Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

  My son brought home a grand dog, Ruger. My husband and I spoil him, just like a grandbaby. My weakness is sneaking him snacks off my plate. At this point, sneaking is the wrong word. When I'm eating, he'll sit at my feet, drooling huge strings of drool and blowing spit bubbles, like Pavlov's dogs. My husband's weakness is playing laser pointer with the dog. He'll wait until it's dark outside and proceed to create a laser show Ruger cannot resist. This leads me to the point of my story and why I have a dog head- shaped bruise on my calf. My husband zoomed him around our yard a few times until I reminded him that he needed to take him to potty. I personally walked out to encourage him to do his business. I finally said I was going inside while my husband zoomed him again. I told him  to stop playing and come inside. What I didn't notice was the laser pointer following me. Guess where I'm going with this. My husband stopped the laser behind me; however, R

As an educator, I've noticed that our world is broken.  Something very important is missing from our society-the family dinner. As a child, I remember the family gathering around the table to eat together. We talked about our day, laughed together, and bonded. At that table, I learned manners. We learned to be polite and take turns in conversations. We learned to share the last piece of pie and pray over our meals. As my parents listened to an account of my day, I felt supported and heard. I felt the security of a stable family, even if chaos surrounded us. As life has become busy and our children's activities have us running in ten different directions, the family dinner has been replaced with a quick meal in the car. There's nothing wrong with a quick bite to eat; however, if the family never sits down together, the security of the family bond falters. Educationally, children's language skills decrease as family conversation decreases. Anxiety and behaviors increase a

  Earlier this week around Tuesday, I felt God had given me a vivid picture of what to share on the blog this week.  This morning, my husband's sermon was exactly the topic I had planned to discuss, so I think this blog is for someone out there. My husband asked the question, " Why does bad things happen to good people? " There are multiple answers to this question. If you look at the book of Job, God allowed Satan to test Job so that God received the glory. You may say that this seems harsh, but keep in mind, God protected Job from death and restored Job to even greater than before the testing. He also never left Job's side during the whole encounter. God also reminded Job that He created everything. If He could control the moon and stars in their place, He could make it work out for the good for Job. My daughter's journey to healing inspired so many to turn to God. I watched nurses crying as they heard my daughter sing God's praises. Let's move to the

  It was that time of year again. My husband and I take an annual pilgrimage to the Renaissance Fair in Kansas City. It is always a blast to dress up in costumes and walk back in time to dirt roads, jousting, turkey legs, and aristocracy. Kyle and I gathered our costumes and prepared to escape for the weekend. This time we added my youngest son along for the ride. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, other than the extremely long line to get into you ladies privy (bathroom). As the crowds crawled past the thousands, I trekked from one side of the dusty park to the other, desperately looking for ladies' accommodations. After an hour and a half and at least two miles of walking covered, I found success. When we left the grounds, I was relieved to enter bathroom accommodations that didn't involve a marathon and a Black Friday kind of line, that is until we visited a bathroom on the way home. Once we were within a couple of hours from home, we realized the sodas had taken effect. We pu

  Tonight we had the opportunity to join other churches in worship. It was fun to watch how so many people from different backgrounds come together to praise God. Some are quiet and sit. Others stand and raise their hands, while others call out to God. It reminds me of a football game. I was never super interested in football. I attended every game because I was a band nerd, but I never watched the game much. I was a people watcher. Some were quiet and reserved. Some jumped up and down and raised their hands in excitement, while others shouted out their excitement. Sound familiar? We never think anything about people getting excited for a game, but we get critical if it crosses into church. In preschool circles, there is a phrase, "Don't yuck my yum." It just means that just because it isn't to your taste doesn't mean everyone should feel the same. I don't like beef liver, but my husband loves it. Just because I think it's nasty doesn't make it so

  I may show my age, but does anyone remember the famous phrase spoken by Steve Urkel on the television show, Family Matters ? Anytime he did something dumb, he would reply, "Did I do that?" I've noticed there have been many Urkel moments in my life. There was trying to shave my eyebrows using a sweater shaver at 16 years old. By the way, you can't use a sweater shaver. It sucks the sweater balls into the shaver and cuts them off, so guess what happens to the skin on your eyebrows. If you guessed that it cuts it off, you would be correct. My tenth grade school photo is proof. Recently, I had another moment . While at work, I was very busy typing when I noticed my lips were dry, so I grabbed a little pot of lip balm. As I smeared it on, I noticed it felt weird. That's when I read the label. I had smeared hand salve all over my lips. Let's just say it does not taste good or feel great. It got me thinking about our decisions. When we don't think through our