Give Them Up

I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth
Isaiah 43:6 (NIV)

I have not been to the ends of the earth, but I know what it feels like to be at the end of myself. I know what it feels like to be held back.

Hear God saying this to that thing that is holding you:

Give them up and do not hold them back!

Give them up, rejection
Do not hold them back, pain
Give them up, sickness
Do not hold them back, insecurity
Give them up, sleeplessness
Do not hold them back, depression
Give them up, anxiety
Do not hold them back, fear!

Chains, Be Broken!

Release My Sons and Daughters!

Wish Upon A Star

Do you make a wish when you see a shooting star? We were sitting out on the patio last week, and I saw three meteors blaze across the sky. The second was glorious. I was at just the right angle and I couldn’t contain myself! I clapped and cheered so loudly that I got shushed. It WAS almost midnight; but seriously, our neighbors are not that close. I can’t imagine I disturbed anyone! It took me a minute to get over my shushing.

Then I realized as amazing and brilliant as that star was, the whole thing was over in the blink of an eye. As hard as it is to grasp at times - that is how my life is in the scope of eternity. (Click to Tweet) The Bible calls it a vapor. I want to shine brightly in this one opportunity I get to live.

I saw three falling stars so that gives me three wishes, right? I’d like to bargain for a few more…..

These are my wishes for any star-gazer who might happen to see my life:

-I hope that they know there is something beyond their day to day existence, there is a great big world, and a great big Creator of it all.
-I hope that they see some of His beauty in me.
-I hope my life points people to God, that He is glorified.
-I hope people can learn from my lessons learned.
-I hope I share the journey well.
-I hope they make their own wishes.
-I hope to inspire ideas, creativity and dreams.
-I hope they don’t compare their own brief moment with any other.
-I hope they know, in the infinite expanse of space and time there is plenty of room for us all to shine.
-I hope that as my light shines, there is less darkness in their world.
-I hope that my life would bring a smile to someone’s face and a little joy to their heart.
-And I hope that if they cheer, no one shushes them!

Special thanks to thesilentroom.com for use of your spectacular photograph!

Bruised

"DON'T TOUCH MY HURT TOE!" I yelled to my husband while we were tubing on the Comal River last week. We were trying to keep our little party together, grabbing fingers, toes and whatever we could find to form a tubing train. I was a little jumpy about my dear toe.


I had tripped on a light saber the week before. I twisted an ankle, banged up my forearm and most likely broke my number two toe thanks to a fearless but rather careless Jedi. Doesn't he know better than to leave his weapons in the middle of the kitchen floor? Our boys had a friend over so they unpacked their arsenal of air soft rifles, swords, Nerf guns and light sabers. My toe is just another casualty of being a mother of sons. Small price to pay for getting to live with all this action!

When my husband came home, I showed him my toe. It was all black and blue and broken-looking. He was sweet and sympathetic, and I was thankful to be bruised. My toe hurt like hell. I was glad it looked just as bad. When you are hurting like that, it's nice to have something to show for it. Proof.


Back on the Comal, David gently held my foot well below that troubled toe and my thoughts floated back to the early years of our marriage. How nice it would have been to be able to show him the bruises on my soul. To be able to point and say, "I'm hurt right here, so please just stay away from this spot." It would have explained every time I jumped when he got too close.


I'm reminded by my husband's tenderness that our Savior is tender toward the broken. He sees all our bruises, even those buried deep inside. Like Isaiah prophesied "A bruised reed he will not break." I am grateful for His compassion and for the gentle way He cares for my soul.

Shoreline Women's Blog

I'm excited to share the launch of a Shoreline Women's Blog located at the Shoreline Church website under Women's Ministry. A group of us girls from the church will be contributing and it is sure to encourage and inspire!

You can read the very first post, a re-worked entry I wrote a while back about personal devotions. And you can even subscribe to an RSS feed already!

I'm not sure I'll ever get this spiritual discipline "right". I feel like really good Christians must wake up with the sun to pray and study their Bibles every day. If that is the definition of a really good Christian, then I am not one.

I love my quiet times with the Lord but they seem to happen more randomly: late at night, in the afternoon, in the minivan and yes, even in the morning.

It is good to remember that God does not operate only in the central standard time zone. And that He never sleeps! He is always speaking, and I AM getting better at tuning in throughout my day.