Freedom in Jesus…three words that hold a multitude of meaning. Once you meet Jesus, the freedoms you experience are innumerable. One that has been on my mind, recently, is the freedom to dream. I’ve been thinking about it more than I ever have, so believe me when I say, that’s a LOT! You see, most of my life has been spent dreaming. When I was a kid, I would literally spend hours at a time just letting my mind create scenes that I hoped would someday come true…some were feasible, but others were just plain outrageous. I suppose it could …
A Mustard Seed Faith
I love to clean. I know that’s crazy, right? Most people I know turn their noses up when it comes to cleaning. That’s alright; it’s a messy job. One day as I was cleaning I found a book with a poem written in it. Reading the poem I thought to myself, “This should have been published.” The poem was written in my mother’s journal. Mom loved to write (I guess that’s where I get my love for writing.) Since my sweet mama died 5 years ago, the words I read were extra special to me. And I would like …
Jesus Died For Me
Twenty-five years ago, a timid young woman sat in her Sunday school class listening to her teacher’s lesson. During the lesson she slipped out the door and hurriedly went to find her pastor. This young lady realized without a shadow of a doubt that the Holy Spirit was speaking to her heart – she was not saved. She thought back to a time when she was thirteen and supposedly prayed a sinner’s prayer. She didn’t know what she was doing. Now she knew she wanted to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. That young lady was …
Fall Devotions
Day 3 The temperature is changing and the mornings and evenings are cool. I LOVE IT!! This weather makes perfect camping weather. One of my favorite things to do is to go camping with my family and then get up early in the morning and grab a blanket and my bible and sit by the still smoldering fire and gaze over the water in front of me. I LOVE blankets! There is something comforting about being wrapped up in a blanket. Although there are good blankets the ones that are soft, thick and fluffy and then there are the ones …
Fall Devotions
Day 2 Fall – to lose the old, to have its proper place. This is just part of the many definitions of what the dictionary says “fall” is. What is crazy is that the dictionary is talking about fall like ‘I fell down’, not fall like ‘the season’ and yet how appropriate the definition is. I love fall!! The color change, the weather change, the smell change…..its about change. But to change means that something must go. As I sit here looking out the window with massive trees all around my back yard, I see it happening right now. Leaves …
Abundant Grace
Okay, I admit it – I am a people observer. My cousin, Stephen Smith, is a professional photographer and lives in Alaska one day he posted this to his Facebook page and I was immediately drawn to the sign the man is holding. It is a piece of cardboard with the following written in Magic Marker – “Need 13¢”. I began going through a gauntlet of questions in my mind and kept asking why just 13¢? The photo was taken in Alaska and that amount of money will not go very far in today’s economy. Driving around town on …
Call To Me
March 19, 1997- a date that is indelibly etched in my memory. From 5:00 pm, to 1:00 am, our little son cried without stopping. He was two months old, and we figured that this was his bout with colic. My hubby and I tried everything, rocking, singing, walking him around, nothing worked. I even prayed, with tears streaming down my cheeks. Little James wouldn’t relent. At almost 1:00 am, he slipped into a sleep of exhaustion. So did my hubby and I. I was so upset. I asked God to calm me and the baby down, so we could get …
Valuable Lesson Found in the Summer Rest
Mark 6:31 “And he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart*into a desert place, and rest awhile: for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” Summer time for a teacher is thought to be a time of rest. Rest from lesson plans, state requirements, students who depend on you, team meetings, workshops or staff development, parent/teacher conferences, to name a few. While summer can be just that, it can also be costly. When I think of summer I think of it as being a great time to gain back strength …
Valuable Lesson Found in the Snow
Spring is here and winter is just a memory. I find myself thinking of the seasons trying to decide which one is my favorite. As I think of one and declare it my favorite there is something that comes to mind about another and it suddenly becomes my favorite. I have come to the conclusion that each one has something special that makes it my favorite, at least for a season. As a pastor’s wife I find myself making spiritual applications to the things I come in contact with. Seasons are no exception. As I remember winter, I think …
Sweet Release
Family curses are real. My family tree is a tangled up mess. Generations have battled depression, bitterness, shame, sickness and more. For years, when I thought of my paternal grandparents I couldn’t even bring myself to say a prayer. When I knew they needed prayer, I delegated. I asked my husband or my children to do the work because my heart couldn’t find the words. I’m not sure how, but I didn’t see this as unforgiveness. God knew my limitations though. He understood that years of rejection had left me speechless and hard. There had to be grace for …
Praise God Throughout Your Crisis
A 6-Day Look at a Desperate Dilemma From 2 Chronicles 20 Overview Passage: 2 Chronicle 20: 1-30 Today’s study: 2 Chronicles 20: 18-30 “Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord…. As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah and they were defeated….. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies …
Seek the Lord Together
A 6-Day Look at a Desperate Dilemma From 2 Chronicles 20 Overview passage: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 Today’s Study: 2 Chronicles 20:3, 4, 13, 18 “The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord, indeed they came from every town in Judah to seek Him…. All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.…all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.” Churches all over our nation opened their doors on the evening of September 11, 2001 as millions of people came together …