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A Gentle Identity Reminder

June 27, 2013
| 4 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Who we are in Christ / Identity of a believer

bible reading boy

Heartbreaking mommy moment #?:  “Mommy, I’m a dork.”

So we have a talk about words.

We talk about who we most truly are.  How we can believe what God says instead of what our feelings say.

In the course of any given week, it is possible for me to hear many self-demeaning statements and other-demeaning statements.   At each little league baseball game this summer I heard a mom yell demeaning things at her son.  I read of others being demeaned or demeaning themselves on Facebook almost daily.  I find it impossible to find a show on…

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A Peek Inside My Private Journal…

June 20, 2013
| 5 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Spiritual Growth, Suffering

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A peek inside my Journal:

6/18/13                                                                                                                                                                                                             “Do you, the good shepherd, also protect me?   Do you protect me and care for me too?”

That is all I’ll let you see!  Sorry…no further details!

My journal has become, not merely a recording of my thoughts and the events in my life, but my side of a life-long conversation with God.  I try to record how He answers prayer and how He guides me as well.  It’s where I talk to Him.  This was my question of the day a few days ago…maybe the question of the year.

That was written in a…

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Do You Feel Like You’re In the Dark Today?

June 14, 2013
| 6 Comments
| Categories: Spiritual Growth, Suffering

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Just a short post this week.

I was feeling particularly discouraged yesterday.  The day I normally post on this blog.  So much so that I didn’t finish my article and gave up.

I decided to let it go and write next week but I was encouraged this morning and thought I’d share.

So…did I mention that I was discouraged yesterday?

We’re talking discouraged to the point of nausea.  Discouraged like everything looked very dark and hopelessness settled in.  On top of that…I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. My husband was gone all…

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Redeeming the Generations

June 6, 2013
| 6 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Spiritual Growth

bible reading boy
There once was a boy.

His home was often in turmoil with arguing and yelling.  He dreaded hearing footsteps at night.  Footsteps at night meant there was going to be a fight.  How he hoped there wouldn’t be fights…but there were…often.

The boy learned how to cope though.  He would leave…flee…escape.  God’s word was absent from his home.  His home life was void of any guidance from the bible to help Him.  Although his family visited church on occasion and he attended Sunday school at various times in his childhood,…

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Rivers of Living Water Part 2

May 30, 2013
| 7 Comments
| Categories: Spiritual Growth

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Last week I had the opportunity to take in some incredible beauty at Carlyle Lake, Illinois.  My family roasted marshmallows at sunset at a picnic spot that my husband’s family visited often in his childhood years.

As the sun went down, the beautiful backdrop to all that was around me became brighter and more glorious. All that was around me became dark.

We turned toward the light and I snapped some shots.

I didn’t have a tripid, so in order to get these shots I had to hold very still.  My family…

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Rivers of Living Water Part 1

May 23, 2013
| 1 Comment
| Categories: Spiritual Growth

Kayaking in the Sound

This picture was taken on my honeymoon.  My husband and I went to British Columbia and hiked and kayaked around one of the most beautiful places on earth.  On this day, we kayaked in an inlet of water near Sechelt. Mountains rose up all around us.  I was surrounded by captivating beauty and felt so small and was in awe.   That feeling was just a glimpse of what was to come for I was unprepared for what I’d physically endure.  In the last hour of paddling I was so…

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Jesus Math

April 10, 2013
| No Comments
| Categories: Grace

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My son is loving math. This is amazing because I am his teacher and I have never even “gotten” math. I give the credit to our homeschool curriculum: Life of Fred math series, created by Stanley F. Schmidt.  

As thankful as I am to finally find a good math teacher, this past Sunday, my pastor reminded me of another mathematician I am even more thankful for. Jesus.  I like Jesus’ math because he doesn’t follow any math rules…which I’ve never been good at remembering anyway.  He has His own way of doing math.  It…

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The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away

March 30, 2013
| 2 Comments
| Categories: Patience, Suffering, Yielding and Waiting

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I was tired. The dishes weren’t done. My girl was looking sleepy and my boy was knee deep into a project. Both were sick.  From the looks of us, you’d never know that in five minutes we’d be trying to imitate Christ.  But it is Easter weekend and I didn’t want to miss the opportunities to reflect on our faith.

I brought out the basin of water, the towels, the plate with bread and the juice.  Lights down, we sat together and read the passage of the night Jesus was betrayed. The…

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A Weeping Savior for a Groaning World

February 27, 2013
| 6 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Suffering

jesus statue cry 2 “Mama…why does God let me be sick?”

He groans.

I had to steady myself because a couple of weeks ago…when that question was asked…I was asking the same questions inside. There is no kid-sized answer to that question.  Not for a week like that week.

So what do you say to a boy who is racked with nausea when he asks such a question in the midst of tears?

What do you say to that when it is also a week when, in your small town, there are two young lives…

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Encouragement for Flying in the Dark

February 6, 2013
| 6 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Spiritual Growth

DSCN1931Do you remember the story?  The one about John F. Kennedy, Jr. flying the plane he was piloting into the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Massachusetts?

Kennedy and his  wife and sister-in-law were killed because Kennedy failed to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation and possibly other related factors.  Will you revisit the story with me today?  I promise it will be well worth your time…because it points us to spiritual realities.  You see…some…

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