Gifts; My Fridge Door

New Years is here and Christmas is over. But Christmas cards and letters from family and friends keep appearing in my mailbox. Often, stashed within these bundles of good cheer and blessing, there's a family picture. I like that. I take those pictures and stick them to my fridge.

This morning, while retrieving some milk for my tea, I looked at all those pictures; church family, biological family, "adopted" family, the children I used to care for, and other friends, and I rejoiced. How incredibly gracious and kind of God to give me so many people!

He knows that I need people and He has provided the perfect amount of varying individuals to challenge and encourage me where I am, right now. Some of them drive me nuts and some are like a glass of cold water on a hot day. Both are important so that I can grow in godliness.

Image result for pictures on fridge door

At the start of 2017, I met for a breakfast date with a dear friend who had a joyful face. Last night I ended the year with a couple who have become good friends. This past year has held incredible blessing, intense hurt, and possibly the biggest trial I have ever faced. There have been people walking with me through it all and I know my fridge door could never display all the characters in my story.

Though all these people are an immense blessing, I know I cannot ultimately depend on them. In reality, they point me to the God whose image they bear. This God is great, and He is able to accomplish all that must be done. He can sooth my heart in bitter trials and He knows my every delight.

He is faithful.

May the year before us grow us to love and trust Him more. May we point each other to our great King, who is worthy of all our allegiance and praise. And next year, may we all be able to say that we are holier and closer to our Maker than ever before.

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Body Image (1)

Contentedly situated in lawn chairs with our toes in the sand and the baby playing on a blanket at our feet, my friend and I watch her girls digging holes or running between the beach and the lake. Periodically, the girls run up to us to display the shells and rocks they've found. At one point, as the girls surround us, one of us adults comments on the baby being chubby (which she is, as a baby should be) after which one of the girls looks at me and says, "you're kind of chubby." She wasn't trying to be rude or smart, she was just being bluntly observant as children are. As I looked at I her and considered an answer, I thought of the baggage of body image that women have carried for generations, and I thought, I don't want her to carry this baggage too. I want better for her. I replied, "you know, being a little chubby is actually a good thing. Our bodies function better and it helps keep us warm." This deep lesson was probably lost on her as she s...

Surprise Sin

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Delayed Grief

Grief is a crazy thing. Sometimes you cry till you fall asleep, sometimes you're angry, sometimes you can't feel anything, and sometimes you're so, so tried. Grief is also unpredictable in that it can take a long time to heal...and sometimes it feels like its been healed and then you're crying on your way home from the grocery store and you aren't even sure why. Grief is not logical and polite and convenient. It interrupts our lives on its terms. A couple mornings ago I was thinking about how tired I am. I'm not weepy or angry or even really sad, just tired, and this tiredness is physical, mental, and emotional. Which surprises me because my life is actually really great and I haven't had anything in recent months to be sad about. However, the more I contemplated it, I think the tiredness is a long term symptom of a deep sadness that I lived in a couple years ago. Which is the first thing I wanted to share with you. Maybe, like me, there has been nothing r...

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