The Mess We Leave Behind

I couldn’t believe the mess! One big, fluffy dog ~ one tiny puddle of motor oil. I wish we’d known that he’d slept all night with his whole back end in the slight remnants of a recent oil change in the garage BEFORE letting him in the house this morning. It looked like a crime scene! The more he wagged his tail and jumped around, the more brown splatters freckled walls, cabinets, floor tile and rugs…everything from dog level on down!

There’s nothing quite like breaking out the mop and cleaning supplies at 6am! Ugghh!

Actually, it makes me think of how quickly our words of negativity and our bad attitudes can spread. It takes just the slightest murky “puddle” to fling around and make the biggest mess. Sometimes our lack of faith or less-than-holy behavior is bigger and takes on more presence in our lives than the One who can clean up the mess.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

(Ephesians 4:29) NIV

Lord Jesus,

Help me to consider my words and my actions before they’re spilled and splattered on the hearts of those I love. Amen!

I want to invite you all over to Robin’s Nest (http://robinsnest66.blogspot.com) tomorrow! She’s so sweet to have asked me to share a guest post at her blog, so I hope you’ll grab your cup of coffee and join me over at Robin’s. I’ll see you there!

New Web Site!

Hello there! I'm so excited to share my new web site with you!

Take a moment...maybe a little longer...and let me introduce you to the wonderful contributors of Christian Women's Voice Magazine:

christianwomensvoice.org

His Perfect, Powerful Word

I walk around with it. Go through my day with it. The thoughts, responsibilities and demands rain down hard, breathe a heavy whisper across the back of my neck. So much yet to do. So much I haven’t done. So many “things” pulling, tugging for my time and attention.

And He knows every single one…

He hears them too; how they sound off in my sleep and call to me like faint whispers through cracks of a rickety fence. They build and grow until they stand between me and my time with the Lord. And the only thing that topples the fence…..is the Word…

His beautiful, powerful Word!

When I push it all aside and carve out the moments spent just with Him settled and still, He brings me to exactly what speaks to my heart ~ speaks to my worry and inadequacies. I haven’t even asked for it or spoken the words, but He knows!

“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8) NIV

And the weight of it all falls away. Peace comes in its place. Peace comes to stay! The chains are gone and I’m free to be His. Freely and completely…His!

Christmas Town

He’s 19 now and stands tallest in our family...stands tallest when I stand back and watch.

Tradition runs deep with him…even now…especially now.

This day and our tradition. I love that it means something to him still, though probably seems a simple thing to most; a few moments spent placing little buildings and figurines in the perfect Christmas town scene…just like last year and each precious year before it.

He notices that we still pull it from the original box, all taped and torn.

And me all ragged and smiling bright inside, holding on to this moment ~ this perfect, precious shred of "mom and son;" the boy now a man.

How many more years will we be here?

How many more times to dust off the old box and bring out the memories?

To talk and laugh of all the times before; give presence and worth to the past. And I wonder,

will he still do it when I’m gone and it’s only him,

A man grown and smiling bright inside,

When it’s up to him to bring out the box

To set up the town and dust off the memories

So precious and few?

Giving Thanks

This is the time of year I think of all the ones who have done it before me. Those who have planned the menu, prepared the house, made the calls, revisited traditions, primped and planned for the blessed gathering time; the gathering of those closest to the heart for an official day set aside to give thanks.

I think of those who work tirelessly at making it all just right; the ones who make the day sparkle with tradition and warmth. The wonderful aromas, sights, sounds that make the memories for those we cherish. The hours spent tending to all the details. The aching back and tired muscles…all for love.

For all of you who love with your whole heart and enjoy tending the fires of hearth and home, I wish you every blessing this Thanksgiving.

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands

the foolish one tears hers down. (Prov. 14:1)

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:3-5)

The Stuff of Life

Ever find yourself in the middle of “stuff” and wonder what in the world God was thinking to have allowed you to experience such…..stuff?

I have.

Several times.

It’s only been recently that I’ve realized just how almighty, all-knowing and powerful He truly must be because I know now that if I hadn’t gone through the stuff, the blessing that followed, in some cases many years later, would have been completely overlooked…. taken for granted.

I know now that all the stuff of life matters ~ the good and the not so good. There’s a reason for the stuff, whether embraced or defied, and how it all kneads together to make us who we are.

I look back to the days when I couldn’t see beyond the stuff. Back when the stuff ruled me, dictated who I was, stood firm between me and the Lord. Back then, the stuff blocked out the Word and its meaning and its power.

Do you find yourself in the middle of stuff today? Maybe you can’t see beyond it to the blessings on the other side. Maybe all you can think about is the stuff and you wonder why in the world God lets you sit in the middle of so much of it all at once. Sometimes, the stuff isn’t just all around. It rains down from above and pounds its way into your heart and you fight back until your strength is shredded…until you are shredded.

Maybe it’s time to give your stuff to Jesus.

All of it! Give it over to Him through prayer and trust…by reading His Word.

Why?

Because only Jesus can make something God glorifying

out of all our stuff!

We surely can't!

We can only stir it up, you and I. We live it and come out damaged and bruised from the battle, but it takes the God who loves us, who died for us and rose for us to bring the blessing out of our pile of stuff.

Give Him your stuff today. He’s faithful to bring the blessing tomorrow.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

It's Finally Here...

...and I wanted to share it with you first!

I know…it’s not quite “Thanksgiving” yet, but we're getting a head start on the celebration with the release of our very first issue of Christian Women’s Voice Magazine! Best of all, we wanted to share the news with YOU first!

New Publication

Bi-monthly Christian Women's Magazine

Click on the link above to order your copy for $12.50, OR give the gift of encouragement for Christmas with a 1-year subscription (6 issues for $60) by leaving a comment below.

Christian Women’s Voice

IS the magazine with heart created with YOU in mind.

Encourage someone today

(Philippians 2:1-4)