what is worse than pain?
There is, I’ve found, something that is actually WORSE than the insidious vice grip of chronic pain that has had my by the neck for literally as long as I can remember. This is something WORSE than going from doctor to doctor to doctor, and leaving time and time again without an answer or a cure. Something WORSE than the constant suggestions, the “yes, I’ve already tried that,” the actual trying of five thousand different medications or diets or supplements or back-woods remedies. The hopes rising—then the disappointment inevitably falling like a thick blanket...
Read Morewhen god (and your daughter) turn your life upside down
It would appear God is preparing to stretch me in ways I wasn’t quite prepared to be stretched. The writing thing? Yep. Was prepared for THAT stretching. Knew it would be uncomfortable. Knew it would be hard. And time-consuming. And eeeeeeennnndlessssssssss. But these newest helpings on my plate? I don’t know where they came from. I just looked down and they were suddenly there, touching the other food on my plate and overwhelming me a bit with their portion size. Both of these big scoops of faith-stretching goodness have to do with my middle...
Read Morewish lists
I really must stay out of the toy store. It’s just not a safe place for me to be. Nor is it a good place for me to be—with aisle upon aisle beckoning me to spend money I don’t have on gifts my child doesn’t need for a room that has no further space. And yet each year I find myself, somehow, in the middle of the store with my heart being wrenched by the same conflict as last year. When will I get it, Lord? Her little mind is filled with thoughts of Barbie, Hello Kitty, and the Power Puff Girls (where on earth did she pick up the Power Puff Girls?) Her wish list weighs down with the...
Read Morecheer
At the end of every year, Mrs. Williams honored her kindergarten class in front of their parents by picking one word she felt best described them. Ruth’s word for my daughter came as no surprise to me, and though it wouldn’t have been my first thought, it definitely would have been perhaps my second or third. My daughter, Mrs. Williams recognized, was “encouraging.” As her mother, I, of course knew this. I had watched her comfort and coach and coax and cheer every unsuspecting child who crossed her path from the time she was big enough to have other people smaller than she. And while...
Read Morea picture paints… (end of the school year gallery)
A peek at our last two weeks–Bub’s awards banquet, during the week of cheerleading tryouts. (She is now an official member of the 7th grade squad!) She received, at the banquet, the award for 6th Grade...
Read Moremotivational monday: rocking my world
God speaks to us, so often, in the most off-beat and unexpected of ways. This Sunday morning, the wife of our youth pastor put on a “tea party” for the middle school girls during service, and titled the event, “How He Loves Us.” It was a very sweet event, and I was blessed to be able to attend and sit with my daughter, since I volunteer with the ministry. The highlight of the morning was an exercise within which the girls were asked to look in a mirror and ask God for one word that describes what he sees in them. They were then to take that word and write it on a rock that...
Read Morestinkin’ thinkin’
My intentions for this evening were to finish a post I began last night in response to watching Once on Saturday night with the hubby. I spent the first part of my evening arguing with my daughter and the second part of my evening doing damage repair instead. Now, it’s after 11:00 and my head is spinning and I’m uncertain where to go with those thoughts, if anywhere. We are such complicated creatures. We jump to conclusions and make assumptions and base our actions and responses on what we often think is true rather than what is true. We misunderstand one another and we...
Read Moremotivational monday: unexpected lessons from space camp
The bus was eerily quiet, save the playing of National Treasure on the movie screens and the occasional soft murmurs of those who would never be caught sleeping on a class trip. I took advantage of the quiet and opened my devotional, turning to my reading for that day, and read Sarah Young’s exhortation to look for growth opportunities and chances to trust in the midst of the challenges we face. I chuckled. Chances to trust, indeed. I reflected back over the past four days spent with the entire sixth grade class and a good portion of their parents, and I continued to smirk. One...
Read Morea picture paints… (space camp gallery)
(I notice, on my screen, that some of the wide shots are overlapped–click on the shot to see the full picture.) Pictures
Read Morehow i spent my week
Chaperoning the 6th grade trip to space camp with my daughter! Exploring caves and painting toenails and playing apples to apples at midnight and riding the space shot and swimming and admiring rockets and fake tattoos and pizza and oreos and sleepless nights and playing euchre with parents on the bus–all in a day’s work! Off to BED–perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to put together a string of complete sentences, but not...
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