More than Unbroken

Admittedly, I take on too much. I am notorious for feeling the need to meet others’ needs and burning the candle at both ends. This results in my feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and unable to perform any of my tasks well. Such has been my life for the past three weeks. Between the expected chaos and unexpected storms, I have not allowed myself enough margin to just breathe. Hence, the delay in this post. Don’t get me wrong. The things that have consumed me over these past days have been valid and important. I’m doing things that I enjoy. There are things that had to be done because they are the right things to do. I don’t regret any of it. And now, I’ve done all I can do. Typically when I arrive at this point, I am emotionally, mentally, and physically spent. There is nothing left to give. So, friend, I ask your forgiveness as I take a moment to allow God to restore me. I need Him to renew my mind and strength. Because I know myself well enough to know that I can’t keep pouring out of ...

It happened again this week. Every time it happens, we look for the positive. What is the silver lining in this tragedy? Well, I have to be honest for a moment. There isn’t always silver lining. Some days and weeks are just gloomy and gray. We become weary with trying to find the good in loss because we keep having to face it. It is frustrating and leaves us feeling hopeless and desperate. The fact is, loss is a part of what we face because of the fallen world in which we live. But where is God in our loss? He’s where we place Him. Do we trust God even when we don’t understand? When the silver lining just isn’t there, can we still say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord”? Is God still good? As much as we have stood toe-to-toe with death, I feel like God is using each opportunity to make us stronger in Him. Through His power and mercy, we find strength to do the unthinkable. We manage to get out of bed. We navigate the tragedy as we have done before. Everyone must grieve in their own way....

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.  (Joshua‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬) This statement from God to Joshua is part of the larger task placed on him. After forty years of waiting on the Promised Land, God told Joshua to lead the Israelites in. I’ve waited on promises before. Sometimes it seems like I’m never going to reach whatever “promised land” God has spoken over me. But then I do. And it’s exhilarating and terrifying all at once. That’s where I am now. God put me on this journey of writing, and I was unsteady and unsure. Most days, I still am. But I see how it is changing me. I feel the eagerness and expectation of something more than just simply loving well. God is pushing me into the deep end, and I can’t wait. Over a year ago, I received a word from the Lord that I felt would eventually be a spoken word. After leaning in to Jesus and pressing th...

I remember being a kid and making plans without talking to my parents first. As a child, I even developed a system. If I got invited to go to friend’s house or on an outing, I made sure the friend would ask my mom. This would drive them both a little crazy sometimes. At a young age, I understood how to ask forgiveness rather than permission. This wasn’t the best thing about me growing up, and I sometimes find myself in the same position that I put my parents in. My boys figured out the system, too! It could be so very easy to take our salvation for granted. Knowing that we serve a loving, forgiving God could cause some to wander and tamper with sin. But that was never what God intended when He sent Jesus to Earth. I cannot imagine sending my children on a mission and for those being rescued by that mission to be flippant about it. I would be angry and revoke my grace. It’s a good thing I’m not God. The cost was great, but His love for us was greater. “he humbled himself in obedience to...

This weekend was full of miracles. I got to travel with my Daddy and younger sister to Texas to visit my dad’s mom (Mamaw). She moved in with my uncle and aunt a few years ago, before 2020 wreaked havoc on our lives. I haven’t seen her since she moved and her health has declined some with age. Our mad dash to visit was well-planned, but we mainly needed to see her, love on her, and just be together. My Mamaw is almost ninety-one years old. She was an AT&T operator. She was a pastor’s wife and took care of the church outreach, including selling homemade barbecue sandwiches as church fundraisers. In her spare time, until recently, she crocheted and made quilts for people as gifts, especially those in the nursing home and hospital. But more than anything, she prayed.  This weekend’s adventures included singing gospel music with my sweet Mamaw, Daddy, uncle, and sister. We reminisced about the past. And my mind couldn’t help but marvel at answered prayers that had unfolded and culm...

I probably sound like a broken record, but this is a very busy time for our family. I am notorious for putting too many irons in the fire. My need to please others usually overshadows logic, and I end up feeling less than best. We are an active bunch, and I stay busy.  When I feel stretched as I do now, the enemy loves to creep in and make me feel less than. Have you been there? His favorite tactic is to use my emotions against me. He loves to whisper that I'm not enough. That my best isn't what people need. That all of my work means nothing. Logically, I know this is untrue. The Word of God tells me so. But some days, my heart takes over and my emotions come out-raw and unfiltered. This week, I had such an experience. Looking back on the situation now, I can recognize that my thought process in the middle of what was happening was completely irrational. I let my heart do the thinking. Mistake number one. I allowed the enemy to whisper the "less than" lies and believe...

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. (Psalms‬ ‭90:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬) Lately, I find myself feeling very nostalgic. My older son is a senior and tomorrow, my baby will be a teenager. I’d be lying if I said that I’m doing great with the changes. Some days, I can take it in stride. Other days, I yearn for the baby days again. In all of it, I recognize that with each growing pain and new season of life, God is revealing more about Himself to me. The truth is, I’m not sure what to expect in the next two years. Some days, this lack of knowing is so frightening. Life in the past two years has been so very unpredictable. However, I’m thankful for the ability to grow through pains of life so that I can lean into my Abba Father who never leaves me. Some people think that when bad things happen that God has abandoned them. I find this to be the opposite. It’s in the difficult moments of life that Holy Spirit draws me into His presence, and I am comforted.  The fact...