To Be Still and Know

I have had a topic for a blog post on my heart and mind for a couple months now but I haven't been able to bring myself to write about it for several reasons, all of which can be summed up with the word fear.  Fear of not doing the topic justice, fear of what others may think, fear of literally nobody reading it or caring, and fear of putting myself out there in a very raw manner. (I have not had good experiences with being vulnerable and open with people.)  But wherever I turn I come face to face with this topic, on the news, in articles, blogs, personal relationships, tv shows, et cetera.  And I feel the Holy Spirit nudging me every time I run across another story involving this subject to sit down and start writing. Even if it can touch one person, then I have fulfilled my purpose in writing this.  So without further ado let's just begin, shall we?   Suicide.  That is the topic I have been feeling compelled to write about for months now.  I h...

"Work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life...Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many."   Hebrews 12:14a &15b For the past few years, a new fad has popped up within the church community, a fad that I believe was started without ill intention and by well-meaning believers, yet a fad that really needs to end.  This is the "I Love My Church" slogan that some churches have begun selling on shirts and other merchandise as perhaps a means of advertisement.  From the first time I saw this on a T-shirt, it made me very uncomfortable but I could not pinpoint exactly why until recently.  My pastor was preaching one Sunday and during the sermon, this very topic came up.  What he said hit the nail on the head; this slogan, this way of thinking, is causing division within the body of Christ.  All of us who are born again believers are apart of THE church, which is the church of Jes...

     As my six year old was going through my purse the other day, trying to find some gum, he said "Mommy why is your purse so messy?"  I replied "I do clean it out, but it's been awhile and it never stays clean.  It's my catch all when I'm out and about, it is where I throw any and everything."  He never did find any gum and went about his way doing other things.  I however started thinking about how my messy purse was a good metaphor for how our minds can get messy.         As Christians we hear about the need to develop a daily habit of praying and spending time in God's Word.  We have heard lots of good reasons why this is important but until the messy purse situation came up I hadn't seen it so practically.  See we go through our days running here and there, listening to lots of words being said to us, around us, about us.  We have a lot of things we have to remember.  We listen to peoples problems an...

As we rushed about our weekday evening, me making dinner, signing school papers, helping with homework, running one kid here and another there, the kids doing homework, chatting to me about their days at school, and working on their daily chores, I nonchalantly said out loud, "There is no rest for the weary."  My oldest child, a 13 year old boy, stopped in his tracks to wherever he was headed and replied "That's not what God says.  He tells us that He gives rest to the weary."  Feeling like I had been shaken awake I stopped what I was doing and looked him in the eyes and said "You are so right.  Thank you for that reminder." He chuckled and looked a bit proud that He had "corrected" his mom and went on his way.    You see the world tells us that old saying about there being no rest for the weary but that is the exact opposite of what the Bible says.   Matthew   11:28 says "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary an...

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set in place- what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority." Psalm 8:3-6 Last night my husband kids and I made a fire in our fire pit in our back yard and enjoyed the cool crisp fall night.  I love where we live, out in the country. It's quiet and private and away from all city lights which means we have a breath taking view of the night sky and all the stars and beauty it brings. "He counts the stars and calls them all by name." Psalm 47:4  As I looked up in wonder and awe of God's handiwork, seeing hundreds of thousands of brilliant twinkling stars it came to me that this is just like what it's like with our lives and the distractions we ...

Psalm 27:14 "Wait patiently for the Lord.  Be brave and courageous.  Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." If there is one thing I am really bad at, it's waiting.  I just don't wait well.  I am always in a hurry to get to where I am going, to be at the destination, to have checked the items off on my to do list, to see God's promises fulfilled and have already achieved the goals I set.  Here's the problem, we usually spend more of our lives in the waiting phases than we do having arrived at the destination.  If you think about it, our Christian life is one big waiting period until we see Jesus face to face! ( Hebrews 13:14 "For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come." ) But I want to take it to the nitty gritty of our every day lives.  Those times of waiting for a job opportunity, a clear direction in which God wants us to go, good news from this or that source, healing both physically and mentally, the...

I am going to let you in on a little secret of mine.  It's something I have lived with for as long as I can remember but I didn't know exactly what it was called until five or so years ago.  I discovered that the feelings I carried around since I was a child had a name and that I wasn't alone in these feelings. That secret is ANXIETY.  I live every day of my life with general anxiety.  It's not just worrying or fretting about situational things as many people tend to think when they hear this word.  No, it goes so much deeper and influences every thought, feeling, action and reaction.  I read somewhere recently, and try as I may I cannot remember where I read this, that anxiety is the backdrop to every emotion you have, when you struggle with anxiousness.  How very deeply this resonated with me.  No matter how happy I am, or how good things are going in my life, there is always, ALWAYS, anxiety in some corner of my mind worrying about this or that...