There was a time in my life when I felt a heavy burden and great stress about what I was and wasn’t doing. At that time, I was a baby Christian with a poor understanding of the realities of who I was in Christ and how God made me. Each time a good activity or ministry came my way, I felt I had to take part in it even if I didn’t really have the time and energy. I even gave myself to some things I may have had…
Do you ever foolishly stoop to drink from another fountain than Christ?
I do.
I feel Him calling me to turn away from my fleshly responses to life and back toward Graceland. Trusting in Him fully in each moment. JESUS is my entire blessedness. Why do I wallow in the world and flesh? I have Him…abundance…in each moment.
But I must choose that.
How many other fountains are there? Let me count the ways…
The fountain of control.
The fountain of anger.
The fountain of worry.
The fountain of fear.
The fountain of distrust.
The list of the fountains…
I live in wine country. Grape vines surround this town and some, older than my grandmother, line backyard walkways and fences. I’m familiar with their lush greenery and abundant fruit in the late summer and also their barrenness in the late winter.
Do you see beauty in these pictures of the barren grape vine?
I do too. Maybe because I can relate to the barren grape vine due to barren seasons in my own life.
I don’t see vines failing to produce. For if they were failing to produce, the vinedresser would…
I woke up this Saturday morning to a fresh blanket of snow. By mid-afternoon much of it had melted. With warmer weather moving in, I decided to take a walk with my camera.
Just a short walk down a hill and I always come to this. A rock wall and an overlook of the Missouri River. A clear view of the Missouri River is hardly possible even past the rock wall. There are railroad tracks, trains sometimes and the hillside is covered with gigantic trees with gnarly limbs sprawling across the view. During the summer,…
Do you ever wonder if you’re good enough or doing enough?
I do.
I have these thoughts quite often as I try to carry out my faith as a wife, parent, daughter, sibling, friend, parishioner and worker. The list could go on couldn’t it? All of the roles we take on in life. When I think of them I get a bit overwhelmed. Thoughts of all of the responsibilities come to me at once. But what if simply being found in Christ and loving Him right where you’re at in your current situation…
I stuck my feet in the sand and she buried them deeper…again. How many more ways to pass the time could we come up with in the sand volleyball court while waiting for brother’s baseball game to end?
I watched the leaves rustle and the tree limbs sway against the wind. Children were playing all around me. Not a parent to be seen (except for me). Only in Rhineland, MO. Kids playing free. I felt safe and content and happy. But something was bothering me and it wasn’t…
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,…
Do you not know what is true of you in Christ?
The shards of a broken life fell on me cutting me and causing me to bleed. She sat easily in front of me as if to not hide a thing, gripped the sides of the chair as if to hold on for her life, and she truly did not hide a thing. All of it open bare and out. She took bricks off of her back one by one. Heavy tears flowed for each heavy chapter.
A sister in Christ’s life story has touched me…
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