Category Archives: Realizations & Ponderings

Self-explanatory

Living the dream?

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He’s one of my favorite Bible characters, probably second only to Jesus.  He persevered through lots of unfair treatment, imprisonment, hatred, and years of waiting and kept giving 100% and because of that people noticed.  They could see that God was with Him.  God never left Him and used all of those things, the entire timeline up to a certain point, to bring him to a place of purpose, a place from which he could save all of Israel, including his very own family.  Joseph’s story is well-known but is one I can learn from over and over again.  This morning, John preached about how God used even the opposition Joseph faced from his own flesh and blood brothers to help propel him down the to road to realizing his dreams.  They were God-given dreams and they would be God-caused, God-created, God-completed.  Joseph just had to stay faithful and keep believing.

Sometimes we let the negative things people say or their opposing attitudes and actions give us doubt about our God-given dreams.  Sometimes we even give up on a dream when it seems nothing is happening, it seems maybe we thought it up or imagined it, when it seems too big to really ever materialize….if we’re being logical.  Continue reading →

God is love

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Having spent the weekend with a bunch of other pastors’ wives at a retreat, listening to Beth Moore study about God’s love and loving others, love was on my mind more than usual this week.  I learned so much and got plenty of things to ponder out of watching the messages and talking with the other ladies.

One of the things Beth shared that stuck with me is that God’s love doesn’t change with His mood like ours does.  Sometimes the love we show is based on an emotion or feeling, but God IS love.  The love we feel and experience is an expression of who He is at the core, through and through.  We only love because He loved us first.  He cannot NOT love.  What an awesome, mind-boggling thought!  I will never fully understand it.  I have been trying to unlearn for years the idea that I have to perform well for God to really love me and accept the notion that He just loves me.  Why would he do that? Continue reading →

The secret word

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Each summer when the girls were younger, I typically would leave a note on the kitchen table for my girls once they woke up – ideas for ways to spend their time other than television or computer, chores I needed them to complete that day, etc.  A few years ago at the bottom of the note I typed out something like this, “I’ll be checking when I get home so be sure you finish your chores.  I love you girls and hope you have a great day! If you’re still reading this note you’re going to be really glad you read all the way through because the secret word is peanut.  If you can tell me the secret word when I get home from work you get a surprise.  Now go do your stuff.”

When I got home I asked them if anyone knew the secret word.  They gave me blank stares and asked, “What secret word?”   Continue reading →

To Summarize…

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I haven’t blogged much since last week, mostly due to a very full schedule resulting in being thoroughly pooped.  I never want to blog just for the sake of blogging if nothing is on my heart or coming to mind.   I thought I’d wrap up the last week or so in my life in a view bullet points: Continue reading →

Which makes me think of…

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I’m thankful for airplanes that cross miles in such a short time…which makes me think of
Destinations…which makes me think of
Possibility…which makes me think of
New experiences…which makes me think of
Trying something I’ve never eaten before at a restaurant…which makes me think of
The Japanese Grill we visited last week…which makes me think of
Catching scrambled eggs in my mouth in surprise…which makes me think of
Laughter…which makes me think of
All my wonderful friends…which makes me think of
Community…which makes me think of
God’s family of beautiful, diverse, and varied adopted kids…which makes me think of
Being accepted for who I am by Him…which makes me think of
Love and not just surfacy, shallow affection but the deep, wide, and utterly amazing love of God….which makes me thankful all over again.

A week of giving thanks

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I decided this morning that I need to focus more on gratitude and being content with all that God has given me – easy or difficult, what I thought was coming and what I didn’t expect, what I dream of and what I dread, what energizes me and what drains me.  It’s all allowed into my life through His good, loving hands and so I must be thankful and content.  I’m going to thank Him in a different way each day for a week here on my blog.  If you have any ideas send them to me!   Feel free to join me in this week-long experiment.

Today I’ll make a list from A-Z.  Continue reading →

You can be sure

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Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind, “Pooh!”, he whispered.

“Yes, Piglet?” “Nothing.”, said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you “.

– A. A. Milne

Today I find myself wanting to sidle up next to Jesus and take His hand, just to be sure of Him. The blahs invaded and I find myself feeling like I don’t really care about anything today. I’ve been thinking this afternoon about why I might be feeling like this, kind of drifting a little too far from God, far enough to disconnect from that lovely peace I have when I’m in close fellowship with Him.

I think part of the reason is fatigue – tiredness from not knowing what or when or where or how the next phase of our family’s life is going to unfold. At the same time I realize that I’m supposed to live in this day, Continue reading →

A couple of clips from my current cogitation

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I learned a new word today, can you tell?  I like it.  Cogitation:  thought or reflection.

  • John preached a message yesterday about how we often say, when caught in an habitual sin or mistake, “I can’t help myself!”  This can be an excuse that keeps us from really finding help out of those habits.  The behavior on the outside of us is really only a symptom of a problem on the inside of us.  If our heart isn’t pure or motivated by God’s Spirit then out come the boo-boos and trip-ups.  When I consider that truth about our hearts, then the phrase “I can’t help myself” is spot on truth.  I can’t fix my heart.  I can’t remove the smudge of sin or human weakness, but Jesus can.  Good ponder fodder, as I like to say.
  • Our family will possibly be making a move out west soon to serve God in the great state of California.  This isn’t a for sure thing yet, Continue reading →

Got Grace?

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I made a big mistake at work today.  It hasn’t happened for a while but it was bound to.  I get lots of projects going and something will fall through the cracks of my brain.  There are some pretty wide cracks and gaping holes in there, my brain that is.

To make matters worse, my error affects a friend of mine and he isn’t too keen on the situation.  I don’t blame him.  As I realized what happened I got that awful stomach-twisting, hard to describe nervous feeling go up the back of my back and neck and my heart started pounding a little faster.  Continue reading →