Fear wears many masks. I used to think it was a one-dimensional kind of thing. A nail-biting, knee-knocking kind of reaction to anything that made me nervous or afraid. But fear that doesn’t warn us away from harm is not of God. It’s darkness. A tool of our enemy. And a smart enemy doesn’t announce his attack before he strikes. …
In part one, I told you all about how those pesky Disney princess messed me up, as well as diving into how perfectly unhappy I became trying to be, well, perfect. Am I the only recovering perfectionist out there? I left you dangling with this question: now that we recognize the problem, and see what causes it, what will we …
The Disney princesses messed me up. I confess I had quite a fascination with them when I was growing up (after I finished my Princess Leia phase, that is). I was going to be as beautiful as Aurora and I was going to have a grand adventure like Belle. And I was going to be a singer like Ariel. Or …
I’m a beautiful mess this time of year. And I’ve learned that’s okay. For years I lost precious sleep, valuable hair and added circles under my eyes to achieve the perfect Christmas. For my kids. For my husband. For my church. For my own ridiculous ideals. Christmas is the mother ship for us perfectionist types. Correction, recovering perfectionists, because that’s …
Perfectionism can be the sneakiest of beasts, bleeding not only the pages of our own stories but marring the chapters of our children and grandchildren’s stories as well. Not long ago, I had the privilege of visiting a beautiful riding ranch for children with disabilities in northern Arkansas. This equestrian center is set up like a miniature western town, complete …
Jean size. That dreaded number on the scale. Checking account balances. Facebook friends. Instagram and Twitter followers. Awards and degrees. Points scored by your child at his last game. Job performance evaluations. So many numbers and none of them are good or bad when rattled off in isolation. The only time we have a problem with any of the above …
“Tara, why can’t you look me in the eye?” My friend’s question sliced to the quick. We had been chatting for over forty minutes and the topic had drifted from the mundane to more personal waters. Personal makes me uncomfortable. When I know someone is peeling back layers and taking a peek underneath the mask I work so hard to …
The Arkansas State Police is a happening place to be, especially in the motor vehicle office and even more so from one to four when they are administering driving tests. I recently took a family member to fill out some paperwork, which provided me plenty of time to sit in the waiting room and watch people coming and going. …
Jesus wasn’t calling. Okay, maybe not. Obviously, Jesus is still in the calling business. Hang with me here and I’ll do my feeble best to try to explain my muddled thoughts. I have to admit it was quite a shock to realize all those years I spent doing and running, spinning my wheels and frantically trying to be a good, …
I’m not a big believer in life verses. It’s too easy to manipulate a verse from the Bible and make it what you want it to be while ignoring context and purpose. But I do enjoy choosing a word for the year. Each year I pray over a word God may have for me. Last year’s word was Sinai. I …