed, the analogy continues to...
The Proverbial Empty Nest
Oh that there had been "the blog" when my kids were growing up. I could've regaled you with stories of their antics, their funny sayings, their "firsts". But, as it happens, I'm writing the first entry to my blog poised on the edge of my almost-empty nest. I guess I will be writing, now, of new kinds of "firsts" for my girls; a new kind of "first" for me.E graduates in two weeks, and like every other mother before me, I'm filled with bitter-sweet emotion; thoughts of the little girl grown, able to remember the smell of her hair, the crooked turn of her giant permanent tooth next to her tiny baby tooth, the heft of her little toddler body. Oh, but it's tempting to go back in time - stop...