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Morning Desperation! (what if I was as desperate for Jesus?)
Faced a crisis–a morning desperation! Crawled out of my bed after the third round of snooze-slapping, wandered to the kitchen and hit power on the Keurig. Pod in, mug positioned…go. It dripped about a quarter of a cup…and then broke my heart. Cue morning desperation! I slunked back to my room, my day now ruined forever, curled up on my bed and covered my head with a pillow. Hubby comes out of our bathroom wondering why I’m going to die. “I just need a cup of coffee…” Yes. This is tragic. So I’m sitting here with my McCafe in hand (sorry Joltin’ Jo’s. I couldn’t muster the strength to brave…
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Identity. Do You Know Yours?
Thinking about…. Identity. My kids’ youth group has been talking about this, and when the youth pastor and I were chatting, he was sharing about how profoundly important he felt like the discussion is. I completely agree. Knowing who you are… and who you are not willing to become… it’s like a runner putting in the miles of practice (a crazy number of miles, I might add) for one solid race. Without those strides; failure. I’m not talking about not winning, kind of failure. I’m talking not finishing. Or worse. Injury. Physical illness—sometimes creating an emergency situation. But having a solid grip on your identity… Wow. I mean, power, baby.…
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Stuck In Pessimism? Look up. Try God-centered focus.
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What will you do with what you believe?
What will you do with what you believe . . . This is the question God has me wrestling with right now. I’m not sure of the answer. It seems like it should be easy to nail down… but it’s not. Perhaps that’s because I live a pretty cozy-comfy life. Or maybe I want a better definition of the question. “What do you mean, what will I do? Do I need to do something different?” Hmm… what do you think? We’re discussing this in our home. What does Kingdom work look like? How can I better be the loving hands and heart of Christ to my community? Like I said,…
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Purpose birthed into the storm.
“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord oh my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” ~Psalm 103:1-2 The storm gathers. I feel the winds sweeping, growing in strength and chill. The gray clouds cluster, swirling, churning, warning. It has been for a while now. Not the first time. Won’t be the last. You’ve been there too. We want to name the storm. Identify the source. Sometimes, though, it’s name is simply life. It rises and falls, there are days of sunshine and days of rain. It is appointed to be so. So, in the midst of the…
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Why Kale?
So….Kale. Yeah, the character in Ordinary Snowflakes. That girl. I’m getting some interesting responses to her. Her name, actually. Some of the reviews are actually quite hilarious as they rant about this “hipster” name I’ve pegged this otherwise lovable character with. Super funny, because, well, they’re just funny. And also because if you know me at all, I’m the last woman you’d peg as a “hipster.” No kidding. So, for the sake of clarification, (and hey, something fun to talk about!) I thought I’d just share why I chose Kale for Ordinary Snowflakes. I wasn’t trying to be trendy (I’ve actually never met a person named Kale (or Cale), so…
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Guilt
Thinking about… guilt. I once asked a friend how to weed through the feelings of guilt that I was wresting with. Balancing being a wife, motherhood, writing, and volunteering in ministry is an ever-present concern in my world. At that moment (when I talked to my friend) I couldn’t shake the guilt I felt every time my kids found me working on something not-them related. She told me two things that really stuck. First, our culture, especially the church sub-culture, tends to bombard us with the idea that our kids need our undying attention every second of every day, no matter what age they are (mine are 9-15. They don’t…
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Stuck In Pessimism? Look up. Try God-centered focus.
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The Snowflake Hunt
I find myself in search of snowflake ornaments now. This is the first year I’ve experienced this obsession. Honestly, I don’t think I currently own even one of said decorations. But this woman—her name is Kale Brennan—has put into my heart a need to collect these things. Her story, which involves snowflakes, and hot cocoa, and sledding, and all sorts of other wonderful wintry things, also points to the amazing uniqueness of an ordinary snowflake. And how much we can see the extraordinary love of our great God in everyday, ordinary ways. In the words of her daughter Sydney, “There is no such thing as an ordinary snowflake… And we’re…
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Imaginary Friends and Real Life Lessons
Know what I love? Learning. Truly, I do. I miss school. When my kids were younger, I signed up for correspondence courses, because I just needed to use my brain, to stretch my knowledge. To know that my life skills went beyond the laundry room. (Those skills aren’t very good, to be honest, so, yes, please! Let me be useful past the clean clothes journey!) I love research. I love trying things. I love discovering. What does this have to do with anything? Here’s what I love most about writing: I learn. These imaginary friends who live in my head, open their wounded souls to me, they teach me things…