Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

  My husband and I had a bet going.  Could I get away with changing traditions this Thanksgiving and do something totally different than turkey?   I am not a big turkey fan and neither are my children, so I thought it would be a piece of cake.  I would crockpot some roast beef, and we would make open-faced roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a pumpkin pie.  Easy and simple.  As the day approached, the shopping was done and only one child was slightly disappointed that the turkey had gained his reprieve from dinner.  Everything was going as planned, I thought.  My oldest son approached me the day before and mentioned how he had promised his girlfriend and her family he would make our special recipe of chicken and dumplings.  What does this mean for me?  Easy just went out the window.  My grandmother's, then mother's, and now my chicken and dumpling recipe is time-consuming and completely from scratch. ...

 My co-workers and I have had a little joke going between us about the word, "Blessed."  There are so many signs, t-shirts, and memes that label people as "blessed,"  but what does that really mean?  There is absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing how blessed we are in our nation.  Currently, there is a lot of complaining and fault-finding, but ultimately, our nation is very blessed.  Have you found yourself saying, "I'm so frustrated because I can't fit all of my groceries in my refrigerator."  Or how about this, " my wifi keeps going too slow or dropping because we have too many devices in our house.   I can only get one pack of toilet paper today."  Have your heard your children say, "I can taste the difference between generic and name brand food."  All of these are first-world problems.  Our problems are an inconvenience, but how many are facing true hardships- homelessness, hunger, neglect, or abuse?  These things ev...

Have you noticed that the world around us has jumped straight to Christmas?   Now, don't get me wrong.  I love the decorations, the joy, the concept of putting others above yourself, and most of all, celebrating the birth of Christ.  I'm also aware that with COVID spreading rampantly in our communities, we are having to change the way we do everything (although someone may need to tell that to the hordes of people packing the aisles of Walmart).   I recognize that going door to door collecting edible sweets is not the best way to stop the spread.  In a side note, I've never been a huge fan of Halloween anyway.  But we have a unique opportunity this year.  Normally, Black Friday shopping has interfered with Thanksgiving enough that it has been the focus of the holiday.  Being grateful for our freedom, family, and privilege was eclipsed by squeezing into stores, waiting for hours in line, and shoving your fellow man out of the way to get the lates...

  As a teacher who works with young children, I ask this question often, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  I get a lot of different answers.  There is the typical, "I want to be the President, a famous singer on the Voice, an actor, or a pro-ball player."  Then there are the unrealistic answers, "I want to be Batman, a cat, or a meme."  I had a very sad conversation with a young boy who wanted to go to prison when he grew up.   When asked why, he responded that when he visited his dad there, they played games and watched television, so that's where he wanted to be.  It's amazing how environment effects the pursuits of young children.   I have a wonderful set of parents who have loved me unconditionally.  They encouraged my dreams, no matter how crazy they were.  I remember writing in my School Memory book as a Kindergarten student that I wanted to be a writer, singer, teacher, and minister.  That's a lot of occupations....

  Yes, I am that person.  You know the one- that person who dresses their dog in cutesy clothes.   Since my daughters are seniors this year, I am trying to spend as much time with them as I can. We spent the day shopping.  In one particular store, we happened upon Christmas pajamas in my very large dog's size.  As I squeezed his little doggy legs into his pajamas, I swear he smiled.   If you don't believe me, look at the picture.  My dog loves to wear clothes!  I think it's because he gets cold a lot, but for whatever reasons, he loves it when I dress him. For this reason, I dress him in sweaters, costumes, bunny ears, and pajamas.   He looks adorable!  My son, however, questions what I am doing to his big, tough, manly dog.  This got me thinking.  I can dress my dog in a bunny suit, but it doesn't make him a bunny.   I can dress him in pajamas, but it doesn't make him a human.  I can dress myself like a Christian....

  The world is facing a new affliction that is completely unique to our current situation- Macne.   Macne is a real thing.  It is when a normal adult begins to exhibit acne worse that a pubescent teenager due to the wearing of masks.  Whether it is the constant wear, constant rubbing and clogging of skin pores, or just reusing dirty masks, it has become a real problem.  Who wants to jump right back into their teenage years?  Any takers?   Not me!  The CDC has even been very wishy-washy in their stance on the proper mask.  At one time, everyone should wear a cloth mask.  Now, they are saying the virus is so small that a cloth mask's pores will not stop the spread, so we should use the medical masks.  At least there is one good point to wearing masks.   Everyone is already costumed for all of the Fall Harvest parties.  We can just extend our costumes onto our masks.  I was once in a Goodwill when I saw a man in a full D...

  You may be shocked to hear this, but I color my hair.  Okay, maybe you aren't shocked at all.  At one point, many, many, many years ago, I was originally a strawberry blonde.  Now would be where you insert the dumb, blonde joke. (Why did the blonde have so much trouble reading the computer screen?  She couldn't see past the White-Out.)  As I've aged, I've had to color my hair to cover the gray hair my children have so graciously helped me achieve.   If I grayed a beautiful silver, then I would proudly accept going gray.  Unfortunately, I gray a dingy yellow, so coloring is my best option.  So tell me if this has ever happened to you.  You color your hair, then notice the dark roots have returned a couple of months later.  When you go to color it again, you can't remember what color to buy.   I've found myself standing in the hair color aisle wondering if I was an ash blonde, cool blonde, frosty blonde, or dark blonde.  I...