The bulletin board in my bedroom glistened with neat rows of race medals meticulously labeled. My identity displayed above where I slept. Thanks be to God for this gift!
Category Archives: Spiritual Growth
Conflict Un-resolution – Part 2: The Lesson
This is the kind of thing that would cause a person to walk away from God and His church. Thankfully my family and I know that people, even pastors, are fallible but God is not.
Conflict Un-Resolution – Part 1: The Fall
The difficulty with Donny built up slowly but then fell down fast, like an eagle swooping down to collect its prey. I was left reeling, in shock, and deeply wounded. My husband, the rock, forged ahead and sought the Lord for how to deal with it.
Hearing God
Connecting with God through listening prayer can be impactful for you, those you know, and those He knows. But it’s not enough for you to only have these conversations. You also need to act on them. What benefit is there to have a talk with God in the presence of His Spirit if you don’t do anything with what He’s told you?
When The Mountain Will Not Break You
The obvious point of the good Samaritan story is that we should love our neighbor, no matter how broken or difficult they are. This story and “The Golden Rule” are well accepted in society as common sense good morals. It’s just good teaching. However, when you look a little deeper, your eyes are opened to the between the lines. I am the robbed, beaten, unconscious, wounded man with nothing left in the world. I’m not good enough for the priest to take notice. I’m too much of a bother for the Levite to take notice. I’m hanging on for dear life and completely helpless.
Homesick Refocused
Lake ripples roll out a lullaby of childhood memories. Full of life, waves sweep me up in their motion. “Shlip, shlip, gulp, shlap” sings the song of my youth. The dinging of the masts in the sleepy marina ring out a melody of memories gone by.
Rebuilding My Life After Sheer Destruction
I wrongly assumed that the rebuilding had to do only with the physical – our business, our finances, the physical needs of our family, our community, my mental health. The physical, yes. But that’s only a small part of it. First the spiritual. If the spiritual isn’t built up, then the strength for the physical is not. It’s all rooted in the spiritual.
Grieving My Scars
I’m grieving my scars
Both inside and out
I’m grieving the losses
That created self doubt
…
Scars are physical, mental, and emotional. It’s ok to grieve them.
The Enduring Leader
A lot of who I am today is because of the belief, values, and characteristics Coach Inglis instilled in me in my 4 years under his coaching. God puts people in your life for a reason. Hold onto those who have made the biggest difference in your life. Tell them!
My Journey in Writing…And Why It Matters To Anyone
The next day I brought my poem to school and something novel happened for my 8 year old self in 1991 where computers were just something you had a class for about 30 minutes per week. My teacher typed up my poem, put a floral border on it, and there it came through her dot-matrix printer. I was so excited. To see MY words on a piece of PRINTED paper! I took pink, blue, purple and green markers and neatly colored the flowers. I rifle through my parent’s basement every time I visit them (which isn’t often these days). Every time I come up empty handed and every time my heart breaks a little more for that lost paper which held my first significant piece of writing in a long journey of growing love for the craft.