Picket Fences

Yesterday at church, we gave honor to the veterans and their families. At the end of the service honor was given to them by rolling out a red carpet for them to lead the way out of the church. The congregation clapped and cheered as the veterans and their families made their way out. Today, my daughter wanted to honor the veterans because of what they did, and do, to protect our country so we can have the freedom we sometimes take for granted. She wrote the following letter to all of our veterans; Dear Veterans, Thank you for serving in the military. You make our country free. You risk your lives for us. Thank you so much! All my uncles and my dad and both of my Grandpas served in the military. I was not born when they did go into the service though. I am glad they all are still alive. You know that you are protecting us and God is protecting you! From Sarrah I couldn’t have said it better. May you be incredibly blessed.

While walking down one of the beautiful sandy beaches on the Oregon Coast with my sister, I was talking with her, about what we’d learned in the study of Jonah this last week. One of the things that stood out to both of us, was when Priscilla Shriver mentioned, when she gets to heaven, she doesn’t want to find out, that she missed out on power from the Holy Spirit that had been available to her on earth. I don’t want to miss out on the power that Jesus gives us to live this life and the things that come with it either. We discussed how it looks to be walking in the Holy Spirit and the power that He gives us. After all, the power from the Holy Spirit is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Are we really walking in that power? While we were going over this, we noticed just how peaceful it was to just stand on the shore, feet in the water, and listen to the waves, to look at the beautiful blue skies. Isn’t this one way it’s supposed to be? Peaceful? But what abou...

I find myself repeating the following story often when I am out and about, so I decided to post it again on my blog. I hope it is an encouragment to you and that no matter what you can trust in Him. A few years ago, my sister and I would do morning walks together, during the weekdays. One day there was a penny on the ground in front of me and I reached down to pick it up. I explained that not to long ago, I wouldn't have picked it up, but instead I'd just leave it for someone else who may need it. But one day, I was convicted of appreciating even the smallest blessings that may be in front of me. God knows if I need a penny or not, so I decided to start picking them up, thank Him for it and also thank Him for all the other blessings He gives to me. A few days later, during another one of our walks, we were talking about a burden my sister was carrying. I suddenly remembered the other thing I had heard about picking up a penny. On the coin is the words, "In God We ...

Proverbs 31:10 – 12 10 A wife of noble character who can find?   She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good not harm, all the days of her life. I’ve been to a few studies on the Proverbs 31 woman, and believe me, I know where I’m lacking when I read it. You’re probably wondering, why, on Mother’s day of all days, would I post anything concerning this chapter of the Bible? I mean isn’t Mother’s day, the day, we all get accolades for the WONDERFUL things we do as a mom. It’s really not the day to be reminding us of anything we may be lacking, right? Well, first of all, my hat goes off to every other mom. I love being a mom, it’s rewarding and a blessing, but also the most challenging job there ever is. So, I want to first say to every other Mom, I hope your day is so great today and you get to relax and hang with or hear from your kids. Now, back to Proverbs 31:10-12, if I gave my Mom a ...

Today is a very happy day in our family. Its more of a holiday for us than Christmas! Thirteen years ago today, I married my husband, Ben, he is an answer to my prayers, far beyond any dream of a man I could ever dream about. He is the most incredible man and I am so blessed to be able to share life with him and to grow together in our relationship with the Lord. On our fourth anniversary, Sarrah arrived. She was another answer to years of prayers, not only ours, but family and dear friends we went to church with. It is so fun to watch her grow through the different stages of life. Nine years old. I blinked an zoom, she's nine. Sometimes, Mother's day falls on the eight, so we have three reasons to celebrate then. But today, we are celebrating the gift of life together, me and my husband and our little girl.

I’m not the best person to be around in the morning. I just don’t do mornings very well. Although, as I’ve gotten older, and having the responsibility of getting my daughter off to school at a certain time, I am better at “doing mornings.” I do like to have some space and a shower before my first conversation. On a good day, I read, shower, and then wake up my daughter. I was having one of those good days, when a knock on the door interrupted my routine. I was in the middle of reading and hadn’t had my shower yet. The interruption pushed the shower off and it soon became a struggle for me to even get it done, and get Sarrah ready and get going for the day. I had a long list of things to do that day and the interruption just didn’t fit in or sit right with me MOST of the day. Right now, in our women’s Bible study we are learning about a man named Jonah. He was interrupted in a huge way. And that interruption didn’t sit right with him at all and he took off because…he didn’t WANT...