Jesus

  • "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…

  • "Life" Books,  Christmas TIME!,  Jesus,  Mommy,  My Little

    Swaddled No More!!!

    Words we hear around Christmas: Longing. Expecting. Arrival. Welcoming. Receiving. Giving. These words have me really digging and searching this Christmas season. I’m not completely sure why, but I have a couple of thoughts, and I would just like to share them with you today. The picture for today’s post is the Christmas BEFORE Lucy arrived. I know I know, crazy prepared, maybe, but she was set for about five or six Christmas’s and birthdays 😊 That was IF i could keep it all out of reach 😂! (this was the “scene” for around 4 Christmas before she arrived). The “stuff” is not the point of what I am wanting…

  • "Life" Books,  Chronic Illness,  Friends & Neighbors,  Jesus,  Let's be Real

    Name, Claim, No Room for Shame!

    As I watch the coverage of Hurricane Ian, I am struck with all sorts of emotion. I am also remembering the documentaries that I just watched barely two weeks ago, “When the Levees Broke” and then the follow-up “If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise,” which are about Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. The devastation, the brokenness, the loss of lives, homes, loss of everything they had ever known. No two stories were the same, but every person, every story was effected by the hurricane. The trauma, the loss, the reactions, no two were the same, yet they all experienced the same horrific storm. Have you ever experienced…

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

    Take time to Look Up!

    Happy Fall, Ya’ll! Fall and winter are my happy places 😊. I love the weather, the clothes, the feelings… I could go all day, but I know that most people don’t share my deep love for these seasons, so I won’t drag it out 😂. Seasons of Life. Some come and go, some come to stay. It is all in how we choose to welcome them, isn’t it? The picture above is my niece during our first visit to Build-a-Bear. I love this picture, and when I say love, I am over the moon in love with this picture. Let me tell you why. First, the awe and wonder in…

  • Children,  Jesus,  Pass it On...

    Heart of Urgency

    As I mentioned last week, my niece and nephew were with us for almost a week, for what we like to call Camp Palmer Pines Jr. We took a little journey to the Billy Graham Library Teddy Bear Tea, and had fun staying in a hotel, with a tv in the bathroom mirror, I might add 😂 (The other TVs are no longer fascinating 😊) After our little adventure, we had some “taking it easy” time at home. Each summer we have, what my nephew named, “Bible School.” Just 30 to 45 minutes of talking about Jesus and God’s Word, which we repeat, “The Bible is the MOST important book…

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

    What Will They Remember?

    Today, I can’t quite describe my state of reflection, but I am going to try… Stories, history, a hunger to know more has always been a deep longing for me. I love to learn period. But also for the purpose of looking at the experiences of the past, gathering and applying lessons that we can improve upon, and passing on knowledge, heritage, culture, etc. So my reflecting today is this: What will I leave as a legacy? What will they remember? A few reasons why: I recently was listening to a podcast, and this was the “talking point.” The man being interviewed has written a book about being his brother’s…