Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

  There has been a stench outside my house. We looked everywhere to determine where the smell originated. Did the cat bring us  a lizard or small animal gift? No. Was my son's old lunch in his ice chest the cause? No. I know this because I carried to the outer perimeter of our property. I looked under the porch. Nothing. Maybe one of our chickens died. No. No matter how much I looked, I could not find the source of the deathly stench. But I knew it was there. It was the kind of smell that clung to your clothes. I resigned myself that, like that insurance commercial, this smell would become a part of our lives. What's for dinner? Stench. How do you like my perfume? It smells like stench. How's my candle? Is it stench-scented? However, a few hours later, the smell magically disappeared. How could something so bad just dissappear? This is what Jesus Christ did for you. The stench of your and my sin draped us. Death was the clear ending. However, God made a way, my friend, o...

  While on vacation this week, my husband and I stayed in a hotel in Branson, Missouri. To say it was busy is putting it mildly. One of the things that I absolutely love but don't own is a hot tub. I think as I grow older, the heat feels amazing to my body. Because of this, I was very excited to see a hot tub right next to the pool. Unfortunately, the hot tub was filled to capacity with lots of strangers. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind being around people I don't know; however, being squished beside unfamiliar people in swimsuits is a big no go. I told my husband that we would wait until the next day to visit the bubbly haven. The next day, the hot tub was filled at noon. Later, at midnight, it was still packed. I thought early morning would be perfect. Who sits in a hot tub at 9 am? The answer is way too many people. Every day, I glanced into the pool room only to see a bubbling cauldron of germs. Don't get me started on all the little kids in there with possible...

  My husband and I are enjoying a little vacation during Spring Break. Of course, we are doing what everyone does. We're taking the mandatory selfies. As I snapped some selfies, I started annoying my husband because in every picture, I noticed the wrinkles and bags under the eyes. One angle was wrong. The next accentuated the extra ten pounds. At one point, I started playing with filters because I didn't like reality. Our world has embraced filters. If you don't like something about yourself, change it. Here's the beautiful thing. God sees us in reality. No filters. Our bad attitudes, grumpiness, anger, and pride are much worse than a few wrinkles, and He sees it all. But God isn't repelled by our flaws. He loves us in spite of our brokenness and imperfections. So as we filters ourselves to the world, know that the only One who matters loves you no matter what you look like. You are loved. You are valuable. You matter to Jesus. And that's the unfiltered truth. H...

My new phone has a nifty feature. When someone leaves a voicemail, it automatically transcribed it into text. My husband, however, speaks so fast that hus messages have become quite entertaining. One message said, " Hey, I mean, if I am cons seem, Yeah. What I. " What he was actually saying was, " Hey! I'm being hit by hail ." Following that message was the sound of the hail storm that had passed over while he was driving.  I now look forward to the transcriptions. They're really funny-like Madlibs. Here's the beauty of being able to speak with God. He sees our heart. How many times have you felt so misunderstood? Or maybe the words just do not come out right. God knows your heart. He doesn't need eloquent prayers, fancy words, or seminary speech. He just wants to hear from you. And as you pour out your heart to the One who loves you more than anyone, He knows who you are. He understands what you need, and He cares what you feel. When we speak to Go...

  This last week, I saw God's hand over my husband. Every morning, I start my day praying for God's protection over my family, including accidents. I saw this prayer answered. On Wednesday, my husband was commuting home from work driving 55 miles an hour when someone going the opposite direction turned in front of him. He felt like he needed to swerve, so he turned to the right. The woman continued toward him, hitting the front of his car and sending him into a spin toward trees. He prayed he not hit the big trees and relaxed his body. He bounced off two telephone pole-sized trees and came to a stop. There was a sheriff's deputy behind him that mentioned if he had not swerved, both the woman and he would have been seriously injured, if not killed. Here's the miraculous part. All side airbags deployed and the car was totaled, but he walked away with only a tiny scratch on the inside of his left ear- no broken bones, not even a bruise. He didn't even feel very sore th...

I'm going to be transparent for everyone.  I threw a big adult temper tantrum the other day. My work day was great. Don't get me wrong. It's fast-paced and high stress, but manageable. My daughter is weaning off her seizure meds, so she is unable to drive for a few months. I became her after work transportation. She also warned me that she needed some help with a college assignment. I knew this would be challenging.  My husband was out of town all week. I had been running the home, taking care of pets, along with stepping in for any needs that might arise for my children. By the time I picked up my daughter from work, I was tired. I told her I was ordering a pizza and taking an evening off of cooking. My paycheck would not clear until the next day, so I was using reward points to pay. Free dinner. No fuss. It was perfect. That is, until we arrived at the store. After having the clerk check tickets several times, I had to resign myself to the fact that pizza was not happen...