The Journey

My family and I have just returned from a fabulous vacation in North Carolina to visit family topped off with an escape to the beach for some much-needed fun in the sun! We began the trip hiking in the mountains and ended with the sun and surf on the coast. It was glorious although this trip, as do all our trips it seems, had some bumps. I jokingly told my in-laws on the car ride up that our road trips always seem to bring us closer to Jesus! I did not know that was truly a prophetic statement for this vacation adventure. We had some minor car troubles with an overnight trip to the garage for the Dodge, my hubby lost his wallet for a very stressful ten minutes before remembering where he hid it for safekeeping, and on our first full day at the beach, I encountered a bit of trouble, to say the least.  The Friday before the 4th of July was just gorgeous at Kure Beach! The sun was gleaming on the refreshingly cool ocean water as the pelicans and seagulls soared over us chattering...

How long will you slumber?  The whispered words from Heaven sent a jolt through my spirit as a blaring alarm clock in the early hours of the morning. I sat bolt upright in my bed feeling a divine transformation taking place in the very depths of my being.  It's time to get up! There is work to do. I cannot tell you how many times in the past few months I have absolutely whined about  everything . In part because I have been suspended in the mire of complacency, living an unimpressive life wandering about in an uninspiring, unproductive, lackadaisical spiritual walk.  Feeling  trapped in circumstances out of my control while being rocked by the waves of indecision and doubt and self-degradation, I had been lulled to sleep. I was not trapped. I was stalled. Body, mind, and spirit. Paused. I cannot tell you how many times in the past few months I have absolutely whined about  everything . In part because I have been suspended in the mire of complacency...

I hate cancer. Like a thief in the night, the emaciating disease invades the body and steals life. There is no respecter of person, body type, or age and the cancerous tentacles are far more reaching than the person it kills. Cancer destroys homes, crushes relationships, dashes dreams, and shakes rock-solid faith. Cancer proliferates, devastates, and destroys in a cruel, uncontrolled, meaningless way. This past year, cancer invaded my life. Not my body, but my life. Someone so dear to me died in his forties. Once the diagnosis came, everything stopped. Then, he was gone. So many faith-filled people prayed, begged, fasted, and jumped through all the hoops we think God wants us to so we can have our prayers answered. There were so many questions as to why God did not answer, but God did answer. The answer was no. "A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted."  -Ecclesiastes 3:2  We know by scripture that there is a time f...

"Anyone can be angry--that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way--that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy." -Aristotle When I think of a flared temper or anger, I always envision a volcano. In doing research for my daughter's science project last year, I read several articles about them and learned a thing or two. So much like human nature, volcanoes are reactive under pressure. They can literally blow their top!  Now, there are two main types of eruption. The type most people are familiar with is the very visual, most dramatic, fire-breathing, explosive eruption. There is also the more subtle, oozing eruption that seeps hot lava into the ocean and surrounding vegetation burning up everything in its path. Both forms of eruption are volatile and destructive much like human ire. We are made in God's image. All through the Old Testament you read of God's ange...

Photo by Ales Me A heavy blanket of despair was draped upon my shoulders, but it provided no warmth or security. I was blindly stumbling through thick darkness searching for any glimmer of light in this circumstance. The force of the proverbial rug being snatched out from under me took my breath while deception loomed eerily around me. Every hair on my body stood to attention with the realization that nothing was what it appeared to be. Scouring for something tangible I grasped for anything to cling to because at that moment the One who was my only hope of survival seemed a million miles away. The God of all creation had turned His back, lifted His warm covering, and withheld His protection. I was wearied with unfulfilled promises, shattered dreams, unending devastation, and the relentless struggle to break free. I shared on my personal Facebook page how this has been one of the hardest years of my life. I have survived more trauma and much more tragedy in former years. Howe...

Photo by: Mark Basarab Have you ever wondered what makes you, well, you? What inspires laughter and what induces tears? How can something so trivial cut so deep or how such a minuscule gesture can warm your very soul? What makes your whole day bright and what can make for a stormy week? Those things that make your blood boil versus the action or person that can set you perfectly at ease? What makes you strong? What makes you weak? What gives you security rather than anxiety or confidence rather than inferiority?  I have questioned many of these emotions as the past few months have felt like a spiritual pruning, a stripping away. During the process, emotional and spiritual layers have been peeled back to reveal a person I do not like. A person I do not want to see. A person that I had hoped no longer existed. My heart doors slammed shut as fast as a security gate at the threat of a robbery and closed with a seal as tight as that of a bank vault door. ...

Photo by: Chris Lawton No words can be uttered when the proverbial final nail has been deliberately, maliciously, or even haphazardly hammered into the coffin. What is there to say? The end. Game over. Death. Seasons change bringing an end to one phase of life while ushering in a new beginning for the next phase of life. Sometimes we are not prepared for such a transition. Sometimes we pray for change. We often grieve with bittersweet tears either way. Unexpected, major shifts blindside and bring imbalance to otherwise steady ground because the humdrum of everyday life renders a false sense of security. Alas, life is a continuous cycle, ever-changing until death. Then I say, thankfully so, life is ever-changing. Otherwise, death might be forever, and resurrection cannot occur. As a small child, did you ever hide in a closet, a secret fort, or in a small space allowing complete d...