Notes to Self...and whoever's listening

A friend of mine has been talking to me about the period of waiting she is in with the Lord.  She is chomping at the bit to "get to work", but continues to hear the Lord telling her to wait. Another friend's husband wrote his own blog post about waiting today, too. The  verse of the day on the Bible App was from  Psalm 33:18.  I read further.  Here was what I read: "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name."  Psalms 22:18-21 Have anything you've been waiting on?  A new job?  Better health or healing?  Salvation for loved ones?  Love?  Restoration of a relationship? Boy, I have some things I've been waiting on the Lord for...some of those things have been years in the waiting!  ...

As a child, I loved reading.  Little House on the Prairie and the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke were my favorites.  I also loved Beverly Cleary books as a younger girl and the Sweet Valley High books in middle school. In high school, I didn't find a lot of time to read and didn't pick up many book recreationally until my twenties.  I would always look for Christian fiction, but quickly grew tired of the same old story.  Woman had a job, but is unfulfilled.  She meets a man, often one that is not interested in her or that she doesn't like.  Fast-forward after several chance encounters and several missteps and VOILA!, they fall in love.  Bleck.  That works for a Hallmark movie for me that I'm only required to invest less than 2 hours in.  But not for a book. Hours of time go into reading a book.  Sometimes just finding a book that looks interesting takes a lot of time.  That is, until I found the author Karen Kingsbury....

Lucas and I enjoyed seeing the leaves fluttering down from the trees this morning as I took him to school.  We at first wondered why they were all falling since the wind wasn’t blowing. We had a hard frost last night, though, and today it seems the leaves realized it was their time. The thing with leaves is they have been preparing for this.  They’ve known their host, the tree, was just a temporary one.  They’ve known they would only last a short time, months to be exact.  They’ve grown from tiny shoots, clung to its host during tornado season and scorching weather. But, they also knew they’d get one last moment to shine before they fell and they have been regaling us with their beautiful colors the past few weeks.  They’ve known their end was near and many began their quiet decent from their host today, joining their friends on the earth below.  Their usefulness and beauty have ended, but their lesson lives on. Change is inevitable.  Ecclesiastes ...

Yesterday I was brought to tears by a simple Facebook Messenger exchange which actually started out as ME sending something funny to a friend to cheer HER up!  The conversation moved past the funniness and she was asking me about my plans for when my boss retires. I've played that over and over in my head and still don't have a definite answer for that.  I do know God knows my needs and when they'll be needed so I'm not very worried about it right now.  But, I told her that I do know that I never set out for my job as an assistant to be permanent.  It was a temporary job that just ended up heading into 12+ years!  I also told her I don't think I ever became what I thought I'd grow up to be! She asked does anyone really? I know how I got to this job is NOT what I expected for myself.  Let's see...As a younger girl, I would often say I would be a teacher when I grew up.  At some point, that changed and up until I was somewhere in Junior High, I was...

In deciding where to start reading for my time in the Bible this week, I finally settled on starting to read through the gospels again.  It never gets old and there is always something that stands out to me in new or different ways.  So I opened to Matthew 1. In the Bible Study I've been leading, we're studying Ruth and last week we read a portion of the genealogy of Christ to decipher where she played a part in Jesus's family.  So instead of skipping over it like I have done in the past, I decided to carefully read each name.  And I'm so glad I did. Four women made the list with side notes explaining their presence.  Of course, genealogy lists only usually listed the men of the family.  Each family is listed by the Patriarch.  BUT, these four women: Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife (Bathsheba) and Mary, were added as side notes. I'm guessing it was to show God's grace and how he used these women in history and in their families.  But look clo...

I've had a note on my desk all week that simply said "violence" on it.  And all week it stared back at me with few words that I could find to speak.   Condolences have been shared, horror expressed, anger flowed, sorrow deeply felt...nothing can adequately sum up the tragedy that has taken place in Las Vegas or any other tragedy that has taken place over the last number of years.  Whether by guns or bombings, this nation and others have experienced great loss at the hands of evil.  We can cite Bible verse after Bible verse, we can call for gun control and mental health screening, we can close borders, we can open borders, we can cite radical extremism or racism.  There is a lot of blame to spread around. But, after processing all I've seen this week, I come back to one brief story I read. A gentleman was staying in the Mandalay Bay Resort on the 30th floor, I believe, just two floors below where the shooter would eventually carry out the evil in his h...

A year ago when dropping off my youngest nephew at school, I noticed a little boy clinging to his father and near tears.  My heart ached for the terror in the little boy's eyes and I said a prayer for him in that moment.  There was also a little girl hidden behind the leg of the father on the other side.  As the school year went, I continued to pray for this family.  I didn't know them,  I didn't know their story, but I sensed the sadness in this little one.  The father is a big, burly guy with a long goatee and lots of tattoos, but comes across like a giant teddy bear, fiercely shielding his cubs.  As I prayed for this family each day as I saw them in the drop off line, it was often for a good day for the kids and for the little boy especially to find a friend, anyone that could help him pull out of his shyness and sadness. Fast forward to today when I got to meet the teddy bear and his cubs officially. My nephew needed me to get out and help him ...

Attending Logan's flag football games on Saturday was a test of strength.  By the time the second game came along, my entire family choose to sit in the end zone rather than with the rest of the families to avoid the parent chatter.  If it wasn't Willie's mom screaming at the top of lungs that "YOU CAN DO IT, WILLIE!  NEVER STOP!  NEVER NEVER STOP!" or the mom yelling angrily that they could play better than they were or even if weren't for the man that kept telling the kids that they were playing like girls...maybe we would have gone and sat with the rest of the families. Unbelievable behavior by a bunch of people who supposedly have their child's best interests at heart.  I'm for tough love, but ridicule?  Berating?  Name calling?  THAT is not parenting. But back to what the one dad said.  "You're playing like girls" and "You just gotten taken down by a girl!" were his favorite phrases.  One issue with those phrases is ...

I've said it before, but I'll repeat it again.  The saddest words I have to type on a regular basis working for an attorney are: "The bonds of matrimony existing between Petitioner and Respondent are hereby dissolved."  Man, I hate those words.  They tug at my heart each time I'm forced to type them. By the time a party ends up in our office, almost all of them have no desire, not an ounce of try left in them.  Many are convinced they are no longer in love.  Most wouldn't consider reconciliation if you paid them.  Some come in with a new significant other, ready to get the formalities out of the way so they can move on with the new person in their life that completes them. Please don't read this as an affront to all that have been divorced.  I'm not naive enough to believe that all marriages can be salvaged.  There are physical reasons, emotional reasons, etc., that just cannot be overlooked sometimes.  And, sometimes, it's simply the oth...

I spent a few days in Nashville last week and am just getting back into the swing of things so here I am again. :)   It was definitely a change of pace from Rockford.  Though I enjoyed it, coming home is always exciting.  My last post was about being so very busy and that is something that could be said of all of Nashville!  Wow, such a fast pace!  When I described it to my sister, she said it sounded like Las Vegas. Getting to see and hear some of Nashville's history was definitely interesting.  They have some beautiful pieces of history, the Ryman Auditorium being one of those!  It was a stunning facility!  And they have some of the nicest people around! But, I was also saddened when I thought about how many dreams drove into that city and died.  The picture above is just a tiny glimpse into how many bars are on Broadway, a place numerous singers played each day, all day, hoping for a chance to gain fame or just a steady job in a f...

Yesterday was the first day I was able to not leave the house ALL day in months!  And, the only way I accomplished this was my sister running two errands for me when she was out. Wow.  Oh, so busy these days! And how did I spend it?  Cleaning.  Cleaning for almost 8 hours straight!  All the laundry and most of the bedding got done and three rooms cleaned basically top to bottom...so much dust sent packing.  And, you know what?  I could have used a few more hours to completely clean to MY specifications. Anyone else have so self-imposed requirements on themselves that even when you've spent soooo much time doing something that you're still not satisfied?  Anyone else hurt the feelings of the people you live with when they do something and you can only see how they didn't do it like YOU would have? 😣  Yeah, that's me.  I am definitely a work in progress in that department.  But, I fail.  A lot. When I'm scurrying about, I ...

Today I had the rare opportunity to witness the sun rise AND set!  It was definitely a full day that started with taking my parents to the airport in Milwaukee, Logan's football game, lunch to celebrate my sister's and my birthday, errands, church, then grabbing the boys dinner! Phew!  But I was struck by the Lord's beauty, mastery and His ability to make the great expanse that is the sky and create something so stunning!  Then, at church tonight we sang How Great Thou Art! and I could find nothing more fitting!  I need write no more on this subject because Pastor Carl Boberg already said it so beautifully! Oh Lord my God When I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout The universe displayed Then sings my soul My Savior, God, to Thee How great thou art How great thou art Then sings my soul My Savior, God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art And when I t...

Yesterday I talked about timing and how all things in my life were coming together for His greater purpose.  Today I am going to add to that post just a little more. I have many dreams that remain "unfulfilled" at this time.  Some are unfulfilled because I haven't done what is necessary to make them happen quite yet.  Some are unfulfilled because God hasn't seen fit to bring them to fruition OR He's still working on me to let those dreams go because He has bigger ones waiting for me. So, one big dream or desire I have always held in my heart is that of wanting to be married. And every September as another birthday nears, I get sad realizing another year has come and gone and I'm still as single as the day I was born.  Yep, never had a boyfriend, never been on a date, never really been asked OUT on a date (yeah, there are 2 guys that tried to sort of ask, but crashed and burned and were NOT the ones for me anyway).   I'm including a picture of my journa...

That's what the old adage says, right?  Timing is everything? I guess it depends on what we're talking about.  Timing meant a lot to thousands of people on 9/11.  Timing means a lot to athletes.  Timing means a lot when words are spoken. So what about the Lord's timing?  I saw a quote today that read:  His timing is rarely ours, but it's always perfect. (Amy Carroll, author) Hmm...in my deepest places in my heart, I believe that.  But, at the surface, sometimes I question.  Yeah, I'm REALLY human! :) The devotional I've been doing is one for writers and has been really encouraging, enlightening and interesting.  I was encouraged to write a timeline of my life events to see if I could piece together where it was the Lord is guiding my life...how He is using me in ministry.  (We are ALL ministers that love and follow Christ, by the way.)  So, let's look at my timeline for a sec: *began working in the youth group at First Ass...

I have worked for a lawyer full-time for 12 years and for about 3 years on and off before that. I've seen a LOT of facts and a LOT of lies come through the office.  We have spent a LOT of time sifting through all of the information we are presented with to help our clients get the best possible outcome for their situation.  Many times I'm saddened that someone that was very deserving got a terrible outcome and many times I'm frustrated with those that "win" though they didn't deserve it (in my opinion, anyway). But never once have I stopped to weigh truth vs. fact.  I guess on some level I just assumed they were the same.  Or, that they led to the same conclusions.  In a devotional by Charles Stanley this morning, he raised questions for me about this topic and it sent me searching for more information.  I was blown away by a simple analogy I found on a Focus on the Family website regarding this topic. That article related a fact to a stray puzzle piece...

What are you dreaming about?  Wishing for?  Waiting for? Just those questions alone can bring more to mind than your heart was ready to process.  I know it's true for me.  I haven't blogged for three years.  Want to know what one of my dreams is?  Writing!  Ironic, huh? In this past month I've switched some things up with positive results.  I used to wait to spend time with God at the very end of my day and that came with varying results.  Either I'd be so exhausted that I'd only muster enough to open up the Bible app on my phone and settle for just a nugget of God's truths that day.  Sometimes I'd get my Bible opened then be sidetracked by a nephew getting ready for bed or a whiny dog.  Sometimes, I'd forget altogether.  None of this made for a strong me. When the kids started back to school this year, I decided to make a change for myself. Instead of getting up at the same time as always, I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. al...