ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a woman named RUTH whose husband died and whose father~in~law died. What was the widow to do? Marry another son of her husband's family, as that was the custom. But there were no more sons. So what was the widow to do? FOLLOW her mother-in-law, NAOMI, to Judea. But NAOMI did not want RUTH and her other daughter-in-law to FOLLOW her~ “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your de

TO FEEL OR NOT TO FEEL? Is that the question or the answer?Hmm. Ask DAVID. Read the Psalms. Oh, how he knew how to FEEL. His FEELINGS were so big thathe poured them out to GOD all the time. Listen to him. He felt ANGER~ “How long, LORD, will the wicked,how long will the wicked be jubilant?”(Psalm 94:3) He felt SADNESS~ “My tears have been my foodday and night...” (Psalm 42:3) He felt FEAR~ “When I am afraid,I put my trust in YOU” (Psalm 56:3). He felt LONELINESS~ “Turn to me

I REMEMBER my first kiss with my hubby, before he was my hubby. Oh I knew that I wanted him to be hubby, from the moment I laid eyes on him at our college, so when I received my first kiss from him, 46 years ago today, it is a day that is tattooed on my heart forever. I remember the outfit I was wearing, and I remember his Jackson Brown t-shirt that he was wearing, that I still have tucked away. Why do I REMEMBER this day? Because it was the beginning of a beautiful life, a

I never realized what I used to do until GOD UNLEASHED me from what I used to do~ CONTROL! I would try to CONTROL my life by doing everything I could do, planning PERFECTLY ahead of time, thinking through every possible scenerio that could possibly happen, all in an attempt to protect myself from the possibility of having my heart hurt by others. But what do you do when PERFECT is never PERFECT ENOUGH? Oh, what a never-ending task~ trying to CONTROL something that was never m

You are walking along a PATH, and you think it is the right PATH until you trip over a ROCK. You didn't PLAN to trip over a ROCK. Does that mean you were walking along the wrong PATH? What if THIS PATH is the RIGHT PATH that just happened to have a ROCK, that you just happened to trip over? Every PATH has smooth parts and rough parts and some random ROCKS, but it doesn't mean it is the wrong PATH, or life would be wrong all the time. What if the ROCK was the PLAN? What if

Just because the calendar has said good bye to SUMMER, doesn't mean SUMMER is no longer here. I don't even like writing those words, as I am not a CHANGING seasons kind of a girl. I love my summer. I wear summer year round. I don't even like writing those words, as I am not a CHANGING seasons kind of a girl. I love my summer. I wear summer year round. But I can only wear summer to a point, until snow gets in-between my toes. I can't stop the seasons from CHANGING, as I can't

If GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME & ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD then what about when you are not FEELING GOOD? "Give thanks to the LORD for HE IS GOOD; HIS love endures forever" (Psalm 107:1) If GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME & ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD then what about when your CIRCUMSTANCES are not so GOOD? "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal

WWJD~ What Would JESUS DO when faced with __________. But also WWJS~ What Would JESUS SAY when faced with ___________. But also. WWJB~ Who Would JESUS BE when faced with _____________. What if, just what if we begin our week with a BE~ATITUDE, just like JESUS, and began with doing the LITTLE things that are the BIG things. This brings me back when my hubby was leaving the house, and I told him to pretend that he was carrying a RED BALLON. And you can just imagine the express

I remember when I had a dream about a verse in the bible. Yup. I am a bible geek. It was "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). I kept questioning the word "PERFECT", and yes I am a questioner! For the word PERFECT was my mantra growing up, as I BELIEVED that if I tried to be PERFECT and even try to look PERFECT, then I would be LOVED PERFECTLY. For when a child doesn't feel LOVED, then what does a child do? TRY HARDER to be PERFECT. Yet

Once Upon a Time you had your very first day of school. Remember buying the school supplies~ the pencils, crayons, rulers, and notebooks, all fresh and NEW? This was my favorite time of the school year. The best part was when you got home from the store and looked at all of your purchases. Starting NEW, BUT then school starts. What brought you great pleasure now takes on a whole NEW role, for the notebooks become homework, the pencil tips become dull, and the crayons crack.