Linda Miller is a dear friend, ministry supporter, lover of God and a wordsmith extraordinaire. Her poems, reflections and verses have blessed me many times over. I invited her to my blog today and pray you will be blessed by her heart as much as she touches me. As life takes its toll on each of us, we can see …
by Tara Johnson “Great musicians should have only the finest instruments in their homes.” The caustic comment from the piano tuner who had curled up his nose at my old spinet piano has bothered me for fourteen years, though I’ve had a hard time figuring out why. I thought maybe it was the man’s attitude when he entered my home. …
by Tara Johnson Ministry is difficult and no one knows this better than the pastor’s wife. In Part 1, we looked at the God-given talents that make each pastor’s wife unique as well as some of the unrealistic and often damaging expectations that pastor’s wives have placed on their shoulders, whether by church members or themselves. To refresh, some of …
by Tara Johnson In the course of a person’s life, there are a handful of books that leave an indelible impression on their heart, forever stamping them as changed. For me, these books consist of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Embracing Obscurity along with a small, elite group of others I’ll not mention here. Being a writer, I’ve …
by Tara Johnson People are messy and since ministry is all about serving people, ministry is often messy. Forget all the romantic notions you’ve heard about the glories of serving ‘in the Lord’s trenches’. Is it victorious? Sometimes. Is it exhausting? Overwhelmingly so. Is it worth it? Absolutely. But it’s hard work…an uphill climb that will entail the enemy attacking …
by Tara Johnson Recently, my oldest daughter was waxing poetic about the difference between our wants and needs and she prompted an interesting discussion. Bethany, in all her child-like wisdom said, “Mom, did you know our wants are not our needs?” “Yes, I seem to remember hearing something about that.” I smiled and tugged her blonde hair with affection. “So …
by Tara Johnson When planning a wedding, expect that something on your big day will go wrong. After all, that’s the advice everyone gave me when I was planning mine. I, however, wasn’t prepared for the fact that everything would go wrong. Instead of white lace and rice, the wedding resembled more of a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching …
by Tara Johnson “You need to wear your son out.” I blinked slowly, trying to understand what the older woman who had approached me had said, a task made difficult by my son’s screams of temper and my own strangled nerves. I felt frayed. Exhausted. At the end of my rope. The excursion into Walmart was not going well. I’d …
Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in front of my computer, clacking away on some writing projects when I heard the familiar scratching of a bluebird trapped inside my fireplace. My poor little, clueless bluebirds. They seem to make a daily habit of curiously exploring our chimney, only to fall into the fireplace looking dazed and confused. Seeing the brilliant sapphire feathers, …
The other day I had my youngest daughter in Walmart and as soon as she saw the toy section glowing like a beacon to the mother ship, she began tugging my hand and running up ahead of me, dragging me like an anchor behind her. In her eagerness to find the Barbies, she pulled me so hard I was afraid …