So, I’m drinking my tea… browsing the news (okay, yes, and checking in on Facebook), and I noticed an article about new food packaging. Arrggghh! If there’s a subject that’s really gotten me going lately, it is this!! Less food in “better” packaging for more money! Arrggghh! Bought a box – bag – whatever, package of bathroom tissue from Costco — the marketing! Omy. These rolls were giant rolls = like getting two regular rolls in one. A week or so later, I’m standing there looking at the two packages. One package contained x number of rolls, x square-inches of…
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Today is not my birthday. Yesterday was not my birthday. The day before yesterday… was. Yet, I woke up yesterday expecting that it should still be my birthday – you know, treats, party hats and special treatment. I call this the birthday-princess mentality. It happens. The birthday princess mentality is kin to other princess mentalities — you know, the date-princess, the shopping-princess, the napping-princess. You get the idea. It’s as if whenever some delightful thing/event/outing happens, it ought to continue happening, I mean, I am the birthday (or whatever) princess after all. I woke up this morning to the reality…
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I snapped this photo one day when one of our little boys was doing dishes for me and when I came in to check his progress, I noticed the dishes weren’t loaded properly — an error that was glaringly obvious to me. Funny thing was, it wasn’t obvious to him. He was actually very proud of how neatly he had put the cups and glasses into the dishwasher rack. I showed him that, while they were neat, they weren’t going to get clean inside because they would only fill with water, they would not be washed out by the sprayer…
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The lacy green leaves are slowly appearing and daffodils are beginning to bloom around the old willow tree. Isn’t it an awesome wonder: Every year, every passing season, has its marvelous reminders of the lavish mercy and everlasting kindness of the Lord. May I never take this for granted nor think it not majestic. Passing through many seasons in thirty-three years of marriage, I so hope I never again take for granted my husband’s care and thoughtful gestures. You know, it’s something we all do — take for granted things that are or have been long present with us. …
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Telling stories of your yesterdays bores some people, encourages some people and inspires some people — embarrasses some people, too. I know, many times through the years, I’ve witnessed the reactions women have when some woman opens her mouth to share her story. I’ve seen it when I’ve shared my story. They’ve heard it all before and they’re weary at the thought of having to hear it ah-gain. People totally write other people off when they’re weary of hearing their stories. Sadly, as some poor woman begins to utter the first sentence of her story (again), her audience, as if…
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That’s how the stories usually begin… that’s how they usually come tumbling out of mouth of a woman sitting beside me. The story is actually prefaced with: Can I talk to you? And after I say, Of course, hot tears seem to well up in the eyes of the one who desperately needs to tell someone — someone who will listen, someone who will understand, someone who will care. [ Because of something I might have shared there in a talk or because of the “safe-feeling” of the setting – maybe it’s after a Bible study, a Ladies’ Tea or…
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Still drinking from my saucer ’cause my cup’s overflowed. And, in light of the horrific tragedy that’s befallen Japan, I want to say what I’ve written today is in no way meant to make light of that whole situation. Just wanted to make those comments before I continue writing today’s blog entry. I want to write some more chapters in my CSA mini-series. I’ve dealt with the results, the unintended consequences or the results of sexualabuse through the years and here and there a thought or reaction will come up. It’s always unexpected, always surprising — but always there. CSA…
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When Timothy was born, there was a brief hush over the delivery room — enough time for me to realize there must be a problem. Fearing the worst, I asked my husband if the baby had died. No, he said, he’s going to be fine. As Timothy was born, the doctor could see that the cord was wrapped around his next and as he loosened it, it was obvious that there was also a complete knot in his umbilical cord the hush was their surprise that he was just quiet and still — completely fine. The team of attendants appeared…
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Can you believe we’re living in these days? That in the history of the world — His-story — we’re alive in these days! Remarkable! Truly remarkable! These thoughts and more came to me while reading in 2 Thessalonians 2 and elsewhere today. All over the world there are great surges of sensational events — and they truly are worldwide; the world is in chaos. And the catastrophes are piling up! The multifaceted cataclysmic tragedy in Japan seems to me to be a great picture of these days — especially within the church. And a subtle, but similar rumbling is afoot…
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So many times — so many times over the years I’ve asked the Lord to help me learn… Lord, help me learn from this expensive lesson. Lord, I know the situation I’m in is from You… help me learn. Lord, if You have handed me this experience… then help me learn. Lord, even if I say to You, I cannot do this, please do not leave me to myself… please help me learn. These have been the pleas of my heart many, many times through the years. There have been many “monuments of trust” or markers of faith in my…