Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

I've noticed a side effect of being quarantined in my home with tasty goodness in the form of snacks and a closed gym.  Instead of the "freshman fifteen" (the weight college students put on in their first year), I have the quarantine ten.  I didn't even realize the problem because, let's face it, I have been living in yoga pants for over a month.  But as I tried to squeeze into a pair of summer shorts, I realized that I had one too many Hostess cupcakes.  In a push to get in better shape, I decided to join my husband and son on a trek down a local trail.   It wasn't going to be hard because I had just ran the trail in a 5K only 2 years before.  Ha ha.  I did not take into account the fact that they had just graded the path right before a big rain.  The path was a mix of mud and sporadic stretches of a kitty litter type of gravel.  My oldest 6'8" son is built like a giraffe, so I blinked and he was so far ahead that I could barely see him....

I've noticed that one type of store has been thriving during the quarantine...home improvement stores.   Lowe's and Home Depot have been crowded even more than Walmart.  Why? You may ask.  It's really quite simple.  How many times have you wanted to do odd jobs around your house or asked your spouse to do them, but there never seemed to be enough time.  Guess what?  There is more than enough time now, so I sent my husband off to start fixing things around my house.  There's only so much Netflix a person can watch.  We decided to tackle the flower beds in front of our house and build some pot gardens.  Before you ask, no we are not raising pot!!  We are raising vegetables in pots.  Here's the catch.  I am known for my black thumb of death.   I have managed to kill aloe plants that have probably been in existence since the dinosaurs, succulents that need very little water, and air plants that need no water.  How can ...

As the world celebrates our risen Savior, I begin to think about what Easter really means.  There's a song from the nineties called, "Heart of Worship."  It mentions that as the music fades and all is stripped away and we simply come.   As quarantine changes the very way churches celebrate Easter this season, I can't help but be reminded of that song.  For so many years, we have gotten caught up in the outreach that we forget the purpose.  Now, as all the extras are stripped away, we are left with the heart of Christianity.   It centers around a Heavenly Father that loved each and every one of us so much that He couldn't bear the thought of an eternity separated from us.  Even though we fought against Him and accused Him of not caring, He displayed the most extravagant love possible by offering His son to stand in our place of punishment.  Imagine the Heavenly court room where each of us stand before our Maker.  In Hebrews, it is mentioned ...

Today, we celebrated my oldest son's twentieth birthday.  It has been hard on my children since both my girls and my son have had to spend their birthday trapped indoors with just family on their birthdays.  Over the years, I've tried to pour a sense of resiliency in my children's lives.  Resiliency is the ability to recover from hardships and become flexible.  This is a particularly hard skill for me because I am a perfectionist.  The idea of making a mistake brings dread.  However, when we live our lives unable to "roll with the punches," we live in a constant state of fear.  What ifs become our mantra.  I remember working for an employer who was blind, but also had an amazing sense of humor.  He asked me to drive him to the airport.  I had no idea how to get their other than some vague directions.  After an hour, he began to suspect something.  He asked what was taking so long.  I had a dilemma.  I could be ho...