The next few weeks I am hosting a group of guest bloggers. These very special ladies all offered to help fill in while I check off an item from my bucket list: a pilgrimage to Scotland and England. Today my blogger friend, Jennifer Camp, joins us to talk about where family is. She lives in the Bay Area of Northern California, with her husband and three kids. I love her enthusiasm and her love for God. I know you will too.I connected with Jennifer though Jen Ferguson’s blog, Finding Heaven, and we are partners in one of Jen’s Soli Deo Gloria small groups. Getting to know her in this group has been such a pleasure. Being part of a small group that prays for one another is so encouraging.Stop by her blog, You Are My Girls, and stay awhile. You will be blessed! Where Family IsWe sit in a circle in the front room, four women gathered together, four sisters lifting up praise, thanksgiving, confession, and prayers to our Father.We remind each other who He is, our words layering upon each … [Read more...]
When Your Life Verse Doesn’t Say What You Thought Your Life Verse Said
The next few weeks I am hosting a group of guest bloggers. These very special ladies all offered to help fill in while I check off an item from my bucket list: a pilgrimage to Scotland and England. Today my blogger friend, Johnnie Donley, joins us. I met Johnnie the first time at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Now she is one of my best friends! We are part of an online writers group called the Kindred Heart Writers and help each other through sharing resources, encouragement, critiques, and prayers. I love Johnnie’s deep love to teach the Scriptures. She is also a budding expert in WWII stories, which she incorporates into wonderful novels. Her first book, currently titled Where Treasure Hides, will be published by Tyndale Digital First as an ebook in January 2013. Don’t forget to check out her web site too.When Your Life Verse Doesn’t Say What You Thought Your Life Verse SaidFor over a decade, I have claimed Colossians 3:1-3 as my life scripture. In the New International … [Read more...]
The Sweet Aroma of Crushing
The next few weeks I am hosting a group of guest bloggers. These very special ladies all offered to help fill in while I check off an item from my bucket list: a pilgrimage to Scotland and England.Today my blogger friend, Lynn Mosher, joins us. A few months ago one of the posts she wrote really lingered in my heart and became one of my favorites. In fact I copied her prayer and added it to my morning devotions. With her permission we are reposting this post here today. I connected with Lynn though Jen Ferguson’s blog, FindingHeaven, and we are partners in one of Jen’s Soli Deo Gloria small groups. Getting to know her in this group has been such a pleasure. Being part of a small group that prays for one another is so encouraging.I have enjoyed getting to know Lynn and hope you will too. Married since 1966, Lynn is a wife, mother of three, sister, grandmother, and writer seeking to follow God’s will.Stop by her blog, Lynn Mosher, Devotions that Encourage, and stay awhile. I love her … [Read more...]
God’s Canopy
The next few weeks I am hosting a group of guest bloggers. These very special ladies all offered to help fill in while I check off an item from my bucket list: a pilgrimage to Scotland and England. Today my blogger friend, Katharine Barrett, joins us to talk about listening and learning. Katharine is from Canada and enjoys a good cup of coffee. I have enjoyed getting to know her and hope you will too.I connected with Katharine though Jen Ferguson’s blog, Finding Heaven , and we are partners in one of Jen’s Soli Deo Gloria small groups. Getting to know her in this group has been such a pleasure. Being part of a small group that prays for one another is so encouraging.Stop by her blog, Just a Thought, and stay awhile. You will be blessed! And check out her e-book, Grace and Fresh Ink, 52 Devotionals for theSeasons of Faith. Thanks for being here today, Katharine!God's CanopyIt’s almost time to put it away. I always feel sad when we take apart our garden swing and store it in the shed … [Read more...]
Sacred Space
Ever watch Hoarders on TV? When flipping through the channels if I see this show is on, I pause for a minute and remember.I had a relative who lived among ceiling high stacks of old newspapers, leftover food containers and over the top messy clutter. When I was a child, my mom told me what I would see so I wouldn’t freak out or say something out of turn, but nothing really prepared me for the sight. When we visited, we weaved our way through her living room like rats in a tunnel. There wasn’t any place to sit so I stood near my mom, never leaving her side. I looked at the overstuffed drawers filled with “I may need this someday items” and scattered wadded up notes taped to sides of cardboard boxes. When she offered me a drink all I could do is silently shake my head no, fearful of what could be lurking in the grimy kitchen.After we left, my mom laid her head on the steering wheel and cried. I know all I wanted to do was to shower. This lady was an intelligent, loving woman, but that … [Read more...]
Back to Basics – Loving the Daily Working
This Ignatius Life is one of my favorite blogs to read. I enjoy their world view and challenging posts.Last week the post titled “The Daily Working” by Michelle Franci-Donnay resonated with me. Here is a portion of what she wrote:“You have to love the daily working,” suggested choreographer Merce Cunningham. He was talking about what it took to be a dancer — not a teacher, researcher, writer, mother or contemplative, or in my case, all those things tangled into a single day. He meant you have to enjoy being crammed into a studio taking class with forty other students, that you have to delight in the doing of the hundred-thousandth plie. You have to be willing to lovingly and gratefully return to the basics each and every day, even — and perhaps most particularly — in the midst of chaos, or you cannot dance.”Dancing in the everyday nitty-gritty of life. For me this means finding the joy in the sometimes-tedious details of the life of a writer, a speaker, a retreat leader, a mother, a … [Read more...]
Lessons from the Tough Times
1968.1968 was a tough year. Earthquakes and wars left the world unsettled. Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Our own county erupted in riots; Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Viet Nam dominated the evening news with body counts.1968 was a tough year for my family too. My dad had died the year before and my mom and I moved. Both my brothers were serving in Viet Nam. My mom glued herself to the news each night to try to understand what was happening. I was oblivious to my mom’s emotional plight. Wrapped up in my senior year of high school, I made plans to head off next year for the new exciting world of college. I look back on that year now and just can’t imagine how empty her world was - her sons in war, empty nest looming and struggling with being a widow. I never heard my mom complain. She survived.Sometimes tough times are just plain “get through” times. 1944.For our local newspaper I interview the men and women who go on “Honor Flights,” the group … [Read more...]
What/Who Do You Honor?
I heard a fun and interesting speaker this past weekend. Terry Hershey is the author of numerous books including The Power of Pause and Soul Gardening. His superb story telling opens the heart and makes you think and the quotes he shares lingers within you.Terry said one of his favorite quotes was by Plato: “What is honored will be cultivated.”He noted that Plato didn’t say what is taught, what is learned, what is believed, but what is honored. When we honor something, it grows, develops, encourages, and supports.I looked up and the actual quote from Plato is this: "What is honored in a country will be cultivated there." Mmmmm, now there is another aspect to think about!But the whole issue of what am I honoring in my life has stayed with me this week. What does it mean to honor something/someone? In my life am I honoring God? Honoring the Sabbath? Honoring others? Honoring myself as a child of God?To honor means to treat with respect, to keep your word, to speak highly of someone … [Read more...]