Control Relinquished

During my growing-up years, my family ate almost every evening meal together. With the exception of field hockey season, marching band season, and jobs that came during our teenage years, I look back and cherish those family dinners. Sometimes we would just sit and chat longer than needed, sharing details about our individual days. Sunday afternoon lunches were the best...no hurried agenda or schedule to keep. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that my dad was in the ministry since I was 11 years old or the fact that people visited more "back then". But, I do remember many, many meals eaten around the table of a host I didn't know well or having visiting pastors gathered around our dinner table. To this day, I can still visualize those homes and the special bond of friendships that were formed by those intimate mealtimes. About a year ago, I began reflecting on those special memories and began longing for my children to have some of those same experiences....

I recently decided, after 15 years of parting my hair on the left side of my head, I am going to start parting it on my right. I thought it would be a simple switch to make, but, like changing any habit, it was much harder than I realized. I never thought it would be so difficult to "train" hair to lay a different way! Even after applying extra hair product, blow drying, styling...it still felt like a bad hair day. It reminded me of those morning-after-a-drastic-haircut days...when the cut just wasn't styling the way you had pictured and you want to make a desperate quick-trip to the salon again! I thought Day 2 would be better. It was...until I stepped outside in the gusty March winds. Then my hair looked like total chaos! It's as if my hair was rebelling against both the old and new way of styling and chose to lay flat and limp across my face! I almost quit; it just seemed to be taking too much effort to make this hardly-worthwhile change! But then I felt some ...

Exactly three years ago, the adoption of our middle son, J, was finalized. Today, I can't help reflecting on our 19 months of foster care and the journey towards adoption. Reading through my journal, I am reminded again how faithful God was in the midst of a roller coaster ride of emotions and challenges. I felt led to share a miracle story that few people know, other than our close family and friends. When this took place, J was 7 months old and we were concerned at his lack of eye control.  During his attempts to focus on objects, his eyes would rapidly twitch back and forth. The pediatrician diagnosed him with a hereditary condition called nystagmus. Although, it's not really treatable, glasses often help the issue. So, we pursued a pediatric eye specialist. The eye doctor agreed with the diagnosis and commented that sports, like baseball, would be very difficult for him due to the amount of eye focusing needed to hit a ball with a bat. He then proceeded to dilate...

Last week I got a call from a wonderful, Christian business...offering me a part-time job. I wasn't in the market for a job at all, so the phone call came as a complete surprise! As a stay-at-home mom there are definitely days I crave adult interaction or the ability to contribute financially to our family. So this opportunity seemed like a dream come true!  In my humanness and selfishness, I wanted to accept it immediately, but I knew I had to take some time to discuss my decision with my husband and with God. I spent some time with God shortly after the call and He led me to Romans 8 and some of the passages started jumping out at me. "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit  is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to Go...

My kids are currently obsessed with trains. Their favorite TV shows to watch are Chuggington and Thomas the Train. We go to the library to get books and color...and they play with the train set! We drive through Reading and they are ecstatic if they get to see a train. It's so cute to watch their wide-eyed interest in any type of "choo-choo." My 2 year old son, P, is finally speaking on a regular basis. It did not take him long to identify Gordon on Thomas the Train. However, P does not call him Gordon...he calls him "De De De" because, if you're familiar with the show, Gordon is ALWAYS saying, "Oh, the indignity!" Gordon is a proud engine who pulls the Express Line. He becomes very grumpy when things aren't done to his high standard.It's amazing to me that even a 2 year old can pick up on this expression and temperament that Gordon often portrays. An area in my life that God has recently been challenging me is the area of the tongue. I...

I love this picture. To some of you it may just look like a grandma holding her grandchild. But, when I look at this, I see a bundle of miracles.  The baby is my nephew, born just 3 days ago. His life is nothing short of miraculous! A year ago, doctors were telling my sister and her husband that they would probably not be able to conceive a child without medical intervention. Discouraged, they shared their journey with our church and asked for prayer. Days before starting treatments, my sister received a phone call from a nurse. She stated that they could not continue with the planned treatments...because she was pregnant!!  After a few complications at the end of her pregnancy, doctors wanted my sister to be induced at 37 weeks. The induction was progressing slowly, when suddenly, the baby's heart rate dropped and doctors could not get it to rise again. They whisked my sister into the OR and my nephew was born minutes later. The doctors indicated that it was a miracle t...