Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying
When I go through my daily routines, I pray. As I scroll through Facebook, I pray. While driving to and from events, errands, and appointments, I pray. The few (sometimes) quiet minutes I find when I shower, I pray. When I find myself unable to fall asleep, I pray....
Teaching the Children, Election Day
Today, America decides. Everyday choices influence our course, but today, we each have an opportunity to affect greater change. The impact of our choice today will last for many years. This election seems to be the most pivotal of all time. (I do not know about all election years. I...
Hair Clips and Rainbows
Due to another transitional change in our lives, I’ve been doing more with my direct sales business. More, as in, shows/events every weekend I can find one. Most weekends, I fair well, making back the booth fee and grocery money for the week. Last weekend, I took my first...
Wishing for Smooth Easy Days
One of the tools in counseling is asking the “miracle question.” It goes something like this: Suppose you went to bed tonight and while you were sleeping, a miracle occurred. How would you know this miracle occurred when you woke up? What would be different? Another variation involves a...
The Power of Thunder
I enjoy watching lightning flashes and listening to thunderstorms. I marvel at the differences in storms between the flat plains of Texas, the mountains of Colorado, or the countryside of Germany. On occasion, I gazed over the horizon as a wall cloud formed, unable to look away. This seemed...
The New Parent Trap
Confession: I am judgmental. I see often see things in black and white, with little wiggle room between right and wrong. I “call ’em like I see ’em” sometimes without regard for the feelings of others. I am quick-tempered, think justice should be swift and thorough, and that those...
Redefining Footprints on Our Hearts
In middle school, a friend gave me a decorative banner with the quote, “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Others stay a while leaving footprints on our hearts and we are never the same,” by Flavia Weedn. This sentiment stuck with me through many moves as...
The War Zone of Parenting
Parenting is not for the weak-minded, faint of heart, or simple-willed person. Parenting, many days, feels like a war, at least at the current ages and stage of my children. I love them fiercely. I protect them and care for their needs above my own. These days, every morning...
In Memory of Grandma
“Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways, they are what has gone before, and in others, they are what we will become.” ~Mr. Rogers When I was five years old, my father preached a sermon in which he talked about his mother dying. Well, this...
The Mystical Magical Internet
I live in the magical land of America in the mystical time. Information is readily available at my fingertips. Any question can be asked of Google (or your favorite search engine) or Siri (sometimes an argument may develop). If I don’t like what one reporter has to say, I...