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I trust, Help me to Trust!

November 14, 2013
| 33 Comments
| Categories: Trusting God

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It was 9:00. I had thirty minutes to run to the store.  Thirty minutes to get the essentials.  Thirty minutes before my man left for a trip into St. Louis.  Thirty minutes before God would teach me something.

So my husband’s trip…it wasn’t just any trip.  A trip to his first official meeting with potential supporters of a ministry he is starting up.  My husband is passionate about discipling men and he has recently been appointed Area Director for Man in the Mirror in the St. Louis…

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He Brought Us, He Wanted To

November 6, 2013
| 12 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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So…I’m tired and stumbling through my morning.  Not sure where to begin.  I know I need some spiritual help because I’ve had little sleep and we’re all sick here.  The husband is gone and I feel alone in this physical and spiritual battle.  I still have a few days to go before he’s back.

Unfortunately, the little creativity I have is being used in how to get us through the day. Decisions like…”should our movie marathon be Gentle Ben, Flipper or Little House on the Prairie?”

As I assemble a time with the Lord this morning, before…

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My Only Comfort

October 30, 2013
| 29 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Suffering

“That is mine! It belongs to me!”

Those words (or something like them) have been heard by every person who has lived if they’ve lived in community with others.

Parents cringe when they hear them.

We all say them though…even if it is merely through our attitudes and actions.

It can be seen in our homes, school and work.

It can be readily spotted on the nightly news. Someone kills or hurts someone over something that was theirs.

It even happens inwardly–in my own heart.  It can come out like through a sigh when someone or something keeps…

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The Lord is at Hand

October 23, 2013
| 22 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Suffering

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Look at these two little stinkers.  They look like they’re up to something here don’t they?

We enjoyed a beautiful fall day on Sunday.  After church, we went apple picking and pumpkin grabbing.

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The kids wanted to go in the hay maze at the pumpkin farm.  Papa got them started but they ALL decided it was too big and too dark.

As he walked to the car to get a flashlight, a woman consoled him in that her seventeen year old son was too afraid…

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He Reigns

October 16, 2013
| 27 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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A short and simple truth for the week…

He reigns…

When I weep as I watch the news.

When a friend betrays.

When evil seems to win out over good.

When death lurks for people I love.

When daily work feels burdensome.

When my day feels out of control…everything and everyone else around me is moving along…in the wrong way.

“The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.”

Some days I…

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Affliction Outweighed

October 9, 2013
| 16 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

We sat in her living room.

Through the wall of windows we see white cottony wisps of mist settle over rolling hills. Orange leaves burst through a sea of green.  Summer changes to fall. The end of a season happens right before us as we discuss the end of a season.  Blue-gray skies complement fall colors and some of our emotions.  Despite the fall colors coming through,  blue, green and gray outweigh and there is a feeling of crisp and cool out there.

But warmth and coffee are inside. My own mist rising up from the dark steamy liquid in a cup.  It’s rather cozy for the topic we discuss.

Both of us mourn…

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When You Need to Take Courage

October 2, 2013
| 27 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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A government shut-down.

A family killed in a rock-slide.

Children addicted to porn.

Christians and churches being attacked.

Teen pleads guilty to murdering a 10 year old girl.

These are just a handful of the articles that flash across my screen this morning.  Some I read.  Some I can’t.

And the scary world isn’t just “out THERE”.  It’s right here.  I see the scary sin or dangers right here.  In my town.  In my church. In my home.  In my own heart.  Because Satan attacks where we attempt to move toward Christ.

Some…

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Encouragement for a Change in Seasons

September 24, 2013
| 22 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

There is a change of seasons going on here.  A change that has me thinking about other things than writing this week. So I’m going back to my storehouse of posts.  This is my post from exactly one year ago…

I watched the kids from the neighborhood play under the street lamp…unwilling to let go of the last summer night.  The fall wind quietly entered our neighborhood last night and stirred their hair.  The parents stood around talking about work and how we needed to get in, get the kids…

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Shaking the Gates of Hell Today

September 18, 2013
| 24 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

Last week there was a battle between my son and myself.  After the heat went down and the boiling turned to simmering, I took my son’s hand and we prayed.  It felt hard to take that hand and pray in the midst of hurting hearts but it happened.

I’ve been wondering…why was it so hard? Why is it so hard.  That moment to turn in front of the family or a person toward Christ in prayer?

Despite the above picture, this isn’t going to be one of those posts that tries to paint a pretty picture…

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Star-struck by the Most Famous One

September 11, 2013
| 18 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement

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Ruthie wakes up early and stumbles down to the living room with her light-up ladybug. Her little chubby fingers hold up the favorite bedtime friend to project stars on the ceiling above us. Amethyst light through star holes cast the dreamy image of a night sky above me. But it is 6 am and I’m about to endure a challenging morning.  How I wish I could just go back to sleep. Sleep away the hard stuff of life.

I look at the half-moon shape. I’d love to read Goodnight Moon to her now…like we…

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