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Showing posts from May, 2021

How Sin Separates Us From God

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 In the last few weeks, I have had several young people ask me why it mattered so much whether or not they did things that went against the Bible.  I wanted to explain through an illustration, so here goes... Imagine you are newly married.  You are so excited to spend time with your spouse.  You feel excitement and thrills.  But after being married a while, you begin to realize that you do not like the same things that your spouse likes.   You don't like ball games, cars, or their movies so you decide to go out and do your own things.  Now, you aren't spending as much time together.  You've decided that you like the freedom of doing your own thing without worrying about what your spouse thinks.  You don't want to wake them up coming in late, so you start sleeping in a separate room.  You've made new friends who are letting you sleep over, so you'll stay there through the week and only visit your spouse on weekends.  You think the relationship is fine, but you s

Out of Gas

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  For those of you who didn't know, we have had record-breaking rain these last two years.  If God hadn't promised He wouldn't send another flood, I would start to wonder about the need to build another ark.  With so much rainfall, it seems that the grass needs to be cut constantly.  When I heard the soft roar of mower engines around the neighborhood, I knew that my lawn would need to be cut while we still had a dry day.  I tried to use my riding lawnmower, but my husband wife-proofed me from being able to get it.  He put these tiny little metal ramps leading up to our shed.  The only problem is that I'm apparently ramp-challenged.   After trying to back the lawnmower down said ramps, I nearly got myself stuck partially on the ramps and partially dangling between the ramps.  I managed to lurch back into the shed, but decided that the riding lawnmower was a no go.  This left my poor pathetic push mower as my only option.  My mower has seen so many tough days that the

I Will Not Cry...I Will Not Cry...I Will Not Cry

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  Over the last few months, you've seen me post a lot about my daughters graduating.  Well, it happened last night.  I sat in a folding chair on a basketball court watching my life change.  I remember going into labor very suddenly, and just as suddenly, becoming a parent to three children instead of just one.  Life changed in an instant.   This time, it has been a slow, creeping process.  As I watched my beautiful daughters walk across the court and receive their high school diplomas, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Life is going to change.  I can't begin to say how proud I am of my babies.  I've watched them grow into these amazing young women.  They have stood firm in the faith when others have backed away.  They have shown kindness and love to others even when others did not deserve that kindness.  They have served the community whether feeding the hungry, working with small children, or cleaning the school or church.  They both have an amazing work ethic when the res

Mother May I...

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 This Mother's Day has been bittersweet.  It has been a day of remembering parenting past and thinking about the future.  In the past, Mother's Day was macaroni necklaces, handprint cards, and silly pictures.   Today, it's making the most of the time I have with my children, whether in person or by phone.  I remember the earlier times when I would give directions over and over, hoping that my children would one day "get it."  I remember drilling into my children's minds to ask for permission before doing something.   Now, as young adults, asking for permission has passed.  I have hopefully planted everything that I can in my children's lives so that they can be successful adults.  Now,  a new day has dawned, and instead of permission, they ask for advice.   I will never stop seeing my children as my babies, but I look forward to seeing them as the amazing young men and women they become.  I can say that I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a mother

My Time With You...

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  The last couple of weeks have seemed to fly by at a breakneck pace.  It seems that there is something going on every single day, so one thing that I really missed was spending time with my husband.   We've got to be around each other, but we haven't gotten to do our special dates in a while.  The dates sometimes consisted of grocery shopping at Walmart or getting a quick bite at a fast food drive-through and then discussing the day.  As we prepare for our daughters graduation, helping my husband's father move, and general church business, we've not been able to have our little dates.  While driving home from work, the thought entered my head that I missed those times set aside for just him and me.   When we get home, we unwind in different ways.  I read a book, and he watches television.  So on my drive home, I had a longing for just a moment set aside to just talk.  I've been sick all weekend, so my husband ended up sitting on the bed beside me this evening talk