Soli Deo Gloria

Why do I write so often about my faith you ask? And what is the purpose of these blogs?  First and foremost, it is my earnest desire to bring glory to God. I'll probably never be able to put into words all that He's done for me, but I try. Fortunately or unfortunately He didn't give me the gift of public speaking. If he had, I'd be shouting from a podium or a rooftop somewhere. It seems He designed me to use written words instead, and gave me the desire to do so. When thoughts come to mind that I think will bring glory to Him, I jot them down and post them either here, on my devotional blog (http://weeklydevotions.blogspot.com/), or on my poetry blog (http://journeyverse.blogspot.com/), depending on the content. Some of what appears here is for sheer comic relief, or cataloguing the circus that is my life as a mom of two boys.  I don't know why He'd give me these words except to share them, so here they are. To God alone be the glory. I want nothing more than to be His invisible microphone, and to give back what little I can to the One who gave me everything.

Surrender Pays

Sometimes God does something so magical, I couldn't possibly deny his involvement if I wanted to.  I remember that awful night, a regular Thursday night in late July, when I sat crying in my bed after the kids were asleep.  I was desperate and discouraged about the same old things, and tired of rehashing it all, tiring of my own frustration with life in this tiny, ever-shrinking house.  I remember writing in my prayer journal the words "I surrender."  There was nothing more I could do, so I just handed the whole thing over and went to bed.  I couldn't suddenly make a dream house affordable, change my husband's stubborn mind, or make myself magically content, so I gave up.  Nothing extremely spiritual, just me saying.. "You know how I feel Lord.  I can't fix this.  Here you go."  I think mentally I had to resign my self-appointed job as the one who makes things happen around here.  Try as I might, I couldn't make a darn thing happen. (Sounds like a lesson I'd learned a long time ago re fertility, but alas I'm prone to repeat courses.)

Anyway, I remember waking the next morning with a new sense of peace about things.  Mid-morning the phone rang.  It was my mother-in-law calling to tell me her neighbor's house was going up for sale.  The price was insane and obviously not affordable, but I mentioned it to Don anyway.  His attitude was surprising--okay, shocking, to me.  "Let's think about it before we throw it out the window," was the general idea, so we sat down with a calculator and crunched numbers.. trying to see just how unaffordable we were talking about.  Could we really pull this off?  What I hadn't figured on was the extreme draw for him of being close to family and having two acres of land.  Suddenly what seemed like unreasonable numbers were not so unreasonable at all.  Scared and unsure, we called an emergency lunch meeting with his parents to talk it over.  That night we met with the neighbors to express our interest in buying the house, and four days later, signed a contract.  The rest as they say is history. 

Did I mention this place is huge?  Did I mention it has a jacuzzi, and a playroom?  Surely I have died and gone to heaven.  Now with our house sold, Don and I have moved past the phase of just staring at eachother like "Can you belive this is happening?" to accepting with gratitude the amazing adventure we are about to embark on together.  We prayed for God give us wisdom, to direct our paths, and this is where he led us.  We asked him to close the doors if it was not meant to be, and one after one we watched them open.  As for me, I've finally moved past pinching myself to just taking it all in--just marveling in the awesome wonder of my God. 

There have been four times in my life when I felt --really FELT God's love for me.  Each time it was so palpaple and undeniable, it changed me forever.  First there was the night of our first date, when God dropped an angel in my life, someone I instantly felt I had known forever and knew would make me whole.  Then there was the day of Seth's birth, a miracle in itself.  The day I found out I was carrying Daniel, another sweet surprise from God.  And then there was that day in July of this year, when God said "See?"  "See that I love you, and I'll provide for your needs, and more.  See that you don't have to try so hard--you don't have the power anyway.  See that all blessings flow from me, and I am generous to those who put their trust in me."

Making Good on A Promise

On a cold February morning seven years ago, the world seemed to be crumbling around me. The doctors' voices seemed unreal as their hushed phrases echoed in my blurry mind-- "Not much time," I heard. "Kidney failure.. save the baby... mom's a time bomb.. BP rising.. 24 hours, max." I heard the last words "seizure, stroke, coma, death," but they floated by without any concern on my part. They wouldn't let that happen. They would take our baby first. A baby who I knew was not ready to be born. At least that's what science told us. April seemed a world away, the month we were supposed to have our baby. But the events of the last few weeks had made it obvious we wouldn't get that far. Preeclampsia had reared its head and bed rest hadn't helped. The baby wasn't growing anymore and I'd long since stopped feeling. We'd already brought one stillborn child into the world, buried her and moved on with life. If I had to do it again, I needed to mentally prepare myself. But that February morning, quite unexpectedly, something else got a hold of me and flooded my consciousness.. something I have no words to describe except "hope." Almost in spite of myself, I dared to hope that just maybe, God had something bigger planned.


After the stillbirth, years of infertility and several miscarriages, we had come so far to get to this point. Why would God allow this pregnancy to progress so far, only to end in tragedy again? No, I wanted to believe that He was up to something. Something special. In the quiet darkness of that hospital room, I made a promise. I promised God that day, that if this hope of mine were true-- if He saw fit to perform a miracle, and allow both myself and the baby to come out of this healthy, I would tell everyone I met for the rest of my life what God had done for me. I would shout His goodness from the rooftops for all the world to hear!  I would dedicate this child to Him, and my life to bringing Him glory.  If He did not, we would praise Him anyway and continue to trust in His will.

I'm writing this today because God in His mercy saw fit to fullfill the hope He had placed in my heart. The next afternoon, the baby who was not supposed to breathe on his own, DID. Just three weeks later on February 28th, we brought our "April baby" home in perfect health, with a healthy mom to boot! That is what my wonderful, amazing, powerful God did for me. I am here to tell you, not just that He's been good to me, but that He is good, all the time. No matter the odds, no matter your past, no matter what the "experts" say, there is always, always HOPE. We serve a mighty miracle-working God, who loves us deeply and will bless us beyond our wildest dreams, if we will only put our trust in Him. That's my story.

Pre- Easter Devotion for Kids

I wrote these short daily devotions for my kids to read on the seven days before Easter.  They can be printed on slips of paper and tucked inside plastic Easter eggs on the dining room table, with one to be opened each morning at breakfast and read aloud.  I added a colorful picture to go with each.

Why do we have eggs at Easter? Eggs mean new life!
Jesus died so we can have a new life too–one that
lasts forever! Tell someone today about the real
meaning of Easter and the new life that’s inside of you!


Spring is the time when everything beautiful GROWS—
Flowers, grass, even baby chicks and bunnies!
Did you know that you are growing on the inside too?
Ask Jesus to help you grow more like him every day.

We don’t have a sad God—we have a happy God!
Easter is a time to remember what Jesus did for us,
and to rejoice because he LIVES!
Think of how excited his disciples must have been
When Jesus came back to life!
Practice wearing a smile all day today.

Love is all around us, at Easter and always.
God loves you so much that He gave up his son,
just so he could be with you forever.
What a beautiful way of showing his love!
What can you do to show someone love to someone today?

Why do we have candy at Easter?
Candy reminds us that God’s love is sweet!
It also brings us joy. The joy we get from a piece of candy
doesn’t last for long, but the joy we have in Jesus lasts forever!
What can you do today to share your joy with others?


Sometimes when you see a cross, you may feel a little sad. Jesus’ friends were sad when he died too. But the good news is that he didn’t stay dead—He rose again! That’s why the cross isn’t a symbol of sadness, but a symbol of victory. Victory means that Jesus won the battle against sin and death, so we don’t have to. Yay, Jesus!  Always remember, you are a winner in Christ!


When Jesus went back to heaven, he didn’t leave us alone. He gave us a special gift called the Holy Spirit, his own spirit alive inside of us! Jesus said that anything that is alive must bear fruit. Do you know the fruits of the spirit? They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. See how many you can act out today!

Thoughts for the Season

~ There is plenty of time for every good thing under the sun.

~ There are no burdens, just by-products of bountiful blessings.

~ Nothing is required but breathing.. all else is by choice.  Might as well be happy about it.

~ Simplicity and surrender are twin sisters to peace and joy.

~ Joy is contagious, but so is misery.  If I have nothing positive to say, I'll bite my tongue and smile 'till I think of something.

~ Instead of a "To-Do" list, write a "to enjoy" list.  Same list, but so much more fun.

~ Sometimes the best thing we can do is to become like a child.. preferably a non-greedy, non-tantruming child.

~ Complaining, even to one's self, invites darkness.  Who needs darkness in the season of light?

~ The enemy would love to ruin Christ's birthday, and I for one am not going to give him the pleasure.

~ If we have not joy, we have not Christmas.  If we have not peace, we have missed the first and most wonderful Christmas gift of all.

Have a magical, marvelous, peace-dwelling, love-giving, joy-spreading, light-shining holiday season!

My Work Product

  It occurred to me today that some of my blog readers may not see all the photos I post on Facebook, so its high time I post a few recent shots of the boys here.

  The first was taken sometime this summer when they were enjoying the new tire swing Daddy made for them.  I told them to give eachother eskimo kisses and they erupted in giggles.. hence this photo.  It now hangs on our living room wall and will forever remain one of my favorites.  The bath photo was taken this summer too, just before school began.  Their bubble bath is a ritual I often dread, but they enjoy so very much!   

  Thank you, Lord, for the closeness these precious boys share and the privilege of being their at-home Mommy every day!

The Library

It was shaping up to be a great evening and a very successful outing with my two boys, if such a thing is possible. I had devised a point system for keeping their behavior in check, tired of the old "I'm-gonna-call-your-daddy" routine, and was feeling quite proud of how well the system was working so far. Points, I had explained, would be awarded for good behavior and subtracted for unacceptable behavior, with "treats" to be bought at the dollar store on the way home at 50 cents a point. Tonight good behavior consisted of being quiet in the car, staying together, and most importantly using our whisper voices in the library.

The boys loved the new system, and each had earned two points already in the car. We rehearsed our whisper voices before we went in, holding hands. Quietly we perused the children's books, each choosing a few to take home, even discussing in whispered voices why we liked this one or that one. Now we just needed to pick out a few movies and we'd be on our way. Standing there in the movie aisle, Seth (6), who'd had one too many Fiber One muffins at snacktime, let slip a small, almost inaudible gas emission. Of course my three-year-old Dan heard it, stretched out his arm to point, and before I could get my hand over his mouth, announced loudly,

"HE FARTED!"

I fell to my knees, shushing him a minute too late, and tried my hardest not to laugh while I watched Seth walk away, pretending not to know us. My attempt to avoid laughing was useless, since the library's staff and all its patrons had now erupted in giggles. When Seth finally returned to my side, all he could say was "Please tell me he lost a point for that."

We quickly chose two movies and made our way to the check-out, where the librarian smiled gleefully at us, along with a host of patrons at the nearby computers. "Don't you just love the innocence of children?" she asked. "Love it," I said, ready to make our exit.

Walking out, I agreed to let Seth carry the books and Dan carry the movies, so my hands would be free to hold each of their hands. We made it as far as the library lobby before I felt our little train shifting to the right. I looked up to see a sign marked "Return Books Here" and watched helplessly as our beloved Daniel dropped both of our new movies down the slot.

Yes, we went back in, but this time without a trace of pride left. I just stood there laughing while Seth explained to the librarians what his brother had done. With movies back in hand, we moved our little train to the car once more, discussing the meaning of the word "incorrigible." They were good boys the rest of the evening, enjoyed their treats and went to bed without argument. They even earned points during bathtime and redeemed them for bedtime stories. Overall I think the new discipline system was a success--you just can't ask a small boy to ignore bodily noises. (Or book drops.)