Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

Today is a special day for me.  Today is my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!!  Let's not talk about how old I am, but needless to say, I am no longer (as they say in the Ozarks) a spring chicken.  I've experienced quite a few birthdays.  Some of them have been sweet, and others...not so sweet.   I remember as a kid having the typical December birthday.  I always heard, "Open up your gifts for Christmas and save one for your birthday."  If you have a birthday near Christmas, you have experienced my pain.  I always had my birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper, and always had two birthday cakes- one for me and one for Jesus.  Because my birthday happened during the Christmas break, I tried to have parties.  Everyone was always travelling, so attendance was spotty.  I think that is why so many people invite my family to their kid's parties.  If no one shows, keep the Tardiffs on retainer.  One phone call and our ...

If you've noticed, everyone is flooding social media with amazing, unique Christmas photos.  I look at them, thinking that would be so cute.  However, thinking and executing the perfect photo is not the same.  I had my husband take a quick Christmas photo for the blog.  As you can see, the result was not amazing.  When I looked at the finished product, I couldn't stop laughing.  I had a photo taken with my children also.   In those pictures, we had a progression of eyes closed to grimaced faces.  No, they were not the perfect, amazing Christmas photos you see all over social media, but they were fun and memorable.    They were real.  A word that is not used often anymore is transparency.  Transparent means easy to see or detect. In a society that thrives on filters and facades, transparency has fallen by the wayside.   If people perceive my weaknesses, will they think less of me?  If I don't appear perfect,...

As Christmas quickly approaches, stress levels tend to rise.    You spend your time trying to find the perfect gifts for people who have everything they need.   You wait in long lines and attend one function after another in the spirit of Christmas.  But what exactly was the spirit of Christmas on the first Christmas?  I can't help but picture the scene.  Mary is very pregnant and probably very uncomfortable after making a long journey on the back of a donkey.  When I was very pregnant with my youngest son, I visited an exotic animal park with my family.  My five year old son desperately wanted to ride a camel, but needed someone to ride it with him.  My husband didn't meet the weight requirements, and my parents were too old.  Guess who was left?  I have a picture of Trenton grinning from ear to ear on the camel with me bouncing behind him.  Yes, camels bounce.  It was not the most comfortable moment of my pregnancy...

If you've been on Facebook at all, you've seen the images of people camping out in aisles of stores, waiting in meandering lines, and performing mild, martial arts in order to gain a new smart television.   Let's face it.  We live in a society that values technology above all else.  Because of this, priorities have changed.  Part of that evolution is the Black Friday shopping traditions.  As I visited my family over Thanksgiving, we stood in a very long line for a few dollars off of our purchases.  It was cold and rainy, and people were willing to take out store credit just to escape the cold and enter the store for a few minutes before the dash for cash.  This got me thinking.  What if we pursued God like we pursue Black Friday bargains ?  What would it look like?   1. Black Friday - We wait for hours in lines for good deals.  Pursuing God - We would wait to be in God's presence. We wouldn't mind taking a little extra time ...

Do you ever struggle with remembering someone's name?   I just replaced my very old phone with a new one for Christmas.  The old screen had shattered.  The phone locked up periodically, but I still hesitated getting a new phone, partly because of cost and partly because of having to learn how to use a new phone.  My old phone was familiar and comfortable.  My children have laughed as I try to comprehend how to use my camera or maneuver on my new phone.  I have great sympathy for my mother now.  Another issue that popped up was the fact that I did not import all of my old text messages.  This created the problem of not having names connected with my contacts.  I would look at old conversations through text to determine who that number might be.  This week I had to contact someone that I had not texted in quite some time.  I started texting and everything seemed fine.  However, I thought that some of the comments from the perso...