Rethinking Gratitude

New Beginnings: Grace, Growth, and Gratitude

Behold, I am doing a new thing;     now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness     and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 ESV God is in the business of doing new things in our lives. Why? For our good and His glory. So that this world…
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How My Daughter Taught Me Gratitude

She fell and something snapped. He came running wild-eyed into the kitchen. “She hurt her arms. She’s screaming…L,” his eyes round as saucers as he pointed out back. Her daddy ran and something in my heart snapped too…I waited, I walked, and met them bare footed in the damp grass. Mud covered one arm of…
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Overwhelmed By Giving

The task seemed monumental to me. God gave Moses specific instructions about how to build the Tent of Meeting. The Israelites would need about a ton of gold, 3.75 tons of silver, 2.5 tons of bronze, special cloths, embroidery work, jewels, hides, and more (See Exodus 36-38). Remember these are the folks God just freed…
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Eleven Years Ago

Eleven years ago today I had my hair done in an updo and I put on a white dress.I walked down an aisle arm-in-arm with my dad. Broad smile plastered to my face and a smaller one painted on his. He had to give me away. Eleven years ago. I stood at the front of…
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Giving Thanks…

Hello friends. Today I am featured on Dawn Aldrich’s blog. You can check out my post here. If you are visiting from Dawn’s blog so glad you stopped by.   My alarm goes off. I roll over and hit snooze. Again. Closing my eyes I welcome the blackness of sleep. In what seems seconds my…
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Where is the Joy?

A pink faux wool coat lays discarded on the floor. {In 100-plus degree heat the question remains why was it removed from the closet at all?} A battalion of green plastic army men surround the pink coat as if it is their next conquest. Pillows from the couches lay helter-skelter while a trail of books…
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Perseverance

I am just like her. Maybe that is why this behavior grates at my last nerve. I do it too. I arch my back or run off when something become the least bit difficult. I want it all to be easy…If I might fail or if something is difficult I have been known to not…
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Fighting the Flesh

My heart is tight. Frustration mounts. Things are not going how I think they should go. I feel overwhelmed. I am not focused on the thing God wants me to do, but on all the things that I am not doing. I doubt. I struggle. I wonder. I freak-out. I calculate what-ifs and borrow trouble…
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My Husband, My Love

Just a smile from him and my knees go weak. He holds my hand and I lose my breath. He still makes my heart go pitter-patter. His voice calm and firm is the harmony that enriches my life song. I am better because of Him. He is God’s precious gift to me. My husband, my…
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Giving Thanks

I got home last night after 10 PM and I my body felt tired, but my mind was full of all kinds of God-stories that happened during the weekend. My sweet husband listened as I poured out story after story. I plan to tell you about how God worked in this conference over the next…
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Slowing Down-ish

The world may be forever changed. Seriously. Two things happened this weekend that may change the way atoms react. 1. I said that Mark Cuban was gracious. FYI Mark Cuban is the owner of the Mavericks 2011 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP team. I love basketball and I lived in Dallas for a while. So the Mavs are…
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Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Last week was extremely busy. Three programs, one field trip, my in-laws came to visit, and field day at school. I was running, running, running. When days are busy I don’t take good care of myself. I don’t sleep when I should, I don’t eat what I should. I begin to run on empty. Spiritually…
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Why, the Answer, and Hope

She did it again. She asked the hard question. The one I am never ready for and it came from her eight-year-old mouth. I took a bite, answered a question from her younger sister, and collected my thoughts. I looked into her eyes. Those eight-year-old blue eyes. She was the one. The one who came…
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How to T.H.I.N.K.

My eyes open and I check my phone. 5:30 AM, only about four hours of sleep. I lay there in my top bunk hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. Sleep doesn’t come. In an effort not to wake the seven other women in my room, I attempt to silently shimmy down my…
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The Day After Easter

Do you ever wonder what the day after Easter was like? The mountain top experience Jesus is alive, but do you wonder if the disciples doubt? Did Thomas’ doubts take seed in the others who saw Jesus? Did they begin to think maybe it was something we all ate? I wonder. I know I am…
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The Trees and Me and Something Free for You

Sycamore trees fascinate me. We have several small ones in our front yard. Until about a week ago they held tight to their brown dead leaves – leaves that were once bright and green. Early last fall they turned a beautiful orange color and then they turned brown and drab. Those stubborn trees held tight…
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What a Break Does to Me

Last week was Spring Break. I loved it. I loved sleeping in (sort of you know kids don’t really ever sleep in), I enjoyed having friends over (tremendously), and I got to see my family (haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving). Oh, but my body prefers routine. I was unable or unwilling to get in bed…
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Rejection and Then Again…

It came. The e-mail. The one I have been waiting over seven months for. The e-mail from the publisher. You know the publisher who accepted my book proposal last July at the SheSpeaks (writing/speaking) conference. Yes that e-mail. The one in the first few weeks that I waited with bated breath to come. I would…
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Amazed by God

Don’t ask me why, but I am still amazed at God. I guess that is good, but it seems I should expect Him to do something unexpected. Yet I am forever amazed. What has so amazed me this time? That He would use me. Don’t get me wrong. I think I am pretty smart, I…
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