Westwoods

  It's good to be home. It's been a long time coming with all the trips and weddings. I kept landing and repacking for the next thing. Since February I've been living like that. And in the weeks at home I've been in the garden and at the sewing machine or watering the flowers God provided for the weddings. And don't forget the food prep and canning and freezing and hosting events. Needless to say, it's been a lot. A lot of "a lot" is good and fun. Blessings and praise...as well as grieving and loss of what was... but that thought is only briefly landed on. Like a bee on a flower. Mostly it's blessing and praise because that's where the goodness of God is best noticed. I got home to a mattress still leaning up against the bedroom wall because we replaced the old and are now waiting on the people that want it to come pick it up. There's a chair also taking up prime real estate in my bedroom because we did a living room shuffle yesterday. Whic

Because confidence is only quiet when it is anchored in Jesus. It's the kind that doesn't have to figure out why something happened as it did, and who didn't get it right. It isn't busy fixing things, straightening crooked pictures, fluffing pillows just so, or joining someone in their drama or extra noise of the day. Quiet confidence is able to know a thing and not have to explain or expound on it because you gave it to God Almighty and now trust the work of the Holy Spirit to do its work.  Without any more "help" from you. Goodness, we need this today in politics and churches and in homes. What if we prayed about it....(bring it before the throne of grace)...much much more than we talked about it? How important is it in God's eyes, for you to know and share your thoughts and opinions to others? What I think or feel doesn't change who God is and what He will do. We better be praying a whole bunch more.  Quiet Confidence in Jesus is hope and trust and

   I sat in this chair at the lake yesterday and pondered HOPE. I don't know how to explain it. Hope. It is ELUSIVE to those who see things 'realistically and practically'. Often these are the two words that pop into a conversation one might have concerning an especially hopeless situation.  If you are in what feels like an ongoing difficult situation remember these facts:  Hope is mentioned 129 times in the Bible.  49 times are directly from the original Hebrew.  It is mentioned alongside faith and love and other virtues like peace and joy.  God is a God of hope. Romans 15:13 NIV May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. To me it seems like too many times we are like Garrison Keillor's Lutheran hometown. If ever someone is too positive or happy or joyful they are due for a reality shock and probably not living in victory. Because being a good Christian makes you cautious

  Be ok with the things of life that give you: A lump in the throat because you can't have what you wanted ...You put in so much effort and it still blew apart...You have daily unanswered prayers. A gnawing in the pit of the stomach for more. More rest. More peace. Answers. Light and Joy. Longings. Cravings. Hunger. Learn to sit with these uncomfortable things. Not for punishment or pity or exaltation or attention. But for wonder. What does God want to fill me with if I turn all those things over to Him each time they appear. For praise...turn your eyes upon Jesus. For trust...The Mighty Right hand of God. He goes before you. He is doing a work we don't have eyes on. He does tho. Trust Him to fight your battles for You. ******************************************* It's not fun. It's not easy. It takes practice. But here's a thing I'm learning...If you can be strong and very courageous, moving forward in faith, and also by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can r

  My sister once time told me, she hates when writers talk about their writing or their blockages and inspirations. Every since then, I have been sensitive to not doing this. Mostly, because I didn't want to be on her bad writer list. But also because I kind of agreed with her. There is nothing worse than hearing someone express thoughts as if its a real problem and no one cares. It's just noise in an already noisy world. Anyway, I am a writer. I know this because I write about everything. I write to sort out life and why people behave as they do and what makes sense or doesn't make sense. One important lesson for a writer, is to not take too much advice from non-writers. Don't let others' opinions dissuade you from creativity, character growth, and from expanding your art-form. Keep after wording correctly. I am drawn to teaching as well. I am eager to learn so I expect others are too. If I have learned and relearned a very important lesson, I feel the deep need to

  So far today... I made a pot of coffee and turned the dryer back on because those bathroom rugs did not finish drying. I let the dog out and refilled his water. I remade the bed because there are only a few hours in be-tween of sleep being taken there. (Bruce's night job) I made breakfast...bacon, eggs, and toast, for Bruce and Shaunti. I drank several cups of coffee while reading a little in Deut. Psalm and Gal. somehow they all once again have a common thread. One of the old law and obedience and the other the new law and the spirit living in us...no longer bound to the old but made new in Christ...still obedience but walking after the spirit...no longer serving the flesh. Wrote in my journal for a minute. Got distracted with something. Can't remember what. Filled the dishwasher, washed off counters, and started a load of laundry. Ate breakfast and placed an Amazon order of sandals, a belt, and Corelle dishes. Put silverware in my Amazon Cart for Shaunti for later... Let th

Something I have learned after miles and miles of marriage is that God often improves on what seems like failure to me. After our door was unlocked and we were safely in our car, headed down the highway, we felt exhaustion slowly seeping into our bones. The miles seemed to creep by. But we were thankful that the roads were good and we were heading home once more. Throughout the afternoon, Google maps informed us of road closures due to snow storms, but all the roads we chose for our route still looked good.  So onward we drove. North into Colorado, a scenic route we had never taken before. Occasionally we saw drifting snow beginning to form on the edge of the highway. Tumble weed rolled across the road countless times. Even elk and coyotes were on the move. Things took on an ominous feel shortly after we entered a small town late in the afternoon and began looking for our new road. We only got about 500 yards down our new route when abruptly the road stopped. The snow bank covering the