The Mind “You can’t stop a bird from flying overhead, but you can prevent it from building a nest in your hair.” You can tell from my author photo, that I’m no longer near the teenage years. However, this is a statement that I recall my Sunday School Teacher saying when I was a teenager. I’ve thought about it many times throughout my life. Our days, unlike my teenage years, are packed with news from unlimited technology sites. I probably don’t have to tell you that much of the information shared on these sites is completely false. One quote I end up having to tell students every year is, “Don’t…
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Clean Ourselves Up and Out! Part 1
I, like many of you, tried to start eating healthy on January 1st. Unfortunately, I, also like many of you, failed miserably! Why? I failed because…well I asked God to help me and then I went to search for his answer in the Bible. Wouldn’t you know it! The very first verse I turned to was… Man shall not live by bread alone. I’ve got proof! I need my fried foods and sweets! It’s Matthew 4:4! Ever so quickly, I arose from his holy word and began to happily eat whatever I wanted. I hadn’t stopped eating junk until today! Now, if this sounds silly to you, you are one…
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There’s Not Just Ten Commandments!
If I asked you to, you could probably list all (or almost all) of the Ten Commandments. Just for fun, you might want to grab a pen and see if you can list them all this very minute…or maybe not right now, right? We Christians feel really good about ourselves when we can mention that we are abiding by those Ten Commandments. However, we forget to stop and consider that the Ten Commandments in which God gave to Moses are not all the commandments that he has given to us. How many times has he asked us to go, to wait, to listen, to be still, to stop, to turn…
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It’s Dark – Be the Light!
My husband thinks he’s sooooo funny! On Saturday, I had so many things I wished to accomplish. I wanted to clean out my kitchen cabinets and possibly one or two closets. Yet, when I looked out the window at 6:00 p.m., it was so dark that I lost the urge to clean! It’s like my mind was confused and tried to convince me that I should be going to bed. Being disheartened, I messaged my husband to complain, “I hate the darkness!” He, ever so quickly and sarcastically messaged back, “Turn on the light.” Wait what? I wanted…I truly NEEDED compassion! I needed him to tell me that daylight would…
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A Recipe for 2021
Many people refer to 2020 as the worst year of their lives. By all accounts, it may have been. There WAS a shortage of toilet paper you know! In all seriousness, I’m sure some people felt like it was their worst year because they lost a loved one, maybe more, to Covid. Others may have lost their jobs and had a hard time feeding their families. Oddly enough, at the same time, some professions required their workers to be profoundly overworked, exposed, and exhausted. Those who didn’t work were hid away in their homes both day and night dealing with moody spouses or the fact that they had no spouse…
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You Got The Next Minute!
Ugh!!! Lord, I’ve failed again! It’s just January 4th and I’ve already broken my diet (What? I got really, really hungry!), quit exercising (Yah, you know I just don’t have the energy that I used to.), failed to pray daily, (I fell asleep a few times before I remembered!), and I’ve not been faithful to read my Bible daily. (Again, I fell asleep before I remembered.) If this sounds like you, don’t let Satan trick you into thinking the whole year is lost! You don’t have to wait until January 2022 to make a fresh start! Perhaps you had a strong desire to do what is right when you made…
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Our Last Day Together
It’s one of those days that happen, when later people ask you, “What were you doing the day Elvis Presley died?” or “What were you doing on September 11th, 2001?” I don’t think I will ever forget March 13th, 2020. At the time, I had no clue the impact it would have on my life or the lives of my students. It was just another day of hustle and bustle in the classroom. However, looking back on the conversations of that day, I get “chill bumps.” I remember standing in front of the classroom trying to convince my students how important it was for them to get into ”high gear”…
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A Scavenger Hunt!
Reflection is a great tool! Not only does it help us to self-assess in order to go forward in life as a better person, it also helps us to appreciate fond memories. In addition, it shows us how God has directed our steps throughout life. Now that we who are mainly confined to our homes because of the Coronavirus are getting so bored, I thought it would be a great time to go on a reflective scavenger hunt! For those of you on the front lines battling the Coronavirus, God bless you and thank you! I know you don’t have time for such activities right now, but I pray you…
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The World in Time-Out
He knows the number of hairs on our heads, though the number changes often, He counts the stars, and He knows how many grains of sand are on each beach. Why…because they are purposefully made. Everything God does is on purpose! Many times we shrug our shoulders and say we’ve had the worst day ever, when God has actually allowed those things to happen because He knew they would protect us from things that were much worse. We must learn to trust God. He knows what he is doing. Period. Is God working within the boundaries of the Caronavirus? He has never not been working within our lives as individuals,…
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Faith Under His Wings
If you keep cutting corners, you’ll end up with a circle! My son, Isaac, just gifted me with a delightful dose of his daily wisdom. More times than not, his bits of knowledge are hilarious. However, today this piece of enlightenment seemed to mesh quite well with my blog thoughts. The children of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years. Most able-bodied people could have walked the distance in 11 to 14 days! You might ask, “Heaven’s to Betsy, what took them so long?” I can explain, they were cutting corners and “walking in circles,” so to speak! The Israelites kept groaning and giving God reasons why they couldn’t…
