Jesus

  • "Life" Books,  Jesus,  Let's be Real

    What Will Today Teach Us?

    Do you believe that births, deaths, sickness, crisis, tragedies, life-altering moments, life-giving moments have something in common? Would you agree with me that when you experience any one of these life moments, there are opportunities to learn at least one new thing? I don’t know how you feel or think about trying to glean a lesson or a life skill from life experiences and events, but maybe you can give me a few minutes to provide you with what I am trying to write today. Before I start, I want to make it clear that these life events for me have not always immediately dropped the lesson or new perspective…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Grief,  Jesus,  Memories,  Mommy,  My Little

    Three Million New Blood Cells

    ” Have you ever watched them (children) watch? Their mouths may hang open; they’re not, like adults, aware of themselves- they’re only aware of what they’re watching… And your child is in process, as a person. Every eight days he gets a new layer of skin. Every eight years every cell in his body has become new. Look at that child right now: since this time yesterday he has three million new blood cells.” Children are Wet Cement, Anne Ortlund If the above quote doesn’t stir something inside of you, then my words today may not make sense either. When it comes to babies and children, I am a firm…

  • "Life" Books,  Chronic Illness,  Jesus

    Choosing to See

    “Raise me again to health with a heightened sense of thankfulness for the unmerited gift of well-being…” Every Moment Holy, “Liturgy for a Sick Day” Every morning I receive a “Liturgy of the Day” from the Every Moment Holy App on my phone. The above liturgy came this morning. I woke up with a migraine – I believe in God’s Faithfulness. You can make your own judgements, but I stand by my belief. A couple weeks ago I took a much needed “brain pause.” A few things led to this pause: summer weather rubbing me wrong- not my greatest health season- which makes life challenging at times, longing for Lucy…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Jesus,  Pass it On...

    Conversations with my Jesus

    Prayer. A conversation with God that never ends, at least on God’s end. As humans we tend to shut it off when we don’t see the “need,” this is a big lie we tell ourselves. It is a conversation compiled of words, silence, tears, walking, kneeling, laying down, sitting, deep breathing, cries. Words often spoken: please, help, why, come, near, save, wisdom, need, want. Lately I have been reflecting back on being a kid and how the culture has progressively gotten to be extremely fast paced, and now is constantly pushing a narrative of something or someone being “better.” As my mom wisely reminds me, “everyone is equal at the…

  • "Life" Books,  Friends & Neighbors,  Grief,  Hydranencephaly,  Jesus,  Mommy,  My Little

    Soul Share

    Today, allow me to share with you some friends I have met along my journey in the past few years. If you have been reading along for a bit, you have most likely gathered that we moved from my childhood home in early 2020, right before COVID hit hard. We moved to our lake/vacation home not too far away, while our new house was being built. Side note: Thank you Jesus for providing a lake home all these years, because COVID plus not having space that was familiar would have made this move incredibly harder. Anyways, the closest store for miles is a Dollar General, which we depended on for…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Jesus

    When Children Give You the Lesson

    “Please just trust me and obey!” Oh how many times have I heard myself sound like a broken record repeating this sentence. Just wishing and hoping, maybe just maybe, this time will be the time it clicks! There are a few instances that I can remember distinctly having said this and then being disappointed that the child or children I was keeping just couldn’t obey a simple task. One sticks with me the most, honestly because God hit me over the head good with a life lesson. But first, the story. It’s been a few years now, but I remember that I had asked this child to sit at the…

  • "Life" Books,  Chronic Illness,  Grief,  Jesus,  Let's be Real

    Lemons… Curveball… And the Wringer…

    When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life throws you a curveball, hit it out of the park. When life puts you through the wringer… Have you had enough of this one liners yet? I have! Someone once said, “I’m not a rainbow shooter,” meaning that they were not going to be making things pretty for the sake of the feelings and emotions of themselves and others. Shooting rainbows is exhausting, and cannot be a long-term reality. We need to leave the rainbows up to God and remember why he places them in the sky. As a reminder of a very faithful promise to Noah and his family. (this…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Jesus

    Shadows

    Let’s jump right in today! I don’t know about you, but I am overcome with tremendous heartache for children today. It’s no secret that my heart is drawn towards children, so it comes as no surprise that I have a tendency to want to understand what is going on in their world. Granted some things I cannot fully understand, but when it comes to the matters and questions that we all face in our lives, it’s the heart that I want to know and the connection to what makes them believe what they believe. Why the world am I overcome with heartache? The majority of kids in the US have…

  • "Life" Books,  Jesus,  Memories

    What’s in a Year?

    First, allow me to tell you what is happening in the picture above: headed to 1st soccer practice and final soccer practice. (wasn’t impressed with the cleats) Paci stayed with me until I was around 5 years old, and no I have no shame about it, and neither did I then. Everywhere I went I either had a pocketbook or a baby and diaper bag. Not much has changed 😂 I will be the elderly lady with a baby doll and pocketbook for sure when I am older, just in case you ever need to send out a silver alert 😊 New years is “upon us,” which I find to…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Christmas TIME!,  Grief,  Jesus,  Mommy

    Can I get a Hallelujah?

    “We are dazzled by arrays of Christmas lights. In recent years, seeing them through the eyes of my two young children has awakened something in me I’d lost to the subtle and insidious cynicism that often sets in with age: longing. Light is a wonderment because of its promise that there’s something brilliant veiled behind the darkness, waiting to be found, pulsing with life, on the brink of unfolding before us.” Jay Y. Kim, The Promised One: Advent Readings From Christianity Today 2022 I read this earlier this week, and I said, aloud to myself, “YES! That’s it!” Children are our magnificent examples of these words! If we only slow…