Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

My family loaded up our truck and drove four hours to celebrate the wedding of our niece.  Squeezing all of us into a vehicle is always an adventure.    The last major trip we took to Yellowstone and several famous National Parks resulted in my invention of the box of shame.  Imagine a super-sized box of day old pizza, several moody teenagers, and being squeezed into your spot so that you can't move by the old pizza box.  I even drew a sad face and wrote "box of shame" on it for good measure.  Whoever whined the most held the box.  It only took one hour of shifting the box from one cranky teenager to another before everyone was in the chipper traveling mood.  This short trip did not require a box of shame.  We were missing our oldest, so there was more leg-room and less moodiness.  After rerouting due to unexpected flooding in Western Arkansas, we made it to the wedding with time to spare.  Since it was an outdoor ceremony, we were able to enjoy the very hot sunshine. 

Today, I celebrated the graduation of a student that has been very close to my heart.  This beautiful, young lady started coming to my church as junior high student.  She's particularly special because she has been like a daughter for many years.  T his young lady takes me back to when I was sixteen.  I was lonely, isolated, and felt like no one cared whether I existed or not.  This wasn't necessarily the case, but that was how I felt.  Then I had a come to Jesus moment, literally.  When I gave my life to Christ, an amazing woman took me under her wing.  She was 15 years older than me, but looked past the age gap and reached out to me.  I came from a poor family, so travel was practically nonexistent.  This woman taught me how to pray, how to be generous, and drove me to conferences.  I ate in my first Mexican restaurant because of her.  I stayed in hotels and flew on a plane for a mission's trip to another country because of her.  God took a lonely and isolated girl an

As a parent, you research and look for advice so you don’t totally mess up your child.  Later, you find out that the best of intentions don’t always work out.  I think that as a parent, you can cross the line of being prepared and jump right into trying to be perfect.   I can remember  my early memories of my mother telling me, “If you are going to do it, do it right.”  This made me strive for perfection from science fairs to cooking the perfect cookie.  The problem is that as a mom, perfectionism is hard to gain.   You almost become a monster in the striving for perfect.  I remember when I tasted perfect.  I went into Walmart during Halloween and saw Southern Belle costumes.  I always wanted to dress like a Southern Belle, which is probably why I make my family go to an Old Time Photos place every summer for a new Southern Belle photo.  At the store, I heard my mother’s voice in my head telling me that I needed to play the clarinet because she always wanted to play the clari

For those following along with the study on The Circle Maker , our ladies' group covered chapters 10-12 last Thursday.  For those who missed it, let me catch you up.  Batterson starts off the chapter giving a story of a seminary that was facing bankruptcy and needed help right away.  One of the men on the faculty prayed that God owned the cattle on a thousand hills, so could He please sell some cattle.  While praying, a $10,000 check was given.  This brought Batterson to the thoughts that God seems to wait until the last moment sometimes to move.  He mentioned that he stood on JEJIT .  This meant just enough just in time .  The Israelites were given manna daily.  It allowed them to trust and rely on God daily.  Batterson told the story of a woman who had given up her job to work with the poor.  One day, she felt the Holy Spirit prompt her to pack a pair of woolly socks.   She felt it was a strange request, but she did it.  As she arrived at work, she found a prostitute passed out