Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

If you are in education, you know what the Sunday at the end of the Thanksgiving break means. You try to squeeze everything you had planned to accomplish over the break into one day. I don't know why I make ridiculous lists of things I want to do over a break, but I can tell you what always happens. The first thing I do on day one is sleep in until eleven or noon. By then, half the day was done, so I would sit on my couch and watch Hallmark Christmas movies. On day 2, I would pick a project, then I would plop on the couch and watch more Christmas movies so bad that the plot is the same as the others I had seen. There was always a dog, mean boss, bakery, or evil mother. I still get sucked into the Hallmark world. By the next day, I suddenly realize I am hosting Thanksgiving for a lot of people, so I begin shopping for food and prepping. By Thanksgiving, my easy pace has moved to frantic as I cook everything that is expected at a Thanksgiving meal. One burnt pot of chicken and dum...

  When you live in the South, you know what time of year it is. Yes, Thanksgiving is drawing near, but with that comes deer season. I come from a long line of deer hunters on my mother's side. My uncle and cousins would come in from the woods in camo for Thanksgiving meal and head back as soon as the meal was over. My father, however, had no taste for hunting. He's too soft-hearted to shoot an animal. I take after him. When my brother would go squirrel or bird hunting, I would sneak behind him and warn the birds before he could shoot them. It went something like this."Fly free little birdeys! Choose life!" I was a very dramatic child. I'm not much better now. My son and husband love hunting. They do not love taking me. I talk to much and scare away the prey. Hee hee. Of course I do. When my husband and I first married, he went hunting. One of his quirks is that the first shot of the season always goes wide. After that, he usually gets a deer. He only had one day...

  Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? Have you seen one of those old TV shows where they start out with the disaster and the say, " yes, that's me." Then they flash back to how the person got in the mess? My show would show me trapped in a big outside dog kennel. Yep, I managed to trap myself in a dog kennel, but it didn't start there. If you are in special education, you know it is the busy season of evaluating, serving, and placing children in the program. It's been a particularly busy year for me, and I know I've been a little scattered. However, I didn't realize how bad until Tuesday came. I had a lot of conferences with parents scheduled. I knew it would be busy, so I made my coffee for that burst of energy. As I drove to work, I dipped my coffee, thinking it was bland. It was at that point that I realized I forgot to put coffee grounds in the filter! I rallied and continued with my day. I provided services in my c...

 I love this time of year when the leaves begin to change colors. Growing up in the lower part of Arkansas, there wasn't as drastic of a color change, mostly because there were pine trees everywhere. When my family lived in Louisiana, we never saw quite the color change as in the Ozarks. H ere, as you do something as mundane as driving to your job and your eyes are graced with oranges, yellows, reds, and green. It's quite stunning. The colors give everyone an indication that weather change is coming and to prepare. According to the Bible in Revelations, there are indications that Jesus is coming. We aren't shown these changes to become afraid or obsess. We're shown the things that coming so that we can prepare ourselves. As we see the news, and war reports fill the screen and economic distress spills out of reporters' mouths, our job is not to fear and hoard. Our job is to prepare our hearts and share the news that these things point to salvation. As you see the fut...

  Has anyone noticed how random the weather has become? We never know if it'll be rainy, snowy or 100 degrees. It seems that everytime the rain comes, my umbrellas or hooded jackets are in my car in the rain. We got a weather report that cold temperatures were coming this week. I wanted to prepare for the upcoming weather, but I couldn't find my coats anywhere. Well, as the rain poured, I realized all my coats are in the trunk of my car. I stood in the rain, digging through my trunk, and all of my coats were buried under all kinds of junk. I'm not talking about a few boxes and some odds and ends. I'm talking about serious junk. I have a pirate kid's table from work that I use to screen kids. There was a massive can of sweet peas! PEAS! But what took the cake was an open bag of diatomaceous earth. I don't even know the function of diatomaceous earth. I informed my husband that the white powder pouring out over all the contents of my trunk was not mine. He infor...

  My husband had a great sermon this morning that I felt I need to pass on to you. If you want big things in your life, be faithful in the little things. They matter to God. So how does this work? A parable told by Jesus mentioned a king who had given his servants money to invest. They were given the money to invest any way they saw fit. Two servants were faithful to use the money and gained more. The king was pleased. The third buried it because he was afraid of losing it. He returned what was given, but no more. The king said because he was not faithful in what he was given, even what he had would be taken. Many may know that my dog has cancer. The vet doesn't expect him to live long. Since we are giving "doggy hospice," I've been generous with the dog food. I did away with the kibble and spoiled him with real chicken, since he only had a few days to live. I wanted them to be happy days. However, we did not expect that changing his food perked him up. Although he ...

  I had the privilege of being the guest speaker this weekend at a Ladies' retreat at a campground called Rockhaven. What a blessing it was to get away from the chaos of everyday life and sit and listen to God. As an introvert, when I go to public places, I look for all the introvert safe spaces. First, I look for any dogs. Dogs are always safe spots for introverts. I can talk to people I don't know well when I'm not making direct eye contact due to looking at the dog I'm petting. The next spot is a comfy chair on the periferial of a group. It's close enough to listen and look social without having to be social. I look for bathrooms. They are a wonderful introvert escape option if it gets too "peopley." Last, I look for a familiar face that I can cling to so that I'm not surrounded by strangers. Yes, I did have a couple of familiar faces that brought me comfort this weekend! Some may ask that if I'm so uncomfortable in new places, then why do I d...