• Devotionals - Faith - Family - Motherhood

    Being conformed…

    Earlier today I was reflecting on some of the unlikely ways God conforms us to the image of His dear Son — and some of the unlikely tools He chooses to use to work that conformation in us (and maybe even through us from time to time).  I asked my dear mother in law if she’d send me the quotes she was sharing with me as we talked about God’s work in our lives — I’ll share them with you when she sends them. I’ve been sincerely amazed at the ways God works His will and His purposes in my…

  • Devotionals - Potpourri - Womanhood

    2013… Endeavors

    It’s a new year, a clean, fresh start… be done with lesser things, be a woman who seeks joy, peace and love — start today doing foundational things… and what are these, where can they be found, Who is the Source?  The source is Jesus… Faith in the Living Lord Jesus and being found in Him… daily looking to Him; daily abiding in Him; daily watching at His gates and following in His Steps.  All of these “Endeavor-To-Be’s” are nothing if not founded upon the Faith of Jesus and His Life in and through us — know this “in my…

  • Devotionals - Essays - Faith

    Seize Opportunities

    Seize the moment to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Our nation may have  gone over the moral cliff and it seems that doors of opportunity to spread the gospel have been closed.   Large numbers of individuals may have rejected God’s moral law, they may, in fact, reject you and the message of the gospel — but the doors are not closed.  The darker the night, the brighter the light of one candle.  Will you seize the moment and share the Light of the gospel to a dark and sin laden world?  You have the life God has…

  • Devotionals - Faith - Family - marriage

    Live a Great Love Story

    I hope you’ll take time to listen to the following video clips — a three part series, foundational to both marriage and Christianity… about a God who is passionate and full of life.  And the Bible: the greatest love story ever written… God created marriage and He is passionate… Unless we have this life and this passion, we’re not an accurate reflection of our God who created these emotions and marriage and romance and love. Sometimes we see Jesus as a great Saviour, but do we see Him as a great role model?  Regarding your marriage… Francis Chan says, “…It’s…

  • Devotionals - Essays - Faith - Womanhood

    Things aren’t as ___ .

    Hey… how’s your day going?  Anybody ask you that yet today?  What’s going on in the theater of your mind today?  I hope you’ll be encouraged on many levels today. I can’t pinpoint the thing that drew me to remembering this today — to humming this song (The “Sunscreen” song… a piece attributed to Baz Luhrman that he used by permission, originally written by Mary Schmich). If it’s too loud, turn down your speakers… the intent here is not to blare some rappy tune but I hope a few of these life-experience tidbits of advice might be of some encouragement…

  • Devotionals - Faith - Family

    Lies Women Believe

    I’ve been working through a workbook to a book I read a number of years ago — Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s Lies Women Believe and now, the corresponding workbook.  I’ll be writing more on this.  So, I’ve been rereading some things I read years ago and marveled that I’m still dealing with several of the same struggles. Interestingly, it’s part of what’s gotten me to work on habits, thought patterns and more.  I’d been wanting to work through/eliminate the struggles, but it’s always too daunting to revisit painful areas of life or, realizing how little progress I’ve made and the why’s…

  • Faith - Gardening - Homemaking

    a gardener’s journal

    May I suggest…. A gardener’s journal… or a summer log… a season’s log… I’m making one of these so that I can keep a running log of what’s going on in the garden — and what’s *supposed* to be going on ~wink~ in the garden. As an example… my entries are including what’s being picked now, what I need to do as far as clean-up, storage, etc., etc.  I’m dividing a simple notebook into sections — a section for an overview of our yard/garden (what’s planted where) and a basic timeline for maintenance.  In this way, I can see when…

  • Devotionals - Faith

    Be ♥ Ready

    I’ve entitled today’s post: Be ♥ Ready because I think we often forget that that’s a calling we have — as believers, as mothers, as family to:  be ready!  The Lord has given us different mandates to be ready… to make ourselves ready. Readiness will bring gladness and rejoicing!  “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” –Revelation 19.7 And though, we may not know when that day will come, we do know that it will come.  We are commanded:  “Be ye…

  • Faith - Family - More Slices of Life - Motherhood

    Savouring the Moments

    The symphony of birds, buds and blossoms along with the soft greens seem to sing, Springtime’s here; another season’s underway!  With the passing of time, the Lord is teaching me to savour the moments, to watch for the signs of the seasons.  I can’t really recall if , or what, I’ve written much about the passage of a season that taught me this, but it was the slow dawning of the reality that the childbearing season was slipping away that first began to teach me to savour the moments. I think I’ve told you how (early on) women–mothers–would tell me,…

  • Faith - Life in Laodicea

    It’s easy to forget some things.

    It’s easy to forget some things — many things — really. It’s especially easy to forget things in a moment of panic, in the tyranny of the urgent or after a long span of time. Or, in an obituary. Or at a memorial service. I’m thinking you know what I mean.  Attending numerous funerals and memorial services through the years has kept this thought pretty fresh in my mind.  Time has a way of softening rough edges in some relationships — sharpening them in others — and has a way of distorting things when the accumulation of days, experiences and…