The One Who Has Gone Before...

She must have been in a helping mood the other day...my sweet and oh-so-helpful Evangeline who turns 2 next week.  (Be still my heart!!!)  Her first attempt at helping involved swirling a toilet brush around in the toilet and then walking across the entire room with it, leaving a drippy trail behind her.  But her next offer of help really made me laugh.  I had left the cupboard ajar which holds our colanders.  She saw them and for whatever reason, it struck her fancy to grab them and go outside to pick in the garden.  Now of course, it's almost December and the garden is no more.  This week we have had snow several days in a row and it is bitterly cold.  Her sweet request to "Pick 'matoes" was ironic and ill-timed.  "No Eva, we can't pick tomatoes today.  They are all gone." 

She looked at me for a moment...I thought I detected a slight quiver of disappointment in her lip.  "Pick 'matoes?" she asked again, questioningly.  "No, we can't, Eva.  They are all gone." 

She looks to me for guidance...for help.  When the path is unclear, she asks me for help, even though she thinks she knows the way.  It is a humbling thing to see a reflection of myself in my youngest child.  I wishfully desire my life to go a certain way, but often find my plans are thwarted by the realities of life.  I'm so convinced about the way I think I should go...the way I want to go... Disappointment...confusion...discouragement threaten to cloud my vision.   But I have a gracious and loving Father Who has made a way for me...He has gone before me and given me a path to follow.

The beautiful words of Psalm 17:5 touched my heart this morning... 

My steps have held closely to Your paths [to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before]; my feet have not slipped.

I fell twice on the icy driveway and sidewalk today, just taking some letters out to the mail.  Reality hit me...cold and hard! 

Without Him...I'm lost...just waiting for a fall.  On the days I forge ahead on my own, I struggle and often falter.  "Follow Me," He urges.  The love in His words soothes over my travel-weary heart...my feet grip firmly to the path...and I know I am safe with the One Who has gone on before me...

How to be Thankful...

A fat newspaper sat in our driveway this morning as I pulled open the shade in our bedroom and glanced down.  My son Lawson, always eager to grab mail or packages, saw it and ran out into the bitter cold to grab it.  As I suspected, it was almost entirely comprised of Black Friday ads from many different stores.

I sat down at the kitchen table next to Lawson with my breakfast a little while later.  The ads were scattered over the table and I grabbed a couple to look through while I ate.



After flipping through two or three ads, the thought struck me...this is a day I am supposed to be focusing on all the things I'm thankful for...and what am I spending my time doing...thinking about buying more things!

Lawson could barely eat, he was so excited about his older cousins coming over later in the afternoon.  He kept asking me over and over again, "When will they be here?"

 My four year old son reminded me this morning that it's the people we cherish, look forward to spending time with, remember, and appreciate.

I went upstairs to get ready for the long day.  While I was filing a few papers away in a drawer, I happened upon a letter Ed had written to Derrick and I on our wedding day.  (back in 2004)  He shared some of his favorite memories of things he did with us.  For Derrick, he wrote that he enjoyed playing football together as a family on Thanksgiving.  Ironic I was reading the letter today...

The table today for Thanksgiving dinner seemed very different...many of my dearest family members were not here with us.  My Mom struggled through the meal, unsure of many things going on around her.  It's been months now since I've heard her say my name...




So what am I thankful for today?

I'm thankful for the opportunity to get up and live another full day...to love my family and to serve them a delicious meal...to spend time with family, share laughs, and make new memories.

I'm thankful for reminders throughout the day, to NEVER take our blessings for granted, to appreciate the people in our lives for as long as we have them with us, and to focus not on what we can get, but what we can give.

I Give Thanks today, to God Who has blessed me immensely.

He'll Set Things Right...

I read a verse today that resonated with me.  It gave me hope.

It was Isaiah 42:3
A bruised reed He will not break, 
and a dimly burning wick He will not quench; He will bring forth justice in truth.

in the Message version it reads...

He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt
and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,
but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.


It is Fall...the leaves are steadily dropping to the ground.  The days are shorter...colder...  Life, as it existed all summer long, is fading.

Isn't my life just like this...a series of seasons if you will...  But no matter how difficult things appear I always maintain hope.

You see, my hope isn't in things that are seen, but in the unseen.  My hope isn't in the ever-fluctuating things of this world.  My hope rests on the unchangeable, unfading, constant character of God.  And I know, in spite of the difficulties I experience now, that He loves me...that He hasn't brushed me aside, hasn't forgotten about me.




Isn't that the truest test of faith?  Isn't that where the rubber meets the road and I'm called on to really trust Him...when everything seems to be going wrong?

He'll set things right.

What more do I need to get me through the day?  I have God and I know in the end He will make all these wrongs right again.  What more do I need to give me meaning and purpose, even on the most difficult days, but to know that the Creator of the Universe intimately knows and cares about me?

I can dwell on my brokenness...that gets me nowhere fast.  Or I can choose to trust that in every season there is a purpose, a plan, a lesson for me to learn and an opportunity to draw nearer to God.  In my trials, my faith is certainly tested...and when He has tested me , I hope that I might  come forth as gold.  (Job 23:10)

Blessed Quiet...

 "Why is it that the kids' only volume seems to be screaming lately?"  I asked this question of my husband the other day.  Frustrated to say the least, I urged them for only the fortieth time that day to lower their voices when we are inside and all in the same room together.  After many months of spending much of our recreational time outdoors, the beginning of the colder months is a difficult transition.  I'm tired...run down by life...struggling with my painful losses.  I long for space...for open-air and the warm sunlight shining down on me....I long for the quiet of the outdoors...for peace.


Yesterday we had a welcome resurgence of the warmer temperatures, but with it came  strong gusty winds.  As all the Fall leaves were nearing their peak of color, the winds ripped them easily from the trees and sent them swirling and spiraling through the skies in mini tornadoes of color. 

Is this where you find yourself today?  Caught up in a chaotic whirlwind of activity - covering your ears to drown out some of the distracting "noise", overwhelmed by the pressures and trials of life, longing for rest...longing for blessed quiet...

Matthew 11:28-29 (AMPC)Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

Maybe I wasn't able to lie down and physically "rest" today.  Maybe this verse is more about being present in His Presence.  Maybe my attitudes, my focus, my hope and trust in His plan are what bring me rest, a sense of true calm in the otherwise tumultuous whirlwind of life. 


I seek out moments of quiet in my not-so-quiet world. And in Him I find that quiet and that rest...