• Devotionals - Faith

    Trusting God With His Plans

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Trusting God with His plans surely sounds like a worthy disposition for a Christian woman, doesn’t it? Maybe even the proper automatic reaction, too.  Were I to be asked, Do you trust God with His plans? I’d probably instantly and emphatically say, yes. Yes, I trust God with His plans.  And then something hard to deal with happens, it might not look like it.  And it is, I’ve come to believe, in that moment we have a decision to make: Do we act on what we say/think we believe or do we act on what we think we see. [cp_quote…

  • Devotionals

    Yet you may live a great life

    February 25, 2017 - By 

    “You may be very discontented with yourself… no genius, have no brilliant gifts… are inconspicuous… mediocrity is the law of your existence…  Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may have a great life.” Well that started out on a refreshing note, didn’t it? But then I continued to read and came to the author of the section I was reading.  Humbled that I thought it was a tough read, and, yes, a convicting one.  This, from the Streams in the Desert devotional, a daily reading habit I’ve taken up again. (note: Sift some entries…

  • Faith - my story - Potpourri

    blindsided

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    I was once in an accident that blindsided me.  It happened in a startling flash! And though nearly four decades have passed,  I haven’t forgotten sitting there in the car, shocked that while making a left turn in a blind hilltop intersection, I’d just been spun around and was facing an entirely different direction on the hill I’d intended to drive down to go home.   Soon I would talk with an officer and would receive a citation and have to go to traffic court.   It was a mercy that a very lenient judge determined that though the accident was my…

  • Musings - Potpourri

    that you may contribute a verse

    February 19, 2017 - By 

    My husband sent me a link to a site — I clicked the link and read the words: What will your verse be? I read and reread the article — trying to comprehend the depth of the meaning of the words.  I read the poem from which the thought was taken.  I still mulled over the words.  In an instant they’re easy to read and understand.  What will your verse be?  What will your verse be? What will your verse be? What will your verse be?  Hmmmm… you mean today, right now?  Does this mean tomorrow?  Does this mean in the…

  • Motherhood - my story

    reclaiming former resolve

    February 15, 2017 - By 

    Resolve. Quite a number of times recently I’ve longed for reclaiming former resolve.  Sort of the embracing of the old paths — things that became such high priorities in former days.  So now, I humbly say, experiences in recent years have really knocked me down and drained my resolve.  Sinking in worthlessness jolted my senses and made me realize resolve had slipped away.  Wait!  Where’d it go?  Where did the eagerness go? In the eighties and early nineties I had many young children — the days were full and busy — and while some of my priorities bordered on legalism,…

  • my story - Slices of Life

    bold confidence, sheer determination, blind faith

    January 28, 2017 - By 

    In my earlier years, I seem to have had no lack of bold confidence or sheer determination (and what was becoming blind faith).  As I look back now on those earlier days — so many amazing (and so many cringe-worthy 😲) days!  I marvel at the goodness and mercy of God! The other day Hannah asked me if I regret any of the purchases we made in the early days of parenting.  This conversation was sparked by a comment I made regarding the proliferation of infant and toddler necessities — all the latest stuff young mothers think they must have…

  • Grandparenting - Motherhood - Potpourri

    Two Miraculous Births

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    [cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Two births — the birth of a mother, the birth of a child.[/cp_quote]Every time I assist a birth I watch and watch and watch for not one, but two miraculous births — first the birth of a mother, that powerful time of dying to herself with a burst of unparalleled bravery and resolve to give every ounce of energy, hope, and strength to that little life in her pain racked body…and then, of course, the emergence of that little baby — that life that’s been at the center of all the hopes, all the tears, all the anticipation, and…

  • Devotionals - Faith

    Faith. Falling into the Hand of the Lord

    June 24, 2016 - By 

    In First Peter, regarding faith, we read: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of…

  • Family - Slices of Life - Society

    the subtle shift

    April 29, 2016 - By 

    January 6, 2006 It’s so subtle and is happening so slowly and smoothly that it’s hardly noticeable to some people—the faint shift from day to day to the acceptance of immorality.  Think for a moment about the church growth “movement” of the last decade or two.  Consider the shift from Christ centered to man centered theology and from Biblical principles to marketing strategies for growth.  Then take into account the music that fills the minds and the airwaves… no longer Christcentric but egocentric.   Consider the shift from Bible study to “focus-groups” that address “felt needs” or personal interests or individual…