Control Relinquished

"You all will fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written: I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered." I have to wonder how those words made Jesus' closest friends, the disciples, feel. Shock...confusion...anger...hurt. Peter responds boldly, "Even if everyone else falls away, I will not. Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." Peter has self-confidence with no boundaries. He's armed and ready with a sword. But little does he know that the prophecies that Jesus spoke of are about to come true. In only a few short hours Peter experiences an intimate Last Supper...praying in the garden, but unable to stay awake...a multitude led by Judas coming to take Jesus away...finds himself striking the ear of the high priest's servant...Jesus healing the servant...and now he's in the courtyard while Jesus is being tried and beaten. Peter has his defenses up. His mind is a blur. His friends are scattered. H...

This is a photo I took the other day to document the ridiculous amount of OPEN cereal boxes in my pantry. Somehow, my rule of 5 open boxes stretched to 10! The annoying fact is most of these are 3/4 empty, with only 1-2 more servings remaining. Someone simply got bored with it and moved on to something better. To prove this exact point, I stuck a brand new, unopened box in the middle. When my kids came for breakfast, even without examining the boxes too closely, they all picked the brand new kind to eat! Ugh!!!! Unfortunately, our culture provides too many options and choices for us. Without realizing it, we have become overstimulated and easily distracted in everything we do. I especially remember this after returning from my 5 month mission term years ago. The first time I went to the grocery store, my eyes hurt with all the choices and my head hurt with all the decisions. Motherhood has also been a game-changer; it's a job where multi-tasking is a necessity! Ther...