The importance of a person or thing is the way it is; not because of what it is called. Names of things cannot affect what they actually are. Names are just labels to distinguish one thing from another. I can call a rose a daisy and it will not change the aroma or color of the rose. A name has no worth, nor gives true meanings. The rose’s worth is not in the name we call it. It’s worth is…
The story of Esther is such a beautiful love story. It has romance, danger, death, and the girl becomes a queen. But more importantly, it has courage and confidence. Two things that a lot of girls and women are lacking today. Mickey, the young lady pictured above, has courage and confidence. She probably has enough for a lot of women who are lacking it. Mickey recently competed in a beauty pageant in Indiana. I grew up in Indiana with Mickey’s…
A beautiful, young woman has passed away. Friends and family gather in the sanctuary to say goodbye, comfort each other, and pray for the two young children left without a mother. I turned towards the back of the church just as Tonya walked in. She didn’t walk in alone. In fact, she is rarely alone. There always seems to be an entourage of women (or children) with her and this time was no different. There were four or five other…
Have you ever stood on the bank of a calm river, pond, or lake and thrown pebbles into the water just to watch the ripples? Or watched as rain drops made many ripples all at once? There is something relaxing about watching the ripples slowly grow larger and larger until the water becomes still again. Our lives are like those pebbles. Our words and actions cause a ripple effect. There is the example of this where the husband comes home…
On Saturday, January 9th, 2016, a tornado touched down in Cape Coral, Florida. My family and I live in Cape Coral. While we were not in the projected path, we still stayed in the safest room in our home praying until we knew the storm had passed. We let our children know there was a storm in the area and that we were under a Tornado Warning. Matthew, our 4-year old son didn’t care. Livvy, our 9-year old daughter, was…
We count so many things in life. We learn to count at an early age. We love counting birthdays; at least when we are younger. We count the numbers of grapes, candies, and pennies to make sure we got the same amount as our siblings. We count the hours until we can clock out. We count the number of days until vacation, Christmas, summer break, and so much more. We count the weeks and months before our soldiers return home…
Don’t Be A Bully….Mom! I recently heard a young boy say to his Mom, “You’re a bully Mom. That wasn’t nice to say”. I didn’t hear what she said that brought such a reaction from her son. I didn’t hear her say a word in response to him; she simply looked stunned. Normally, when we think of a bully, we think of the kid that steals lunch money, beats up on the weaker children, or picks on anyone different than…
“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.” Psalm 38:1-3 With the recent SCOTUS decision regarding Gay Marriage, I knew that as a Christian, sooner or later someone would ask me my opinion. I knew that would probably happen on a Tuesday night at gymnastics. There are a couple of women there who are seeking and hungry. Somehow (oh, I…
It is that time of year again. Time to honor those that have served with the ultimate price of their lives to defend our freedoms and keep us safe. Time to remember family members who gave all defending those that couldn’t defend themselves.Each year about a week before Memorial Day, I begin seeing posts on Facebook about what Memorial Day is really all about. I watch beautiful videos of Arlington and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I hear people…
How many times have you asked another, “What can I do to help?” or “What can I do to make you feel better?”. Maybe a friend is struggling in some area of life. Maybe a family is struggling financially. Maybe you hurt someone and are trying to figure out how to ‘fix’ it. We have all asked these questions and similar ones. I know I have. Often, when we ask such questions, the reply is, “Nothing”, “We are fine”…