Wisdom And Righteousness

Awake

A step into an airport and my mind already starts to wonder, "Who will the Lord place in my path today?"  This started years ago with a single trip where I asked for God to show Himself to me, and that I would be awake to see Him.  I ended up sitting next to someone and we spoke about all sorts of things, eventually leading to the sharing of my faith with that gentleman.  The series of curcumstances were such that God's hand could not be ignored, and the adrenaline I felt knowing that I was … [Read more...]

The Staff of a Shepherd

A tree dies and the real dying begins.  A knife cuts deep and when thick wood finally begins to take shape, the knife continues to peel back, sawdust pieces hitting the floor.  The frustrating friction of sand makes it worn and smooth, rough edges removed.... Lord, this task can be so hard.  I don't want to lead these little sheep in my fold, the babes looking to their mama and me having to show them you in each moment, me failing in so many moments. I don't want to be their shepherd......  … [Read more...]

Stretch Marks

I glance sight of them when I lift my arms to brush my hair in front of the mirror.  My shirt lifts around the midline - and there they are - stretch marks.  I think about how the skin at one time was stretched, pulled to it's maximum capacity swollen with baby and just when it felt like it may rip right open, the skin stretches again, this time with scars we call "stretch marks". I hesitate. Isn't our spirit the same way? We pull and plead, tug and stretch until we feel so far out of our own … [Read more...]

When The Ground Shakes

I get up early in the wee hours of the morning to bake the cakes for my son turning five, when it hits me - I am celebrating a birthday with my son, a blessed year of joy with him, while another mother travels to receive the remains of her son, shot in the midst of battle in Afghanistan.It doesn't seem real - this moving on, when others are standing still, praying for that call, hoping beyond hope that somehow they are wrong, and it was someone else's boy..... I push blue frosting across a … [Read more...]

Letting go of the Labels….

I passed a hill the other day - a naked mound with five trees.  Nearby, a forest of trees stood mocking the vacant hillside that once harbored the same forest.  Years ago stripped bare of all trees but five, it stands exposed.I thought of what the hillside was missing - about all it had lost.  How time and man had decided to take away that which God had first blessed its ground with.  I mourned for the hill in a way, identifying with the feeling of what could have been, should have been.  … [Read more...]

Famished

A friend of mine told me her story - how she bled that others might live and how she thought of Him in the midst....Let's start at the beginning and I will tell the story the way I see it in my mind.....She's running slightly late, thinking of all the parts of her day left undone - the laundry, the errands - even lunch, which never found time to be eaten.  She drives quickly, but not so quickly as to alert any official - afterall, she is married to one of them, and what would be more … [Read more...]

Mud

I awaken at three in the morning, a cracking thunder overhead and nothing between the impending rain and I but a tent.  The four little ones slumber quietly even while the world around them shakes.  Wind blows the tent shuddering from the pressure, the showering rain so loud it's hard to think.  The phone rings - a friend snug and safe in thier camper a few sites over.  "Are you guys doing ok?" she asks.  I tell her the tent is bearing the storm well, and the kids are … [Read more...]

Whatever You Do….

I ponder long, racking my brain for what words I might pen to this one-line statement.  How do I summarize a life?  We spend our lives with words - speaking who we are out loud to others, but also the conversations in the deep inner parts.  Those words that bring worry or regret, rejoicing or peace.  We turn words over, repeating them.  They have the power to encite, to stirr up anger and wrath or to calm - a peaceful hymn murmered when things are turning sour and you … [Read more...]

The Start of Something…..

Well, the school year is about to start - my first "official" school year instructing the children. Although, we all know that the instruction of our children begins at their birth, for we are all homeschoolers in a way - teaching our children in the paths of righteousness and of His ways, am I right? I wanted to start this journey with clear direction and purpose - to have some sort of "ruler" to help determine what reaches our goals and what detracts from them. In order to do that, I had … [Read more...]

My Second Son

He says "kisses" and points to his cheek.  I kiss him.  He says "kisses" and points to the other cheek, and again I kiss.  He says "kisses" and points to his forehead, and I kiss once more.  A two year old can stall bedtime like no other!  But I have to admit, I willingly complied.  It won't be forever that my kisses will comfort and my hugs will protect.  He won't lazily fall asleep stroking the silk liner of his blankie.  He won't tiptoe down the … [Read more...]