Author Archives: therealmimi

Daredevils

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What some find entertaining, I often find too stressful to enjoy watching:  daredevils.  Those reckless, bold, wild people who love to walk a tightrope way too high over a busy street or catapult themselves across canyons or jump long rows of semi-trucks, just for fun, just to prove they can do it.  Have you noticed that a single danger isn’t usually enough?  “Not only will I jump my motorcycle over these trucks, I’ll do it BLINDFOLDED!  And we’re setting all the trucks on FIRE!  AND I’ll be holding my tiny, helpless kitten ‘Snuffy’ as I jump across!  I SPIT in the face of fear and death!”  Did Snuffy get a say in this??  The crowd leans forward on the edge of their seats to watch, holding their breath, loving every minute.  Continue reading →

Jodi came along

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I looked up some quotes about sisters today.  It’s my sister Jodi’s birthday and I wanted to wax eloquent about her and the complex and wonderful relationship sisters share.  Here are a few I found, some sweet, some funny:

Sisters by birth, friends by choice – Author Unknown

The mildest, drowsiest sister has been known to turn tiger if her sibling is in trouble.  ~Clara Ortega

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.  ~Author Unknown

Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.  ~Charles M. Schulz  (Haha!  I hope that’s not too true for her!)

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?  ~Pam Brown  (I love this one)

When I was about 2 1/2 years old, God provided me a playmate and friend. Continue reading →

Kaitlin Elizabeth, Kaity-kait, Kaikin

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I remember so well the day we met her.  Early in the morning she let us know she was coming.  Of course, at that point we didn’t know if she was a she or a he.  Before long the mystery was revealed (as the nurse eloquently exclaimed “there’s no pee pee!”) and we were holding our tiny, soft treasure with black fuzzy hair and dark eyes.  I love the moment when they first handed my baby to me and I held her to me, eyes locked on each other.  So you’re the one I’ve been waiting to see all this time!

Some thoughts about Kaitlin on this her 18th birthday: Continue reading →

Really trusting

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It’s one thing for a little girl to say she trusts her daddy, it’s another for her to crouch down and jump up away the firm concrete, out into his arms over the deep end of the swimming pool.

It’s one thing to say you believe in heaven and another to keep believing when you’ve lost someone you love and your faith means they’re actually in heaven now.  Are they really?

It’s one thing to proclaim God will provide and another to have to depend on that claim, waiting for some miracle or revelation of something you can do because you’re out of money and have rent to pay or an empty pantry. Continue reading →

Follow Jesus

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I like Twitter.  It helps me keep up with friends I’m not with every day, including my two older daughters.  Each of their tweets is a little glimpse into their day, their hearts and thoughts and it makes me feel connected.  Sometimes on the home page Twitter gives recommendations of people to “follow.”  There are some I comedians I follow that crack me up, some well-known pastors I follow that encourage or challenge me, and so on.  For a while I followed some Olympic athletes like Apolo Ohno.  He’s such a positive, enthusiastic person.   Some people I follow and would love to hear more of what they’re thinking, but they just aren’t into twitter and rarely say anything.

I’d like to recommend that on this path we call everyday life on planet Earth, that you follow Jesus.  He’s always got something to say and it’s not self-promoting, nonsensical blather.  Whatever he says gives life.

I’m sure you’ve experienced something similar to what I did when I was little.  Continue reading →

Glow

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It’s one of our favorite family laughs.  We were living in Las Cruces, New Mexico and had been teaching our girls a little bit about constellations: the big dipper, little dipper, the north star, and Orion’s belt.  They had fun looking for them in the wide, clear desert sky at night.  All three shared a bedroom and while out shopping one day we picked up a package of glow-in-the-dark stars to put up on their wall.  I put them up while they were at school one day and arranged them into some of the constellations, hoping the girls would recognize them when the lights went out.  Bedtime rolled around and all three were tucked in.  After we said our prayers, I asked, “Are you ready to see your stars?”  Continue reading →

Just helpin’ out

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As I talked with her in the parking lot after we boogied and sweated together in Zumba class, I was tickled by her enthusiasm and joy.   Sometimes in these conversations I can see her becoming a woman and blossoming right there in front of me.  I couldn’t help smiling as my firstborn gushed about all the awesome things God is doing in her life and the exciting opportunities for ministry coming her way.   As she spoke, God spoke very clearly to me, “See my handiwork?  Isn’t this much more valuable than any house, paycheck, or material thing?”

Years ago when the girls were little, they loved to help us with projects.  Continue reading →

Breakthrough

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I like the band “The Rocket Summer.”  It just so happened that the last two mornings as I drove to work, the iPod on shuffle, I heard one of his songs each day.  This morning I listened to his song that has these words in the chorus:

I need a break, but I’d rather have a breakthrough

Can I say that today?  I definitely have felt like I need a break, or my family does.  Could it be that if we hold out long enough, keep believing through strain that we’ll break through to the next level of growth God planned for us?  Continue reading →

Squeaky Wheel

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They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Does that mean that the broken vessel that speaks up or hollers out gets God’s attention and help?  Well, what if the heart longs to do that but there are no words?  What if all that comes out when I try to yell is a raspy whisper?  Will He stop, turn around and notice me?  What if I’m not sure how to call out or even what the real reason for my mess is? Continue reading →

Not so scary

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I watched “The Sixth Sense” for the first time, believe it or not, on Friday night.  I’m becoming a fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s early movies.  They’re so interesting and thought-provoking.

You know me, I tend to link up things I see with spiritual matters, looking for illustrations to real life from what I’ve watched on-screen.   I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie but one of the biggest lessons one of the main characters learns is to not be terrified of ghosts (dead people) that he sees, even though many of them are pretty ghastly.  They appear to him the way they were when they died or were killed so I don’t blame him for wanting to keep far away from them!  Continue reading →