An Unexpected Journey

I am sitting in my house looking out at a foggy world.  White mist blankets everything I can see, obscuring the details and leaving the imagination to fill in the blanks.  And sometimes life feels like this.  We can see an outline but clarity may escape us.  Propped up in the middle of my double window is a piece of wood with the words “It is well with my soul” engraved on the attached metal.   And it seems an oxymoron with that fuzzy world peering in through the windows behind the art.  The words are clear and bright and beautiful.  The view surrounding them is so withering and damp and uninviting.  There are days when life is just that way precisely, but there  are words that can be an anchor.  A centerpiece of stability for our hearts and minds.  His words.  Words of promise that we can hang everything on.  He doesn’t guarantee us that life will always go smoothly.  In fact, He promises us that in this world ...

  How do you eat a bread bowl at Panera?  One bite at a time!  I am not exactly a foodie photographer (or any type of photographer!), but I was feeling proud of how I demolished that baked potato soup bread bowl. I just hope no one was taking my photograph or even watching for that matter when I was eating it! I was hunkered down in a corner with my conquest and my computer hoping no one was looking.  It was messy.  Just plain messy.  And good… possible even finger-licking good. Sometimes the things I want to reach for in life feel that way.  Too big.  Too perfect looking.  Too hard to get through.  Impossible to conquer without making a mess.  Without risking looking like a fool.  But I ate that bread bowl because I was hungry.  Because I didn’t fill up on the chips- the fake stuff.  I made room for the real and my hunger drove me past caring what anyone around me was thinking. And I think that’s the...

Am I the only one???  Do you ever have those days where you accidentally call yourself something like Mrs. Speech when you meant to say Mrs. King to your students?  Or where you hit your head on the microwave door while you are running around frantically in the morning?  Or you stop in to get a $5 hot and ready pizza because you need a quick dinner fix for the kids and you just barely catch yourself getting out of the car while it’s still in drive?   Or you are hopping out of your friend’s truck and whack your head… and you couldn’t find your keys in that black hole of a purse just a second before!  You know.  Brain fog.   When I had 4 kids under 4 I lived in a constant state of brain fog, but now it’s more of an occasional thing.  I remember when they were all babies, I once lost my keys for weeks.  I thought some kid had thrown them in the trash until I went to pour a bowl of cereal one day and out came the keys!  Yep.  Lande...

“Look at me, Mama!” exclaims my excited four year old as she flips onto the couch.  “Now look at me!!” insists the bouncy six year old doing cartwheels across the living room. And so it goes as the 7 year olds chime in, too.  Each precious little heart eager for recognition.  For admiration.  For someone bigger who loves them to have their eyes on them.  To notice.  To encourage.  To answer that question inside that wants to know if they are special.   If they are worth my attention. So often I see a reflection of myself in my littles.  If I will take the time to notice.  But it’s more than just taking the time that brings it to light.  It’s something about the Presence.  When my worship music is playing, and I sense God’s presence it lights up my heart.  It illuminates.  And then it becomes clear.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  It’s no secret to those who know me that my personality tends towards b...