{Guest Post Alert} The Heart of Mother's Day
Do you believe that you are seen this week? We know it may not physically be seen by a mother or daughter but do you believe that God carries your heart close to his?
There are many women who carry around guilt or shame when it comes to their mother/daughter relationship and feel as though it can never be repaired. Maybe you are one of these women whose relationship is in an estranged or “walk on egg shells” place as we approach Mother’s Day. The heart of a day that celebrates moms when she is not close in your heart.
A Scent You Don't Forget
I noticed the silent distress in her dark brown eyes as soon as she walked into the room. She rushed by in a hurry to get to her destination, bright smile flashing. I followed her, gave her a minute, and as she spun around, I inquired, “Are you doing okay?”
What We Can Learn From Roller Skating
I laced up the old, stinky, rental skates—at some point warm from someone else’s feet—but my youngest son wanted to learn how to roller skate. It was hard for me to explain to him the motions he needed to make with his own feet without skating myself.
I'm Not Good At Stopping
My Dad was an auto body repairman. He was a master dent removing, sanding, Bondo spreading, paint spraying machine. His work was always his very best. He was a perfectionist always wanting things to be just so. I watched him work on the same spot for a week at a time trying to make sure the body of the car was as smooth as possible.
I Used to Cuss
Strangely, one of my earliest childhood memories, besides the Christmas I got a Baby Alive doll, was reading the words "Jackass" on the wall leading down to the basement of our home. My brother, six years older than me, had penned it there in his first or second grade handwriting.
The Missing Heart Beat
It was my first known pregnancy. The first time I had seen a doctor to discuss this new life inside of me. I was excited and nervous. David and I had been married for six months when I learned I was pregnant. I had stopped taking birth control three months previously and took pregnancy tests religiously for the next three months.
She Didn't Save Me a Seat
Something has been stirring in my heart lately. I keep trying to put my finger on what it is exactly, and it's been difficult. It's like all of these pieces and parts in a large cauldron going round and round but not really making anything specific--just bits and pieces.
Carrying Hope: Ten Days in Haiti
I'm struggling with how to start this blog post. Usually, I have all the words, but tonight none of them seem to articulate the thoughts and feelings I have inside of me regarding my first mission trip outside of the country.
Here I Am: Send Me
I guess it was about five or six years ago. Pastor Doc Shell was my Senior Pastor at Christ Chapel in Florence, Alabama. If my memory serves me correctly, a team was either returning from a mission trip or we were sending a team out. I don't remember all the specifics. My home church has always been mission minded--to equip people and send them out into the world with the good news of Jesus.
Attempting Grateful Living: Breath. Thank God. Repeat.
David opened yesterday's staff meeting with this verse, "Seek God's will in all you do, and He will show you the path to take." Proverbs 3:6
He explained, as business owners, we are always seeking God for wisdom. The decisions we make are an attempt to make our business better for our employees and our customers. The decisions are never meant to make life harder for anyone. Much thought and meaning are behind them--and sometimes a few tears. We're the first to admit when a decision needs to be changed if we recognize it's not working well. It's not fun to fail, but it's necessary in learning what works and what doesn't.
A Song, A Needle and Some Thread
While in the car scanning the stations, a radio announcer caught my attention with an interview he was conducting with an up and coming country musician. The musician sounded charming, so I stopped the scan and listened to what was being said. It was amusing and fun.
After the brief interview, the station returned to its regularly scheduled programming which involved an upbeat song. Whoa! Thirty seconds in, and I was glad my kids weren't in the car with me. I immediately changed the channel.
Saved from Brokenness: Made Whole
My seven year old said he had something to show me. He was sitting at the table with a smooth, blank sheet of paper. He said, "See this paper. When someone says something hurtful to you," he bends the corner of the paper, "it looks like this. Crinkled." He went on, his demeanor serious, instructional, "And then the next person hurts you," he begins to wad up the paper, "and it does this to you." He repeated this several times until the paper was a legitimate ball of crinkled mess.
When to Hustle and How to Trust
A nasty cold as my temporary companion, I find myself sitting for a little longer than normal leading to much needed contemplation and reflection. There's laundry to do, and I noticed today that my bathroom floor is overdue for a good get on my hands and knees scrubbing. But it can wait.