The gathering happened and afterward I returned home again to my warm, comfortable, familiar, safe haven. Now, nearly two weeks later, I look back with heartfelt gratefulness. It was such a stretch for me, but I’m so glad I met the people I did and am thankful for the messages that were shared. Over the years I’ve headed women’s ministries, Bible studies, retreats, and other church events. So I totally get the gatherings deal and the sincerest efforts to create a space where women will gather, feel the love, be ministered to, and not feel like they’re on the outside.…
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Your sphere of influence is broader than your sphere of acquaintance… have you ever stopped to think about that? Maybe you have never given much personal thought to the influence of your own life; maybe you think your mundane life, your seemingly menial work, doesn’t have much impact around you. But your daily walk, the investments you make in your home, family, prayer, work, church, etc., etc., are likely having a much greater impact than you can possibly imagine. We never know who is watching us—who will be affected by our actions—who will be influenced by our decisions, our faith,…
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More and more I find that what I used to consider my greatest hindrances were, in fact, actually my greatest teachers. I used to believe that all my troubles were attributable to lack of finances and consequently, thought all of them could be solved by a surplus. I considered all the disadvantages and often almost totally overlooked the great trust and creativity I was developing and gaining over the years. I used to overlook what God was placing right before my eyes. Troubled with how things were going to work out—crippled by fear that they wouldn’t, days were difficult and…
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Now, many decades ago, I climbed the steep steps up to the high dive at our local community pool in Southern California where I was raised. I’d been swimming most all my life (it was a given that most all the homes had a swimming pool) and from a young age I was able to dive and do back flips, etc., off the diving board. I wasn’t afraid of the water or the depth of pools. But the high dive was daunting. So high. I don’t recall how long it took me to muster the courage to mount those steps…
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A year ago I embarked on a journey to declutter our home — I wrote about that in several posts, Intentional DeCluttering, Tidying: You’re Still You!, and a couple more, beginning with, Eliminating Clutter. As I mentioned then, I hadn’t heard of Marie Kondo until after I’d begun the arduous project. My family “introduced” me to her program and teased me a bit about getting rid of everything that didn’t spark joy. The idea totally resonated with me and propelled me to keep working at it. And it still does in many ways. In the decluttering process I had to…
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You’ve heard the saying — probably have said it yourself from time to time: “Hindsight’s 20/20!” When looking back on what you did, what you shouldn’t have done, or what you’re sure you ought to have done, could have done, would have done… you may have reasoned a better outcome with your 20/20 hindsight vision. But it’s a lie. Hindsight isn’t 20/20. Hindsight isn’t 20/20 bcz we don’t know what God knows. You don’t know if you would have had a perfect outcome had you been able to exercise your now perfect 20/20 hindsight bcz you couldn’t have known all…
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[cp_dropcaps]T[/cp_dropcaps]hanksgiving is here, I heard someone exclaim. And one might immediately wonder how it came so quickly again this year. I mull this over (and, yes, I do marvel that another Thanksgiving is already upon us), I think: Is Thanks-giving here? I mean… here, here. Here in my heart, here in my life, here in my thoughts and in my words. I stop and take a mental inventory of my days of late. How thankful have I been–or have I displayed thankfulness at all? Is thanks g-i-v-i-n-g a characteristic plainly obvious in my life? Is thanks giving part of my…
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Those shots are blanks. They roar at us or past us, but they're blanks. God's mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is above the heavens. I may feel wounded by the shots of those blanks, but I mustn't think they'll destroy me -- I must take those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
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I know. The last entry I wrote was 7 months ago. Hounded by voices that tell me I’ve lost mine, by regrets that prevent me moving forward, and various time/emotional demands that drain creativity, I come to my blog and draw a blank — or am shot with one. But… again, here I am. I love to write. I love this platform. I love the connections it’s given me through the years. And I love that the Lord has given me a whole bunch more time and has absolutely dumped His great mercy and grace over me every day of…
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[cp_dropcaps]T[/cp_dropcaps]he finished work of the Cross is profound. It is finished, Jesus said. He had finished the work God had created Him to do, to complete, to finish: Unto us this child was born, unto us this child was given. “And they crucified Him…” Matthew 27.35 This is the finished work. This is what Jesus came to do. He came to die — die by the will of God, to shed His own blood, to lay His life down. In that moment a great transaction was accomplished. The wrath of God: satisfied. In that moment the rending of the veil…