Jan
2024

[2024]

categories: change, faith, oneword365, purposeful

Blogging for me has taken a hiatus for a few years. I haven’t really been able to make it what I wanted it to be. I’m a perfectionist by nature and if I can’t do something to my expectations then I tend to not do anything. So here I am picking up the “pen” to try again.

Life looks different now with 3 adult children and we have settled into the life of empty nesters, although one is still at home after just graduating from college. I also made a huge career change this year that has taken me out of my comfort zone but in a really good way.

I don’t have many expectations or resolutions for 2024 but I did settle on my word for this year.

Peace

Gotquestions.org says that the primary word for peace in the Old Testament is shalom and “refers to relationships between people, nations and God with men.”

It goes on to say that the primary Greek word for “peace” in the New Testament is eirene. It refers to rest and tranquility. That is my prayer and hope for this year. I know that that hope comes only from my relationship with Jesus.

I am starting the year off heading to West Africa for a missions trip. I will share more on that when I return but for now I am ready to see what God has in store for me and the team as well as the people we are going to visit and serve.


Mar
2021

[savor]

categories: five minute fridays, intentional, purposeful, steady

I always like to look up the definition of each week’s word to help me center on what I want to say.  Merriam-Webster had numerous definitions and my favorite is “to delight in, enjoy.”  That is how I want to live my life. I fail more times than I succeed but it’s the goal. 

Ever since my babies were born, I tried really hard to savor the seasons I was in at the time. It was hard when they were little because the days were long but it didn’t take long to realize that the years were short. 

Now that they are young adults (my baby graduates from high school in two months) I want to savor this season as well. I want to remember their baby and toddler years, but I don’t want to dwell there. I want to be present in their lives now as they make their way in this big world. 

I tell my young mommy friends not to wish for the next season. It will come soon enough. Sooner than they can imagine. Savor everyday that you have in this season. Seasons will change, a lot of times without our even noticing it. 

In the words of Jim Elliott, “wherever you are, be all there.”  Savor it with all of your heart. 


Feb
2021

[observant]

categories: five minute fridays, intentional, steady

How many times a day am I actually observant? So many times I am running a million miles an hour, running from errand to errand and thinking about all the errands I’m not going to get done that day. 

I wake up and ask God to give me opportunities to share the Gospel, to meet a need, to make a friend.  With blinders on and a mission to check off my to do list, I miss the opportunities He might have for me that day. 

So I resolve to pay attention, to see what is going on around me, to be observant to the world around me. 


Feb
2021

[once]

categories: faith, five minute fridays, grace

The first thing that came to mind with this week’s prompt was “I once was lost but not I’m found, was blind but now I see.”

My salvation in Jesus Christ didn’t come with a bolt of lightning and it didn’t find me at the bottom of a pit because I had hit rock bottom with no where to go but up. I love hearing testimonies from people who can name the time and place they received Jesus as their Savior, and how they so vividly knew that they were saved, but that’s not my story.  

I had a wonderful childhood and believed in God and Jesus and all the tenets of the faith, but I was once lost. I didn’t understand relationship versus religion. I never heard about relationship until my early twenties. I knew religion was a bunch of do’s and don’ts and as long as I didn’t commit any “big” sins I was good. I later learned that religion wasn’t going to get me to Heaven. 

My road to salvation was more of a journey, asking questions, wanting more spiritually than I had, surrounding myself with people who knew truth and were willing to share it with me and finally surrendering to the one true Savior that I knew about, but had now come to know. 

I was once lost, but then I was found. 

Photo Credit


Feb
2021

[sunrise]

categories: faith, five minute fridays, steady

There is something so soothing, peaceful and beautiful about sunrises. Whether it’s coming over the mountains, the ocean or the trees in my backyard, it is constant and steady. No matter what is going on in the world or our little world, the sun comes up. Every.Single.Day.

And that is a constant reminder to me about God…He is faithful, He is steady and He will be there every time we look for Him, just like the sunrise. This gives me peace and rest in my soul. My breaths become deeper and softer and I feel the release of stress and tension if just for a little while each day.

Easter Sunrise Service a few years ago

Feb
2021

[design]

categories: five minute fridays, purposeful

The word “design” brought many things to mind…all those creative people on HGTV who can turn homes into beautiful masterpieces, those who create clothes that most of us would never wear, etc. But as I thought about it more I thought about how God designed each of us before we were in our mother’s womb.

With all of the dissension and frankly the hate that we are seeing in our country right now, it hurts my heart. We were designed to love, not to hate. That doesn’t mean we all have to agree. What a boring world this would be, but we should be able to have conversations and still love each other afterwards. I lament relationships where I know that it’s better not to engage online or even in person because it is divisive. How did we get here and how do we overcome?

For me, I look to THE “Designer” and try to see others as He sees them; praying for others, including our leaders, and our country as a whole.

“…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”Ephesians 4:2 CSB


Jan
2021

[fix]

categories: change, faith, five minute fridays, steady

My goal this year is to participate in Five Minute Fridays as many weeks as I can.  Of course my go to is perfection, but I know that’s not possible.  So here I am, for the second week in a row, posting at the last minute before the link closes.

This week’s prompt was difficult for me.  I honestly don’t know what words to share that encompass fix.  The first thought I had was fixing things.  I am not a “fixer” by nature, especially when it comes to relationships outside my people in my home.  It’s just easier sometimes to let acquaintances and “friends” wither away over time than to have hard conversations and “fix” what is usually a miscommunication.

So I decided to look in the Bible and see what the original meaning of fix might be.  In my search, it took me to Psalm 108:1.  The ESV says, “My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being.”  Doesn’t seem to fit the topic of fix.  But then I did some more digging.  The KJV says “O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Fix in one version, steadfast in another.  If you read my first post of 2021, I chose my word for the year; wait for it…STEADY!

Chaim Bentorah says that in Psalm 108:1, David “calls out to God saying that his heart is fixed.  The word for fixed is kon which has the idea of being established or directed. Today we would say his heart was focused.”

So with that validation today of the word God laid on my heart for 2021 of being steady…maybe it’s more about steadiness in my relationships than the perfection of ensuring I write one post a week for 52 weeks.  Hmmm…


Jan
2021

[fresh]

categories: covid-19, family, five minute fridays, new normal

2021 did not start well for us as a family…COVID knocked at our door but thankfully only one of us tested positive with little to no symptoms. But it stopped us in our tracks for 2 weeks while we quarantined. A few other “annoying” issues came at us and while it seemed like they wouldn’t stop coming, things have leveled out and life is somewhat back to normal (whatever that means these days).

We were given a fresh start that included all 5 of us together 24/7 for awhile. While we did manage to get on each other’s nerves some, we haven’t had this much time together as a family in a really long time. And it did this Mama’s heart good and I am thankful for it.


Jan
2021

[time]

categories: change, faith, five minute fridays

Time…there never seems to be enough of it. If 2020 taught us anything, it was that a pandemic can stop us in our tracks and make us slow down even when we don’t want to. I saw so many posts on social media that touted how 2021 was going to save us all from 2020. Folks couldn’t wait for 2020 to end and wished for 2021 to be the savior of all that is wrong in the world. As 2021 approached, it gave many hope that this too shall pass. Well, the first full week of 2021, particularly in Washington, DC, showed us something different.

There is no new year that can save us. There is no person (or president) on this earth who can save us. Only Jesus Christ has that power. For those of us who are followers of Jesus know that this earth is not our home. We live in a broken, messed up world filled with broken, messed up people. We can’t do this on our own.

So while time didn’t stop and everything didn’t magically get better when we flipped the page on a new year, it did allow us, or me anyway, to slow down and reflect on how I spend my time, to look at what’s really important, and maybe more importantly, what’s not.


Jan
2021

[one word 2021]

categories: new normal, oneword365, purposeful

The last few years I have prayed about what one word I would focus on for a year. To be honest I have failed miserably at keeping it in front of me during the year. If I had to guess it’s because I stopped praying about it once the word was chosen. 

I have great ambitions at the beginning of a new year as I suppose many do.  And like many, after a week or two they fade with the day to day minutiae that we call life. 

After 2020 caused us to slow down and change our everyday lives, it’s time to settle into some kind of new normal. You would think that after 9 months I would already be in a new routine, but in reality, I’m not. I haven’t mastered working from home, the new way my kids do school or keeping my house clean (I doubt I’ll ever master that!).

I’m not sure what 2021 will look like, or if a new normal will ever really exist, but my word for this year is “steady.”  Continuing in the habits I was able to get better with, like reading my Bible, engaging in Bible study, investing in others, daily quiet times, walking/running regularly, serving in Youth Ministry, and deepening relationships with my husband and kids. Treasuring up in my heart the moments that turn into years very quickly.