Life Training From the Wisest Man Who Ever Lived

I don't think there is a word that can immediately bring to my mind such intense joy and intense pain at the same moment as the word 'Father' can.  I don't stop and think about it much, but there are times where I can't help but think about what the word father means to me. Father's Day is one of those days. The meaning of the word father was first shaped by my dad.  I was blessed beyond belief by having my dad as my dad.  He gave me a love for reading, logic, and learning.  He passed on his playfulness and ability to turn any situation into a song, a very cheesy rhyming song! I definitely get my dramatic flare from him. He loves deeply and serves faithfully.  Like all dads, he isn't perfect, but he has shown me that growth comes from humbly depending on the work of God in his … [Read more...]

Little Man doesn't realize he's small, that he shouldn't be able to do all the things he can do. I made the mistake of saying to him the other day, "Little Man, you are so cute and tiny." He looked at me with his serious greenish-blue eyes as he replied defiantly, "No, I'm big!" He is so small compared to the world around him.  But there is nothing he feels he's too small to do. "I can't," is not part of his vocabulary.  "I'll get it!!" is his anthem, even if the process is long and painful and messy. He's three.  A mighty warrior at three. He learned to ride his bike on the first day.  Daddy let go after one run and Little man just took off.  He's been like that since he was born.  Show me how, then let me go.  No tears. No fear.  Just relentless determination to … [Read more...]

Summer is a challenging time for me as a mom.  School is not there to keep the small fries busy for the morning hours, so we have a lot of time to fill.  It's easy  for me to feel like a bad mom for not having every minute of the day planned out with fun activities.  I hate when I compare myself to others, but I do it all the time.  I feel like I should have more scheduled for the kids, but for the most part we just hang out at home, swim, ride bikes, play basketball, color, and clean. It's not glamorous or exciting, but it's life...real, messy, everyday life. We've also had a lot of severe weather threat days.  So I feel like we can't stray too far from home anyway!  It seems like as soon as one wave of storms passes another rolls in right behind it. I've discovered, however, … [Read more...]

Exodus 12:14 & 17b  This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast...for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. I never want to forget the goodness of God. But it's so easy to get comfortable during the good times.  It's so easy to become distracted by the temporal daily routines and lose sight of eternity. I am more like the Israelites than I would like to admit.  I think we all are.  In the good times, it is so easy to drift away from the God who gave it all to us. God knows our weaknesses.  He knows we tend to forget.  It's why he wants … [Read more...]

Isaiah 44:6-8 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?  And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” Yesterday, I wrote about how much I hated Oklahoma when I first moved here 15 years ago because of my fear storms (among other things like humidity, the lack of cool air after sunset, and gigantic June bugs)!! But I forgot to mention something really important.  Not only do I love … [Read more...]

I love living in Oklahoma. I never thought I would say that!  When we moved here I hated just about everything about Oklahoma. But the thing I hated most about Oklahoma were the storms.  Every rumble of thunder made me cower.  Every time the sky darkened I thought a tornado would drop out of the clouds.  I couldn't believe that in an area with such a chance for tornadoes there were not more basements and storm shelters.  Fear gripped me every time a storm rolled in. I've lived in Oklahoma for 15 years now.  I lived here during the May 3rd tornado that hit Moore in 1999.  I drove to Oklahoma City shortly after that tornado to take my state boards for cosmetology.  The storm wiped whole neighborhoods completely away.  I had never seen such devastation.  It fed my fear … [Read more...]

Last weekend I got to go to a friend of mine's wedding. We met when I was in 4th grade.  She was in 2nd. We had just moved from Illinois to Farmington, New Mexico and she was my first friend.  Shortly after we became friends I met Becky, Amber, and Jannela.  The five of us did just about everything together.  There really isn't a childhood memory that I have from Farmington without one of those 5 girls in it.  They colored my days with laughter and fun.  We had this awesome ant farm at school!  We made roads for them and everything. The last time we were all together Precious A was only 10 months old.  My brother and I drove from Broken Arrow to New Mexico for another friend's wedding and all five of us were together.  It was like we hadn't missed a beat...we still … [Read more...]

Proverbs For Life - Proverbs 24:6 For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. I've been reminded lately of something very important. There is a war going on. A knock-down-drag-out-winner-takes-all war. I am exhausted. I want to yell, "Timeout!! I'm on base," like the small fries do when they play chase. But there are no time-outs. This war has no ceasefire, even if I feel like I am too tired to fight the endless battles that rage for our hearts...and the hearts of our children. The constant pull of the world around us to live life on our own terms. I don't want to escape the war I am in (although a rest and water break would be nice). I want to stand firm. I want to equip my children to stand firm. But right now, I feel totally … [Read more...]

Last year I walked in the first annual Walk for Hope. This weekend I have the privilege to once again show my support for an organization that helped me in a time I felt alone, scared, and totally unprepared for the future. I was 19 when I found out I was pregnant with Precious A. What a lot of people didn't know at the time was this was actually the second time I discovered I was pregnant.  The first time was when I was 18, just a few weeks shy of my high school graduation.  Selfishness, plain and simple, led to my making the worst decision of my life.  One I wish every day I could undo.  But there are no do-overs after an abortion, only mercy and grace that flows from the cross.  I am so grateful for that undeserved outpouring of love lavishly poured out on … [Read more...]

Shhh....Don't tell Daniel:  I have fallen deeply and madly in love...with photography. It's been a relationship about a year in the making. I know, I know.  My heart was very full with Daniel and the kiddos, but there was just something missing in our home. The walls just felt empty.  Well, in reality they were/are a little on the bare side!! Then entered this hobby of mine.  It took me by surprise and captured my heart. It has filled my walls with pictures, beautiful pictures (well, two of them at least; I'm still working on the other ones)!! I got a camera from my brother-in-law who is a photography guru.  It is a camera I never would have purchased had he not offered to sell it to me.  It's a beast, and I am learning the functions and training my eye to see … [Read more...]