13 Hours of Rain

Jingle Bell In preparation for Easter, I marked Lent by thanking God for something every day for forty days. I called it a sacrifice of praise. And for a melancholy introvert such as myself, it was a blessing to practice thankfulness. I am hoping to do the same as I prepare my heart for the Christmas celebrations ahead. I desire to focus on Christ and what He does for me everyday, instead of being overwhelmed by all the things I feel I should do to create positive memories and happy moments for my friends and family. Intentional celebration is awesome! And celebration is necessary to break up the monotony of everyday-ness. Yet celebration can be found in our monotony. After all, happiness is momentary, usually experienced through an event, a person or some item. Joy, rooted in Christ, is everyday and everlasting. Children, I pray that God gifts you JOY this Christmas. I pray that you will not be distracted by the glittery, sparkling materialism that surrounds you. I pray that ...

There will always be someone who is more exceptional than me. Yesterday I came across a website of a local photographer and graphic designer. My heart sank. Her site was amazing, displaying beautiful pictures of families, babies and graduates accompanied with a slick publication describing the perfect photo shoot. I was impressed (and jealous). I realized that I will never be that good at family photography. The competition is too steep and it will take a lot of work to even be a viable option in this town. Other days I bemoan the loss of my childhood dream of becoming an author. I am a decent writer. I can produce eloquent speeches or professional handouts in a short span of time. But to envision a novel, with a believable plot that could engage a diverse audience, is a very daunting task. Truthfully, I don't have the drive to attend writer's conferences and create an online following like Ann Voskamp . I'm kind of lazy and just want to be famous on a first draft. (Or I ...

Daughter, you are learning to read and write. Every week, a list of spelling words comes home along with daily reading. So we read sentences like "The red car is coming." Or "My tower is going up and up." This morning, you asked me to help you write a sentence: "I am getting full." For some reason you added "god" at the end of the sentence to read "I am getting full God." Do I ever pray this way? When I am receiving too much of a good thing, do I admit I am getting stuffed? Rarely. Many of my prayers acknowledge the things or attitudes I don't have. "Dear Lord, please help me through this day because I'm not feeling well. I really need joy and wisdom." Or "Lord, help us with our finances so we can meet all our Christmas gift giving desires with cash." And as I pray for others, I ask for things they need. Health. Money. Wisdom. Hope. Joy. I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with pray...