This is the month many of us set aside to contemplate our blessings…or so we say. We see social media posts about gratitude, make holiday plans with our families and enjoy an abundance of rich, decadent food. I fear we’re choking on our wealth, empty inside from the striving to have more. Several years ago, I spoke at a woman’s retreat in Belize. The women who attended came from poor villages—many of their houses made from nothing more than hastily constructed plywood and tarps. The Read More
Blog
Garage Sales for Smiles
I sat in my rickety lawn chair, waiting for folks to walk up our driveway and buy our old treasures and trinkets as part of our neighborhood garage sale. Things were slow. Granted, I didn’t have much to put out, but still, I’d hoped to make enough to put a dent in our Christmas budget. Sighing, I watched another car drive past. Our cat purred, rubbing around my legs as I sat and waited. At least she was getting plenty of attention so early on Read More
When Love Redeems the Ugly Stepsister
Redemption is a beautiful thing. There is something, dare I say, romantic about someone with power and position plucking a nobody from the crowd and claiming them as their own. Perhaps that’s why I’ve so frequently heard the Gospel compared to a fairy tale story. A king sweeping the lonely girl away to a land where all her dreams come true. Not long ago, I heard someone compare what God has done to the story of Cinderella. I understand the gist of this kind of Read More
The Problem with Being Nice: the 30 Day Drop the Gossip Challenge
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about avoidance. Trying to avoid the chocolate calling for me in the pantry. Avoiding too much screen time. Germs. Crowds. The scale. Overextending. Traffic. Snakes and spiders. The news. Avoiding staying up too late because I just can’t seem to put the book down. What I’ve slowly come to realize is most of these are physical aggravators. Oh, indulgence in any of them can affect my emotions, possibly even harm me. Yet while we tend to focus on external Read More
Monday Prayers for Afghanistan…and our own apathy
Lord, We come to Your feet, praising You for being the God You are–holy, all-powerful, King, and friend. Father, You hear the cries of Your children in Afghanistan and all over the world. You hold them in their darkest moments, when terror squeezes the breath from their chests. Be their peace. Be their hope. Give them courage. I ask, in the name of Jesus, to blind the enemy as You did in the days of Elisha. Confuse their plans and rescue Your children from danger. Read More
What “Euphoria” Really Means
I was getting a bit bored, driving through soggy rice fields on my way to a prison in Arkansas, preparing to speak to inmates on a drizzly Sunday morning. Maybe it was the lack of scenery that made me notice it. Maybe it’s because it was the only building around for miles other than a few silos. But when I saw the building perched on the side of the road, I shook my head. There in big, bold print, a sign advertised: Euphoria. Now, if this Read More
Relentless: How to Never Give Up
“Oh, come on!” I chuckled to myself as I watched my son fight the continual onslaught of surf at South Padre Island. For the past week we had lived in the sand, walking down to the beach each morning before plunging into the cold salt water. Laughing. Playing. But this morning, my little man was struggling. The tide was a bit harsher, the waves more relentless as he attempted to slide his belly onto the boogie board and swim into deeper water. Unfortunately, just as Read More
Monday Prayers on Fear
Monday Prayer for July 5, 2021
I’m asking our Father to give you joy, peace, and strength for this day. You are loved! ~Tara
The Glove
A glove lay on the table, its yarn soft and clean. It was proud of its red hue, striped with black and white. No knots marred its design. It was perfect. One day, a boy slid his fingers into the little glove. What a surprise! The little glove could move and wiggle, each one of its fingers working together . It flew high and dipped low. It could curl in on itself or stretch as wide as could be. What movement! What power! The little Read More