Growing in Grace and Truth

I recently had the amazing opportunity to attend the birth of my first grand daughter.  I'm smiling even as I recall the whole evening.  It was beautiful from start to finish.   Even after having four children of my own, I am still amazed at the life that God creates and the incredible way that each baby enters the world. There are a couple moments from the evening that are embedded deep in my heart.  The best was the moment my granddaughter joined the world and they laid her on my daughter's chest.  Such a precious and beautiful memory. The other moments came earlier in the night as I watched my daughter and my son-in-law, Derrick, interact. As I watched,  I was overwhelmed with all the warm fuzzies.  The strength of Elizabeth's contractions was increasing and the two of them were standing hand in hand swaying in unison as if they were in a slow dance.  When the labor increased, Elizabeth would wrap her arms around his neck and lean into him...

 "The sweetest sound, the highest praise, Is the letting go of this life You gave. Our greatest prayer, an act of faith, Is an open hand; Lord have Your way. Take it all - every hope, every dream, every plan. Take it all - every weight, all the shame and brokenness. Jesus, I surrender all - every victory and loss Take it all, take it all 'till all I have is open hands." "I'm not afraid of what I'll lose. My greatest joy is finding you, finding you."   It's so easy to sing along with this song by Laura Story and Mac Powell. But what about actually following through in your heart? Offering everything to God with open hands.    Recently, I was challenged in this area. An opportunity came up that would drastically change our lives. Everything about it was good and appealing and in all honesty, would fulfill a dream in some ways. As Tim and I talked and prayed, we concluded that we should take the first step with this opportunity and see what God w...

 Have you ever felt alone?   Have you felt the kind of alone that hits your heart and brings sadness, tears or despair?  Many situations can bring you to that point.  Death, major life changes, change of job, marital strife, abuse, rejection, broken friendships, depression and many other life happenings.  There are moments when your heart ache is so deep that you want to just let it all out but you are not sure where the safe spot is or if there even is a safe place to let your emotions and heartache go free.  It may be that you don't trust your emotions.  It may be that you don't trust others.  It could be that it feels like no one would really care anyway.  Maybe what you have to say is from such deep despair or trauma that you fear how others would react.  Maybe sharing your heart would mean you have to take off the mask you always wear in public.  Sometimes people are so close to the end of their rope that they don't even h...

Parents of littles, I know you have heard it a hundred times but I'll say it again. Our kids grow so fast.  Blink and they will be grown. I should know.  I blinked.  Now our oldest got married a couple weeks ago.  Our second is working a full time job in the field he loves.  Our third is doing the same.  Our "baby" has two years left before he graduates.  I can hardly believe it!  Lately, I've been thinking about parenting tips. What would be good for parents to know?  I am sharing a few below.  Some are ideas I used while the kids were young.  Others are ideas I wish I had known early on.  Of course, there is much more to parenting, but these are a few important ones. I think this is a great place to start. 1. Holiness is your goal not happiness - This is one of the pieces of advice I was given at my baby shower.  It can sound a bit harsh but it is a great piece of truth.  You see, many times parents don't want to u...

 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18  A few months back as I was getting ready for church, I was told about one who took their life in a violent, tragic way.  They had lost almost everything.  Depression had overwhelmed them and they were fighting a battle with demons they felt they could not overcome.  I was grieved to the core.  Not only for the family who lost their loved one but grieved that the enemy won yet another battle.   Grieved at the depth of hopelessness that would cause one to take their own life.   For all that I can tell, the person ...

 I think it's time for a heart challenge, believing friend. We all know that the last 8 months have been rough ones.  Our lives were turned upside down by this virus.  Lives have been lost.  Jobs have been lost.   The roller coaster ride of opinions has left us with informational whiplash.  Fear of the unknowns has zapped the emotional strength of many.  Opposing choices have caused relationships to break and fall apart.  Churches have been strained and even ripped apart.  There has been very little rest of heart for many.  Everyone would agree that it's been a tough time that we would rather not repeat.     One area that has stirred my heart all along is relationships.  As opposing opinions started to surface and people started to take sides, a battle began in hearts.  The battle brought out frustration, anger, disdain, irritation, and even hatred.  People started to evaluate relationships and categori...

  I love seeing pictures of a cowboy relaxing on a fence. It seems calm and peaceful to me. Imagine with me if suddenly there was an angry bull running full on toward that cowboy. Do you think he would calmly sit there or would he move as fast as he could to jump off the fence to safety? I expect that any cowboy with an ounce of common sense would quickly move to a safe spot on the opposite side of the fence. Who would want to just sit there are let the bull hit him full on? Not me! Let's move that picture over to the spiritual realm. For far too long many, many believers have been sitting and relaxing on the fence. They sit there. One foot in the world. One foot following Christ. Part of them wants to follow Christ or at least they feel like they need to keep up the appearance of following Christ. The other part of them wants to be accepted by the world and have what the world has to offer. Believers, it's time to get off the fence. There is a bull, the enem...