The Plan I Have For You

This week I begin a new adventure, graduate school.  It's been on my bucket list for a long time...even before I finished my undergraduate degree 18 years ago.  As classes opened online, I accessed my account and began to look at the details of the syllabus. My eager heart craves to study, but I can see clearly the extra demand of time I have just assumed after cleaning out my life just a few months before.  Its taken only a few days to become overwhelmed with the amount of additional work. There's a great song out right now by Tenth Avenue North called "I'm worn."  It was written by a parent, exhausted from the work it takes to care for a toddler.  Most days the responsibilities we assume are mentally and physically tiring.  "Worn" is a step beyond...when you are so tired you lose the desire to continue the fight. Worn, I have been there.  Spending more and more time trying to accomplish things on my own.  The harder you work, the more wo...

About three weeks ago, God laid a message on my heart about the doors he opens in our lives, and the ones he closes for us.   As I prepared to teach our ladies group Wednesday night, I had struggled with a lesson.  God gave me a great follow up to my lesson doorways:  How to Live your Life in the Hallway. We often expect when God closes a door for us, he’s supposed to immediately open another one.   I expected that 11 months ago when I made a life changing transition.  Today, I'm still standing in the hallway. We all will face those hallways in our lives, the important lesson for us is how to live during the process.  I learned a lot about that this week from 1 Samuel, and the story of David. Charles Swindoll in his book David, “I wonder how many people think that David, after he killed the giant, within a matter of a few days became the youngest king in the history of Israel?   Well in case you were one who thought that, you need to know it...

I don't usually post videos in my blog, but I wanted to share this one.  I found it several weeks ago preparing a skit for our youth group, who did an excellent job this morning of sharing the message. Prepared by a church group and their youth, it talks about the baggage we carry.  Whether you are fifteen or 50, chances are you have some "baggage."  I know I do.  Christ takes each of us and wipes our slate clean when we take him as our savior.  What a great message for the person who says they aren't good enough...or the Christian who can't seem to let go.  Christ already has, won't you? Enjoy.

I had an opportunity one day this week to be up early and take a road trip.  Road trips were a part of my life for five years.  The one part of travel I enjoyed was the quiet time.  It's been much harder to accomplish that being at home, and I really appreciated the opportunity to have that time this week. This was a special road trip, a four hour, round trip journey to take the entrance test for graduate school.  Its a dream I have been talking about for almost 10 years, or more. I topped a hill, catching a glimpse of the sun beginning to rise.  Literally the clouds were painted a beautiful pink before my eyes.  God's awesome, beautiful artistry in the making.  He painted the clouds and simultaneously spoke to my heart. God has opened many doors in my life.  In that moment, I understood the power of the doors he has closed.  If it had not been for a series of closed doors...and one through which he had to push ...

Last night, I was sitting in the kitchen, five feet from the item I needed.  I was giving my son directions on where to retrieve an item and instructions to bring it to me.  After the third try...he finally got it.  The past week has been full of those moments, a hard lesson for the type A who would rather just do it herself and be done with it.  My family has been incredible taking care of me while I TRY to keep my foot non weight bearing to heal.  Its the hardest thing to sit back and let someone else do.  Its really, really hard for me.  I've not been the best patient.    This morning I was thinking back to those frequent episodes during the week at the take a deep breath and sigh moments when you tell someone something, and it takes three more sets of instructions to get the job done.   A lump appeared in my throat...God must do this with me every day. Can you imagine the patience it must take to...

Esther 4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.   And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? On my porch, nestled in my geranium, a mother bird is raising her babies.   It’s been exciting to watch her feed and care for them.   She brings them food, and she is quick to guard them against anything she feels is a threat, including my curious kitty.   That mother bird will soon teach her little ones to fly and prepare them to go off into the great big world.   I’ve seen mama birds do this before;   she pushes the little ones out of the nest to get them started.   Each time I wonder how she can do that and not worry about her little one getting hurt? I feel a bit like that mother bird lately.   My oldest child starts high school this year.   While I am so proud of the indepe...

Exodus 4:2-5 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.   The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.     “This,” said the Lord , “is so that they may believe that the Lord , the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” This has been Vacation Bible School week at our church, and I've been teaching the 3-5 year old class.  If you haven't had that pleasure, lessons are fast paced, because if you get them to sit still longer than a couple of minutes you are doing great. Its also amazing to see how much they do absorb in such a short time, and how much they can remember later. Our lessons have focused on Moses.  We talke...