Control Relinquished

This is a current situation lining our driveway right now; it looks as if one tree has decided it's already fall! A few months ago, we realized our middle tree was suffering and slowly dying. At first, we thought it was some type of bug or disease, but the fact that the other two surrounding trees were unaffected, puzzled us. Finally, as the situation worsened we called out a tree expert and our tree was officially diagnosed with a "girdling root". Basically, it is a root that grows around the trunk instead of out into the surrounding soil. As the root and tree trunk both grow in diameter, the root slowly chokes off the flow of water and nutrients to the tree. Girdling roots often happen underground and are such a gradual problem, that it is often too late to save the tree once it is detected. The sly, subtle death that the girdling root is responsible for reminds me of someone else that prowls around like a lion, looking for someone to d...

Let me introduce you to this kitten, who has quite the miracle story! Approximately 2 weeks ago, someone accidentally hit her with their vehicle. Unbeknownst to the driver, the kitten has lived in the wheel well of her van all this time! Some friends of ours heard meowing coming from the vehicle as they left from VBS this week and their son was able to coax the kitten out. The trauma she faced in the last 2 weeks has cost her an eye and the tendency to go to vehicles, since she called one home for so long.  Our friends left for vacation this week and asked if our kids would have interest in caring for their newly rescued pet. My little Jude has been loving on and caring for this kitten in every spare moment of his days.  We weren't sure if the true owner named her, but Jude decided he wants to call her "Sarah" for the week. I was curious the meaning of the name he chose and was shocked to realize Sarah means "Princess". At first glance, an injured,...

One area I have been challenged and growing in my spiritual life is becoming better at being in constant communication with God throughout my day. I'm learning that God loves when we learn to be so in tune with Him, that speaking to Him becomes a natural and everyday part of our lives. When my day is focused completely around Him, my eyes are opened to how He is moving and doing miracles all around me! I am also more in tune to the Holy Spirit's prompting to encourage and impact individuals I come in contact with. I know how my spirit is often encouraged when I hear others' testimonies of how God moves in their daily experiences, so I thought I would share three instances where God showed me He cares about the small details in my life recently. I remember being challenged by a speaker to involve God, even in our shopping. Last week, I had a few kid-less hours before a meeting and decided to take a trip to the mall for some swimsuit shopping. I decided to go with lo...

In this technological day in age, sadly, it's not uncommon to deal with jeopardized credit cards, hacked accounts, and a fear of stolen identities. I, personally, have dealt with this annoying reality and fallen victim to these predators more than once. My husband and I decided to protect ourselves with a subscription called LifeLock. Basically, it monitors both of our identities and notifies us of any breach or suspicious activity with our personal information. You can imagine our concern when we were informed yesterday with this statement:  "We detected your identity on the dark web, deep web, or a peer-to-peer file sharing network. When we detect identity information on the dark web, deep web, or peer-to-peer file sharing networks, we notify you. The information found is usually from a list that's being given away, traded, or sold." Just the thought of my identity on the "dark web" being given away, traded, or sold makes m...

pres·sure ˈpreSHər/ noun 1 . the continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it. "the slight extra pressure he applied to her hand" 2 . the use of persuasion, influence, or intimidation to make someone do something. "the proposals put pressure on Britain to drop its demand" synonyms: coercion ,  force ,  compulsion ,  constraint ,  duress ;  More verb 1 . attempt to persuade or coerce (someone) into doing something. Can you identify with any of the definitions of pressure?! To be honest with you I have felt my life has been full of pressure recently! For several weeks, I have been dealing with inner ear issues. I had some very scary bouts of dizziness and, while those symptoms have thankfully subsided, I have been still been battling ear and si...

I would love to be sitting across from you over steaming mugs of chai lattes (sorry, I don't ever plan to be a friend of coffee!) and hear how your Christmas season has felt to you thus far. Crazy and chaotic? Expensive and full of effort? Or perhaps lonely and less-than Moody and melancholy The truth is we put so much expectation into this season and our realities can easily overwhelm, depress, and deflate our joy that we so desperately long for. The fulfillment and hope we know that can be found in the simple manger is so often crowded out by busy schedules and shopping and decorating and food preparations. My Christmas preparations began way back in September and no, I don't mean I was already buying gifts and making lists! It was a mental preparation; a difficult refining process that my Savior orchestrated. Typically September is when I begin preparing for our annual Christmas orchestra at church. It's a tradition that I hold near and dear to my heart a...

My mind has been aching for me to write. I have a whirlwind of disconnected thoughts that I pray God can connect to your heart for me. With the coming of Thanksgiving I have found myself pondering and thinking about the attitude of thanksgiving contentment joy I have realized, more than ever, how seamlessly they seem to be connected to each other. The presence of contentment, leads to a heart of thanksgiving, which leads to a life of joy. In my quest to have a more focused and intent approach to this holiday season, I picked up Ann Voskamp's book, "The Greatest Gift". It's written to guide one through the season of Advent, using passages from the entire Bible. Her writing on day 3 (also written in her book One Thousand Gifts) resonated with me: "Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other. The only thing that will satisfy our hunger for more i...