Ten minutes after I should have left, I pulled the carefully-placed bobby pins from my hair and tossed them onto the bathroom counter. “I should be there by now,” I told Him. “And this doesn’t make any sense…” Once my hair was somewhat-satisfactorily in a ponytail, I kicked my brown flats back into the recesses of my closet and grabbed my Converse from their spot by my bed. Lacing them
Keeping Truth Close To My Heart
I’m not a big wearer of jewelry. I like it a lot, but I have about a million pieces that sit neglected on my hanging necklace rack and in my jewelry box. A lot of the necklaces are fancier than I normally wear (because I’m not generally a fancy, sparkly kind of girl), and some of them aren’t my style but I keep them for sentimental reasons. The real reason I don’t wear those,
On Self-Discovery, Friendship, and Raising an Ebenezer
For as long as I can remember, “friendship” meant “fitting in,” but not in the sense of having a place to belong. Friendship was like a crocheted afghan, with each strand and each loop perfectly aligning in the pattern to create uniformity. It was fitting in to the point of matching – conforming – sticking closely enough to the pattern that any variances were undetectable. Friendship, for me, was a kind of
Praying For Our Families || Day 16
Prayer Focus: Living for God, not Man Central Scripture: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10) Prayer: Gracious, most merciful Father, thank You for reaching out and taking hold of us. Thank You for going to unfathomable lengths to
Love Idol: A Guest Post!
“Whereas people thought they were complimenting me, they were feeding my addiction. I was flying high on their approval, and as long as my efforts paid off, I would continue in my relentless pursuit. Eventually, the comments I got from other people became my own identity, and I saw myself through their eyes instead of through God’s. I knew it had to stop.” You guys. I just can’t
The Things You Realize on a Rainy Monday Morning
The note came home last week: “School picture day will be next Wednesday. Each child will be photographed individually for the yearbook. Prints will be available for purchase.” Just another note, perhaps, with just another thing to mark on the calendar. But for this mama, it sparked a whirlwind of harried thoughts. “It says blue background. What’s she going to wear? She doesn’t have anything new….or even sort of new….it
We Will Follow
If spoken words can have flashing lights, these did. And if they can come at a person like blazing darts, these did just that. “We are all disciples of something,” he said. “Whether we’re following Jesus or not, we’re all disciples.” And for a few minutes, I retreated into my own world, right there on the front row of my church, mid-sermon. Because as the speaker went on with his
“Love Idol” : A Review, As Idols Come Crashing Down
I love to read, and I’ve read a lot of good books. I’ve even read a number of great books. But the list of books that have literally changed my life? That list is pretty short. And the list of life-changing books that I plan to read again and again? Even shorter still. But friends, my most recent read is near the top of that short list. Through the reading
For Your Reference : PreApproved Printables
Below are some of the verses that I’ve been meditating on as I work on smashing the love idol. Feel free to print, share, and use on your own journey. Follow me!
The Implications of PreApproval
It wasn’t about the shoes at all, really, but as it usually happens, something as innocuous as a too-small pair of tee ball cleats became the spark igniting all the fire and fury my human heart can bear. He didn’t mean anything by it, and deep down I knew that. But when he did the parental “toe mash” on her foot as she modeled her new pink and black cleats,