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2020 Vision
You can do anything you set your mind to. Finally, at 43 years old in 2019, at the end of a decade in which we have experienced so much change and growth, personally, globally, culturally, etc., I truly believe this. Do you? I haven’t always believed it. In fact, for years I thought that other people could do hard things, things that they set their minds to, but not me. I just wasn’t cut out for that kind of overachiever mumbo jumbo. Wasn’t wired for it. I was much to realistic for that nonsense. I was one of the less capable. Trust me, I know my shortcomings. I am one…
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Misplaced Hope
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In the Waiting
I hate waiting. Yet, I find that a good portion of my life is spent waiting. Waiting for appointments. Waiting on children to finish a class. Waiting on my husband to come home from work. Waiting for results to come back. Waiting for answers. Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. Proverbs 13:12 says that a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. We all want that. But that fulfilled longing can take weeks. Months. Sometimes years. The rest of the verse says that a hope deferred makes the heart sick. Think about that. Our hearts can literally become sick when we are waiting on a promise, hoping for change…
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The Tyranny of Should Vs The Rule of Shall
This sign hangs in my kitchen, strategically near the coffee maker. My brother gave it to me years ago as a birthday present. I love it because it makes me laugh, and I think of him every time I look at it. My brother and I both share the same oddball sense of humor, as well as a profound love of all things strong and caffeinated. Lately, though, I am loving it for an altogether different reason. God is using this silly, ridiculous sign in my kitchen to teach me a life lesson. I love it when something humorous can actually be used as a teachable moment. For far too…
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Losing Control
Is your life exactly how you imagined or hoped it would be? If it is, I want to know your secret! Or you are Oprah or Tony Robbins, in which case, HOLY CRAP OPRAH AND TONY ROBBINS READ MY BLOG!!! I’ll be honest, my life doesn’t look anything like I had imagined it would. Part of the reason is because I am terrible at goal setting. I acknowledge that. The other reason is, well, most of life does truly seem like it is out of my control. The truth is we simply cannot control people, circumstances, or events. I can exercise and eat healthy every day and potentially still get…
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Misplaced Hope
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12, NLT Have you ever been so disappointed by life that you have felt physically ill? Have you ever felt so let down, so disgusted by the cards that life has dealt you that you felt like giving up and throwing in the towel? Maybe you worked hard to make a relationship work and it fell apart. Maybe you gave hours of your time, energy, passion, and devotion to a job or a business or a ministry, and now you find yourself unemployed. You gave, poured out, invested, and committed yourself and all your…
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Steadfast
The word that keeps rolling around my brain these days, the one that means the most to me when it comes to describing God’s character, is steadfast. In my times of meditation and quiet before God, this is the facet of His character that shines through. It means: stead·fast ˈstedˌfast/ adjective resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. “steadfast loyalty” In an ever changing world, where nothing is ever certain or secure, this sounds refreshingly welcome, doesn’t it? What I keep hearing, and what keeps being communicated to me through the air waves is that God is resolutely, dutifully firm, and loyal in His love towards me and His plans for…
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When You’re a Fighter, Not a Lover
I love Shauna Niequist. Maybe in a kind of stalker-ish way. I adore her writing and her recipes. I am a huge fan of her dad, Bill Hybels, her mother Lynne, and the amazing ministry they have accomplished all together at Willow Creek. Their family truly inspires me. I have seen Bill talk 3 times in person, and every.single.time, I sob like a baby. And I absolutely loved this post written by Shauna. The problem I have with it, though? I couldn’t relate to it. After reading it, I felt like I was from another planet. Let me explain. I am, by my very nature, a fighter. I was an…
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Bloom Where You’re Planted
Beautiful, happy tulips on display at Biltmore. Lord, why couldn’t I be planted at Biltmore? I currently reside in a small town in Georgia. And by small, I mean the population is less than 15,000. My husband and I have lived here for almost 13 years. It’s the longest I have ever lived in one place in my entire life. But I haven’t always loved it. You see, we moved here to help a friend start a church – in another city. We chose this small town, simply because of its proximity to work (Athens) and where we would be doing ministry (Buford), and we chose the town smack…
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Finding Joy in the Mourning
There is something about heartbreak that teaches us more about love, than love alone ever can. There is something about living in darkness that makes us long for light. There is something about being lied to that makes the truth, once we hear it, that much clearer. There is something about living in bondage that makes the taste of freedom that much sweeter. I don’t know why it has to be this way. But for light to come. For truth to come. For change to come. And for love to come – there is always pain. Our very lives begin and end with it. Being born and then dying. Pain…
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And the Two Shall Become One
After being married to the same person for 17 years, I am beginning to understand why marriage is so important to God, so sacred. In a world full of disposable relationships, ghosting and unfriending have become our go-to methods of relationship management. We pick people apart; god-breathed, beautiful, and fearfully made souls, discarding and shelving them for the most arbitrary of reasons. Oftentimes we take the easy way out. To stick with someone through all of their junk is just plain hard. Sometimes even impossible. And when something feels impossible or even just a little too hard, we are tempted to give up. If you have been through a divorce,…
