Trusting His Heart
It feels like it’s been a really tough season for a lot of people. For close family and friends, as well as those that I have admired from afar...difficult diagnoses, sickness, death and loss. It seems like a constant barrage of pain, and the heartbreak is so real. And in these circumstances, it’s easy to wonder if God really is in control. If this is you, then you are not alone. Many of our Biblical heroes had doubts and questions of their own. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist...and the list goes on. But what I’m learning is that because
It’s Time…
It was 11pm, my husband was out of town and my home security alarm began to sound. It wasn’t the random chirp of a low battery, it was the steady beep you hear just before the heart racing sound of a full blown siren. I quickly jumped out of bed and silenced the alarm. “Did someone just open a window or a door?” I asked my boys (who should have been in bed, but were still snacking in the kitchen). They assured me, it wasn’t them. I froze...partly out of fear and partly because I needed a moment to gather
#girldad
Today is #girldad day in honor of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. It has been sweet to see all the pictures of dads with their girls. My sister and I are blessed with a great dad. He taught us to read the Bible and pray everyday. He worked hard and instilled in us the importance of saving more and spending less. Being a girl didn’t stop my dad from teaching me about football either (my husband is especially grateful for that). He also demonstrated how powerful kindness and humility can be. I know not everyone is so fortunate to
Showing Up…
Attending a basketball game may not seem very spiritual...but it can be. Last week, our church's youth director (we call him, Pastor Luis) came out to my boys’ high school basketball game. He didn’t pray at the end or even share a quick ‘Thought for the day.’ He came, did the cool hand shake thing with the boys, met their friends, hung out for a little while after the game and left. He showed up, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. You see, my boys love our church. They love the teaching, the people, the diversity,
The Unexpected
Something unexpected happened two weeks ago. We were hovering and praying in our pantry with the weather reports playing in the background. The blankets and pillows kept us comfortable as we kept a close eye on the weatherman's radar. The formation of a tornado seemed to be inching closer to us, but by God's grace went right past us. It had been bright and sunny just hours before, so this tornado warning came....completely unexpectedly. The next morning, we woke up to white snowflakes dancing to the ground. The kids squealed and were playing in the snow before we knew it.
Never Going Back
During Christmas time, we bought some gift cards for some family members to a fast food Chinese restaurant. We knew these family members really liked this restaurant, so we figured they would enjoy the gift cards. My children had never eaten at this fast food Chinese restaurant before, so they asked if we could try it to see why our relatives liked this place so much. So one day we stopped by and picked up some of this fast food Chinese and brought it home to eat. My ten year old son, who loves to eat, was not impressed. He
Don’t Throw in the Towel
As I was just making dinner, part of the process involved chopping onions. My youngest daughter caught a whiff of the onions and dashed into the kitchen. “Mama, are your eyes tearing up? Are you okay?” I explained that I was just fine as I continued chopping away. Apparently, my answer wasn’t sufficient. “Mama, I just don’t want your eyes to burn.” I shared how much I appreciated my sweet girl’s thoughtfulness and assured her that I would be alright as I worked towards finishing up. I continued by elaborating on the discussion that my daughter and I had earlier
A Healed Heart
Just yesterday while my youngest daughter and I were in the car, she had been talking about her experiences with pulling out her teeth. Then, she shared an observation she had made. My daughter said that hours after the tooth had been pulled out, she could still spot a remnant of blood in that area and she felt a great deal of pain. A day or two later, the pain was there but less intense. As each day passed, the pain lessened until eventually the area had been healed. My daughter’s observation left me thinking about the wounds we deal
Ask Yourself
A new decade...a new year. We are 15 days into 2020. How are those resolutions going? I know some people are so over the whole resolutions thing and are going with the “Word for the year” idea. Since I’m an overachiever, I did both plus some declarations and goals but nothing is going quite as PERFECTLY as I envisioned. It’s frustrating. Year after year, I plan things. Year after year, I want to read more and eat cleaner. And year after year, it is the same - there are some good days and some bad days. Maybe you can relate.
Saying Hard Things…
“Listen to me you fat cows..." It certainly wasn’t the pick me up I had in mind for my morning devotional, but it‘s where my Old Testament Bible reading plan took me. Those seemingly insensitive words came out of the mouth of the Old Testament prophet Amos...but originated from the heart of God. Ouch! What was God so upset about? Injustice. The poor were being mistreated (again) and God wasn't having it (again)! It was during a time when the king of the land silenced the mouths of the 'real professional prophets.' So, God asked Amos to be His spokesman.
