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Showing posts from 2013

Inspired by Obedience

And He said to all, "If any would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:20 - 21 I have only known in my life one person that truly personified those verses. In 2009, one of our youngest, most energetic ministers was taken to the hospital emergency room with chest pain. He was healthy and athletic. He taught PE at our local high school. This trip to the hospital began a journey that would last the next three years and affect more lives than anyone could have ever anticipated. Mike Storter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Mike immediately began treatments for his disease and for a short period during these years was considered cancer-free. It was a

Life Interrupted: Part 2

In my previous post , I told the story of my hip injury that interrupted our lives for approximately 2 years. I mentioned that there was more to the tale, so here is the rest of the story. In August of 1998, I married for the second time. My new husband and I knew that my two children would be living with us, but never suspected that any of his children might want to move away from their mother in another state. We had only been married a month when the first of his sons chose to make the move and within a few months his other son was also living with us. We were newly weds with four children between the ages of 14 and 18 living under what had become a very small roof. Our little home was so small that my husband and I had to give up the master bedroom to the three boys and we moved into one of the spare bedrooms. It was a trying time and there was no room to spare and no one ever had any privacy.   Of course, in the midst of this was when I suffered the hip injury I talke

Life Interrupted

Nineteen Ninety Nine was the year my life changed forever. Who knew that something that happens so fast could have such far reaching effects. But it can. Life can change in an instant. It wasn't the most catastrophic thing that could happen, but it was a major change, nonetheless. I was working as a facility nurse at a small assisted living facility. I had been to lunch and upon my return noticed one of the residents crossing the busy four lane road in front of the building alone. I knew her to have dementia and knew she was not safe - so I ran after her. What happened next has some comedic irony to it. I got in the middle of the road. I know it was the middle because I remember looking down and seeing the double yellow line painted on the asphalt. I got in the middle of the road and tripped. Anti climactic? Well... when I tripped my leg twisted and I could hear the characteristic "thunk" as my hip was wrenched out of the socket. I fell to the pavement and thought, &

Miracle in the Mundane

You sit in an office...staring at a computer...you feel like you are living "Groundhog Day" over and over and over... OR you are mindlessly watching the television night after night...barely comprehending what is passing before your eyes and into your ears... The monotony can be mind numbing and depressing. Then, God gives you a window. It seems like such a little thing - this window - but it opens up a whole new world. A world where the sun breaks through the trees and warms your face. A world where cardinals flit through the tree branches, woodpeckers search every little crevice of the big oak tree for food, and the odd egret or crane may come strolling by. Butterflies are endless. There are other visitors. The little stray tabby that always seems to have a belly full of kittens. The raccoons that have learned we feed the cats...  Some days there are no visitors because the rain is relentless. Pounding the glass. Thunder and lightening right on the other side .

Devotion to Prayer

"Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2 Prayer has never come naturally to me. I have always felt awkward in prayer for some reason. Over the past year, I have finally come to the conclusion that in all my years as a Christian, I have never really learned how to communicate with God properly. Not that I haven't made valiant efforts. I have had beautiful prayer journals. Sections for specific days and topics. I have written out my prayers (I still believe that helps me concentrate). I've used all the acronyms and prayer plans. But in the end, I look at it all and think, "If one of my friends communicated with me this way, I would toss them out the door." Some days I feel all I do is bring my wish list to God - admirable though it may be - and ask and ask and ask. For now, I'm done with asking. Color me ecstatic when I learned our little Bible study between online Bible studies was going to be on prayer!

Mary, Mary, Never Contrary

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.' " Luke 10: 38 - 42 No one has ever accused me of being a Martha. Don't get me wrong. My house is clean - sort of - and I can cook you a great Southern meal if you come over for dinner. I just hope you feel at home enough in my house to get up and refill your own sweet tea. (Glasses are in the top cabinet to the left of the stove) I believe I have always had a

God Is Here

Exodus 33:14  "And [God] said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'" Moses was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. By the time they reached the 33rd chapter of Exodus, I think Moses might have wanted to take them back to Egypt. They were a bunch of complaining, idolatrous, ungrateful people that God labeled "stiff-necked". What nerve! Look how blessed they were. Released from slavery. Going to the land of milk and honey. God personally leading them with a visible sign by day and night. I would never do such a thing....and, yet... How blessed I am everyday. I have been released from spiritual captivity. I am going to a Promised Land greater than the one ever offered to the Israelites. I live in the Land of the Free that all of the world wants to come to, now. I have milk and honey... and meat and potatoes... and a supermarket full of goodness. And I complain. And I am ungrateful. And, yes, I suspect I am even fairly idolat

Live a Peaceful Life

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for EVERYONE - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants ALL men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."  1 Timothy 2:1-4 At 2:40pm, on April 15 of this year, two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon killing several and inflicting catastrophic injury on others. In the hours that followed we learned that two brothers were responsible - Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev.  At our church, the choir sings a song called 'There's Power in the Name of Jesus'. We were rehearsing it shortly after the bombing and something caught me in the words this time. They go something like this: "A mother barely twenty out there on her own, A teenage boy in prison, before he's even grown."  A teenage boy. In prison. A BOY. Nineteen y

#Blessings

There are times in our lives when we realize we cannot understand what is happening in our world. These are the days we must count our blessings in order to keep from focusing on the unthinkable. MY BLESSINGS: Jesus Christ, My Savior (Without Him how lost I would be) Family (Godly parents, wonderful husband, great kids and step-kids) God's Word (I love it!) GRANDKIDS!!! (Eight little girls, 2 little boys, 1 precious foster grand daughter. I could just kiss them all to pieces!) (Make that 7 little girls and 1 big girl - she'll be 16 next month!) My Job (The very one that stresses me out...) The Basics (Food, clean water, shelter -so many don't have them) My Church (The BIG one and the little one) My Cat (Go ahead. Make fun. She loves me unconditionally) Sunshine (I am a Florida girl to the core) Diet Coke (I know...it's wrong...but it feels SO right. LOL) Music (All kinds. Well - almost all kinds...

I Stand Amazed

I grew up singing songs in church. Lots of songs. Songs in Sunday School. Songs in children's choir. Songs in big church. Songs in youth choir. Songs in adult choir. Songs in the pew. Songs in the praise team. Lots of songs... I can still remember songs from my childhood. I could sing them in my sleep..  Unfortunately, I think too often, we are singing them in our sleep. We sing from rote and our minds wander while the words and the notes pour from our mouths. How often do I sing a song on Sunday from start to finish while my mind wanders to what everyone is wearing, or what's for lunch, or... you get the picture. I love singing. I love the children's songs and the choir anthems and the old hymns and the contemporary praise and worship music. I love it all - I really do. But I think if just every once in awhile we slowed it down enough to really think about the words, we would sing with renewed vigor. Or maybe, we would find ourselves so choked up by what we are si

Seasons of the Soul

Larry and I left home yesterday to begin the trek northward to the Tennessee mountains. This is one of our favorite places, but we don't generally journey there this time of the year. What draws us this year is a new grandbaby. As we are making our way through northern Georgia, the reason we choose a different season is abundantly clear. Although winter is technically over, the landscape is relatively bare. In many places the grass is still brown, trees look dead and leafless. There is a drab lack of color. We have been this way before. In the spring when the green is especially vibrant and the leaves look particularly tender. We have been this way in the summer when flowers are blooming and wildlife is thriving. We have been this way in the fall when leaves are yellow and gold and red and orange - when the mountains appear to be on fire. We know there is life here - we just can't see it right now. Life is always a cycle. I recently lost two elderly family members. They h

Window to the World

You sit in an office...staring at a computer...performing the same repetitive tasks over and over...wondering why you are here... And then, God gives you a window. A window that looks out at the world He created. Suddenly, in the midst of the mundane, you can see the sun breaking through the tops of the trees. Shining through the glass. Warming your face. Causing the grass to sparkle as it reflects off the dew. Or maybe the sun is hiding today, and, instead, you get a rainstorm so close you feel you need an umbrella. Just on the other side of the glass. And we cannot forget the visitors who come to keep you company. The regal egret, slowly picking his way through the landscaping. He stops and eyes any movement he sees coming from inside the glass on his way by. And there are the cardinals that visit the large palmetto bush just the other side of the lawn. The little stray cat that stops and peaks in the window to see what you are doing from time to time with her belly full of k