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I Blew It…And Yet
On a recent Sunday morning, my husband and I left our house at 7:30 a.m. to attend worship. Normally there is little traffic at that hour. At the stop light to get out of our neighborhood we saw emergency lights and a couple of police officers stopping traffic. I knew we had a race that Sunday, actually a triathlon, but had no idea that every single way out of our subdivision would be blocked…for 30 solid minutes! The longer we sat there, the madder I got. How could they expect us to just sit there and not move until every single biker went by in front of us and then…
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When Social Media Isn’t “Social”
Have you ever been misunderstood, criticized or even attacked on social media? It’s painful, is’t it? It’s frustrating when someone assumes they know your intent better than you do. Without hearing the sound of our voice, a person doesn’t really know how we said what we said. Often we think that our own opinion is the only one that is correct and assume we know what is best for someone else. I was on the opposite side of this coin recently. Someone asked a question whether we’d ever had a man in our lives who has encouraged our leadership as a woman. I responded with the name of a former…
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Daily Nurture
I love this time of year and being able to have color on my deck! I spend a LOT of time out here and though I’m not a great gardener, I love flowers. During this season, I must water these daily, even twice a day on a couple if it’s really hot and dry. If not…they look like this! You can see what happens if I neglect to nurture these beautiful flowers daily. It also remind me of what happens in my spiritual life if I neglect to nurture it continually. In John 15 we see the image of being attached to the vine and being severed from the vine.…
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Teamwork That Works!
We have quite a menagerie behind our house that includes deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds, ground hogs and sometimes a fox. So we enjoy watching nature at work before our eyes. This past week I was working in my home office and heard my husband Pat say, “Well, that’s something I’ve never seen before!” When I asked what he’d seen, he said it was a squirrel scampering off with a peach in his mouth. Our neighbors have a peach tree that we have watched grow for several years, so that squirrel found himself a treasure. We’d noticed that although there had only been peaches hanging ON the tree and none on…
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No Rest for the Weary?
Ever feel this way? Ever say this in pride? I have and I am wrong. Now, one thing our Yorkie, #MoDawg, (as he’s listed on my social media!) is good at since puppyhood…is rest! He truly needs no help with this. And I could add quite a few more pictures to this post! In fact, every time I talk to him, he yawns just to prove he’s really tired! But humans tend to struggle much more in the area of rest. My pastor shared recently on this topic from his own experience with busyness, even for good things, which led to major health issues. God got his attention and is…
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Doing Battle
I’m mad and I’m doing battle! Last weekend I got really ticked at the enemy! I know better. I know his tactics. But sometimes I still fall prey to his lies. Heading out to teach at a weekend women’s retreat I was not at the airport long before seeing my flight was going to be a little delayed. Not a problem, right? I have an hour at my connecting airport to still make it, don’t I? But, this is Atlanta, so, well, hmmmm. When the delay grew, my fear was that there was not another flight into the smaller city where I was to arrive. So, I asked the gate…
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WHOSE Plan?
How many of you are list makers? You like a plan and you like to stick with it? You set out the day with YOUR plan and check off each item as it is completed. I get that. How many of you, like me, often make this plan without consulting with our Creator? Who knows the plan and purpose of our day (and life!) better than He does? Sometimes I move into my plan without remembering this! As I look back over many years of ministry, I see times I pushed my plan through at any cost. Then I remember those times when things weren’t going according to my plan,…
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I Wonder If….
If I am training for a marathon, I will not only prepare my body physically for the race, but I will also learn from others who have run races before me. If I want to run well and make it across the finish line strong and on two feet, I will prepare long and hard ahead of time. Otherwise…well, you know. I will quit early in the race or I will crawl across the finish line, half dead! I actually understand this because I ran a 3 mile race MANY years ago. I trained hard and I still struggled to make it across the line without throwing up! So, in…
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Pruning for Greater Harvest
When we lived in Tyler, Texas, my parents moved close by and had a home on 10 acres. This land included a peach orchard of about 60 trees. My dad was so excited…then we had peaches! But he saw that many of the limbs were so heavy with peaches, they broke. He learned that you must prune the trees back so they can produce healthier and a more abundant amount of peaches. I have had several Knockout roses in my yard, and for years, I’d enjoy some blooms but I never cut them back. I’d see my neighbors huge bushes full of blooms. Finally I decided to pinch off dead…
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Strength as We Mature
If you haven’t read the other posts in this series, you can read those here: (1), (2), and (3). This post is a follow up and the final post in this series. I’m very encouraged by the church trend predictions from Carey Nieuwhof 10 Predictions about the Future Church and Shifting Attendance Patterns especially these two: If this is true, are we ready as church members and as disciplemakers to serve selflessly? Do we just continue to do Bible study after Bible study without our lives being transformed as a result of what we are studying? Are we leading women’s Bible studies in this way? If so, it’s time for…
