Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

  This year has been a year of lasts since my youngest child is graduating from high school. Last night was the last prom. My son had decided that he would ask his sister if she would accompany him. He explained that there was no pressure to impress her, and she was a cheap date. It actually made sense. This was Megan's fifth prom. She had accompanied a friend her freshman year, junior prom, senior prom, boyfriend's prom, and a disability prom as a chaperone. So her agreeing to go to this prom was a big sacrifice.  She mentioned that she didn't mind because she wanted to be there for her brother. During the prom, I got the goofiest, funniest picture of the two together. When they got home, Andrew told me that Megan had wanted a fun prom, so he slow-danced with her making goofy faces all through the dance to give her a fun prom. This got me thinking. As small children, I remember the long monologues I would give trying to convince my 3, 5, and 8-year olds that we have to sh...

I was able to participate in the celebration of nuptials for a sweet young couple this weekend. It took me back to my wedding over 25 years ago. I remember all the work involved in planning the perfect wedding, which was especially hard considering neither Pinterest, Google, or any internet existed. Yes, it was the old times according to my children. I had only been to one wedding as a kid and had zero experience planning or even seeing weddings. I would drive into town and observe the wedding rental display windows to come up with ideas. The photography consisted of standing directly in front of the camera, along with the wedding party and smiling.  My background wasn't a babbling brook or a  pastoral field of flowers. It was a church with paneling and burnt orange carpet. Let me tell you, nothing makes a wedding dress pop like burnt orange carpet. I remember the stress of trying to get everything right the night before the wedding. My mother and I scooped watermelon and s...

  Friday, our ladies' group at church hosted a ladies' tea. I had only attended one tea, so hosting one was a bit of a challenge. The church was decorated, food appeared, then came tea time. The devotion was simple. Does God Care? I shared a passage in Luke 12:12 where Jesus was visiting Lazarus'house in Bethany. A party is being thrown for Jesus. Before this party, Lazarus had taken ill and died (Luke 11). As Jesus approached the tomb of Lazarus, Lazarus'sisters, Mary and Martha, are consumed with grief. Through their tears, they questioned why Jesus took so long that He let Lazarus die. In response, Jesus saw their grief and cried with them. Why would He cry with them when He knew He would be bringing Lazarus back to life? He cried because He felt their pain, even though He knew it would work out okay in the end. Later, at the party, Mary took an alabaster jar of nard perfume, broke it, and poured it on Jesus' feet. This perfume might have been her inheritance. I...

  First of all, I'm sorry about missing last week. I was overcoming being ill and had to rest for the weekend. After rest, I'm much better and ready to discuss this special day. If you believe our world around us, it's about family dinners, egg hunts, bunnies, pretty Spring dresses, and candy. None of those things in themselves are bad. They just miss the mark of the purpose for the whole Bible- redemption . Since Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden, there was a divide separating humans from simply feeling complete in God's presence. When Adam and Eve decided choosing what was right and wrong for their life was more important than trusting God to choose, their need to have control separated them from God. We can't be too hard on them because we still do the same today. What happens when God wants you to trust Him but you worry nonstop instead, or He wants you to do something and you refuse? It's choosing the proverbial apple all over ag...

  Every few months we have a little contest at our church for missions. If the girls give more money, then my husband dresses up in a costume of my choosing and does an illustrated sermon and vice versa if the boys give more. This time, I was given the honor of dressing up- as a ladybug. My sermon was basically about what allows bugs in our spiritual garden. Aphids can show up due to drought. Have you been in a dry patch with God where you're struggling with feeling God's presence? When we don't press in to God and His Word, we dry out like a sponge, but Jesus gave the answer to the Samaritan woman at the well. He said if you asked He would give living water that would never go dry. Is your soil bad? When we allow anger, hurt, and unforgiveness in our hearts, it can ruin our spiritual soil.  How do you repair it? Allow God to remove the contaminated soil or counteract toxins with His Holy Spirit, love, and mercy. Last, has overcrowding let in the enemy in your life? We ...

  It was a big day today. My daughters turned twenty today. One of my daughters lives out of town in order to attend college while the other recently moved out to live on her own. Because of this, we had to book way in advance to spend time with both of them. Even with this, we still had to grab one daughter and drive down to see the other for their birthday. Spending time reminded me of my next piece of advice for my eighteen-year-old self. 7) Relationships are always more important than stuff. This is not a popular statement in today's world where we put value on taking care of yourself and building protective boundaries to keep people from hurting you. If anything, what we really build is isolation and, eventually, loneliness because it is impossible to be in a relationship with someone without them hurting you and vice versa. This is where forgiveness comes into the picture. The Bible is the most radical lifestyle because it totally goes against worldview. Where worldview says ...

  As the school year swiftly moves toward an end, both of my sons have begun to look forward to graduating-one from high school and one from college. They both say it can't come soon enough. I can't help but feel the same. It seems Spring Break will take forever to get here. This brings me to advice to my eighteen-year-old self 6) Don't rush the now moments trying to get to the future. We can go us so hard on what we want to accomplish that we miss so many great moments along the way. When my four children were all under the age of five, I remember thinking, "If only I can get them all through sleeping through the night, which led to if only I can get them through bottles or nursing. This led to if only I could get them all out of diapers. The list went on and on. Eventually, I figured out that I missed so many precious moments focused on the future that the present became a blur of survival. I did have the forethought to write down milestone moments and funny things...