Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

I have survived one of the hardest things of an adult's life- a youth lock-in.  The youth were great!  We played games and challenged their skills late into the night, but I realized there is a big difference between me as a teenager and me as an adult.  By ten o'clock at night, I started to crash.   The only problem is that the teenagers were just getting their first wind.  I even caught some chugging an energy drink which was totally not fair!  I managed to keep going until one in the morning but had to admit defeat and sleep.  I disappeared into my husband's church office furnished with a love seat to sleep a little.  Little was the key word.  The only way I could fit was in the fetal position or with my legs over the very high arms and half-way over my head.  Once I could no longer feel my legs, I determined that I would need to change strategies.  I moved the cushions to the floor and slept half on and half off the cushion....

I am horrible at mowing lawns.  My daughter observed my freshly mowed lawn and commented that I created really great crop circles.  I start with the purest of intentions.  I create straight lines and a perfect cut that could rival a golf course; that is until I miss a patch of grass.  I'll look back to find a spot that I've missed, so I have to go back and get it.  This leads me off my perfect course and the path gets a little curvy.  At this point, I have to follow the curve, or I'll miss an area.  This continues until my once straight path is an amazing array of crop circles.  This makes me think of the path my life takes.  I follow the path God shows for me.  Everything seems to be going well, and then something pops up.  It may be issues in my past that I never dealt with properly, or maybe it's temptation.  Before I know it, I may be slightly off course.  If I turn back to God and deal with the issues in my life, I...

Either this is the worst new flavor of water ever made, or this bottle of dish detergent is in the wrong place!  How do I know this?  The bottle looks different and doesn't perform the same as water.  As my children and I were doing some grocery shopping, we came across this display.  Right away, we noticed what was out of place.  This got me thinking.  As Christians, when people see us, do we stand out?   There's an old song that mentions people will know we are Christians by our love.  Currently, there is a lot of drama surrounding music and the way Christians act.  If we truly believe that when we die and we believe in Jesus as our Savior we will go to Heaven, then our lives should reflect more than just this world.  If all I had was this life that I am currently living and thought that this life was all there was, I would try to make it as comfortable as possible.  I would try to accumulate as much material wealth as possibl...

As many have been following, I have been recapping a book study on Mark Batterson's, The Circle Maker .  This post will finish up this particular book series.  As my church group does another book study, I'll continue to share the next one.  So let's get started.  Batterson mentions that when painting, it is important to prime before painting to prepare the walls for paint and to protect  the old paint from bleeding through the new paint.  In the same way we prime to paint, we should have spiritual priming.   Batterson mentioned a psychologist by the name of John Barg who worked at New York University had discovered an interesting finding.  He performed a study in which he took college students and told them he was testing for IQ.  In reality, he was giving them a five minute test loaded with negative words such as disturb and bother.   He would then ask the students to go down the hall to talk to the director of the study about what t...

Yesterday, as I spent a very, hot afternoon in my church attic going through luau props for children's church, I started thinking about the whys.  Why do I spend so much time working on children's church?  Why do I search the internet for hours for ideas to engage youth?  Why do I show up hours before church to pray and practice?  Now, don't get me wrong.  I was not having a time of complaint.  I am very thankful that I can serve God in a lot of different ways.  It was more a time of introspection.  Were my motives pure?  Last Wednesday, as I spoke to the youth group, I mentioned motivations.  Why do we go to church?  The youth talked about friendships, hanging out, and helping.  I challenged them. As you can see in my picture, I like to visit a certain store that shall remain nameless.  I go there for groceries.  When I was in college, my friends and I would go there because it was the only store open past ten....

Most people who know me know that I love animals.  I'm an extreme introvert, so the first thing I do when I go to a party or someone's house is scout out their pets.   I, then, spend the evening hanging out with my new best friend.  Because of this, there are very few animals I don't like.  When my husband and I first married, we moved into an apartment complex that required a deposit for pets.  My husband thought it would be great if we got the type of pet that would not require a deposit.  He gave me the choice of a snake, a rat, or a tarantula.  I chose the rat because he looked the most like a bunny.  This shows that I'm adaptable and can mingle with all kinds of God's little creatures.  That is until my husband brought the latest friend home.  My husband's a biology teacher, so he has some animals in his classroom to demonstrate life systems.  During the summer, our house becomes refuge to said animals.  One of such anim...

One of the most memorable experiences of my life centered around my dad.  It is also one of the most embarrassing moments.  I remember that I had been around 4 or 5 years old and desperately wanted to be 10 or maybe even 13 years old.  I felt I was ready for one of the milestones of a young girls life - going to the bathroom without an adult.  Keep this in mind.  This was in the early 80's when the restrooms at Walmart were one room with a sliding bolt lock for the door.  I begged my mother to let my brother take me to the bathroom and stand outside, so she finally complied.  I practically skipped behind my brother all the way to the bathroom at the back of the Walmart.   After entering, locking the door, and going to the restroom, I had already begun to feel a little older.  With determination, I turned and pulled on the sliding bolt lock.  Nothing happened.  I jiggled.  I wiggled.  I pulled and pushed.  The bolt ...