Magnified

Every single day, this is where the magic happens. At least six days a week, I sit at this desk and put on my face. I enjoy the process of transformation and cosmetics is one of the ways I accomplish it. 

Do you see that mirror on my desk? Well, it has two sides to it. The first reflects my image exactly as it appears. However, if it flip it over, it magnifies whatever I'm looking at. This happens because of the way light is concentrated and reflected. Sometimes I enjoy this scientific phenomenon. Especially when I need to put mascara on my little bitty eyelashes. But other times, it's like, "whoa, I didn't want to see THAT." 

Sometimes, reading the Bible for me is the same way. It's as though God concentrates His light illuminating something that I would rather not see about myself. Something that reveals to me that He wants to draw me closer to the perfect plan that He has for my life. In spite of how uncomfortable it may be to see, what I love about God is how much He loves me and longs for me to walk in wholeness. 

As a believer in Jesus Christ, it can become easy to think too highly of ourselves. After all, as we look back at all He has led us through, and who we used to be, it can be easy to slip into haughiness. I know! I've been there....for like a nano second. But then God in His perfect fatherly way, leads me back to the truth. That although He is taking me from glory to glory, I haven't arrived yet. There is still so much I need to learn about leading, loving and living a God honoring life. And so, at least six days a week, if not seven, I come back to the place where real transformation takes place....In His Word and In His Presence. Care to join me? 

Keeping it real, 

It's Not Fair!

By now anyone who has access to TV or Social Media has heard about the blown call during the Saints vs. Rams playoff game. If you happen to have been living under a rock, then allow me to give you the highlights. It was the fourth quarter with less than two minutes on the clock. The Saints were facing a 3rd and 10 on the Rams 13 yard line. Drew Brees threw a pass to receiver Tommy Lee Lewis and everything looked good. That is until the Rams defender hit Lewis well before the ball got there.

It was a crystal clear case of interference. All 73,000 fans in the stands knew it. Anyone watching the game on TV knew it. The problem was that the referee's didn't call it. It ended up being a game changing call that cost the Saints the game and a chance to play in the Super Bowl. Everyone including Quarterback Drew Brees knews that it wasn't a fair call. The whole situation simply wasn't fair. After working so hard all season, to be forced to walk away on this type of call just wasn't fair.

Sometimes, life is a whole lot like this football game. Just ask the wife who was left so her husband could chase after a younger model. Or the employee who has worked for 25 years for the same company only to be given a pink sheet. How about asking the young couple who lost their baby just moments after the delivery. Or the senior who finds out that the person they trusted with their life savings was a thief. 

The reality is that many of us have had reason to cry out, "IT'S NOT FAIR!" And if you haven't experienced that particular emotion yet, just wait, there's still time. So, what do you do after you've been kicked in the teeth? How do you recover? As I pondered this question, I was reminded of the story in the Bible about Abigail. Once again let me give you the highlights. Scripture describes Abigail as an intelligent and beautiful woman. It also describes her husband as surley and mean. One day, her husband (Nabal) acted out of his meanness and put their entire household at risk of being murdered. Though we find no record of Abigail crying out "It's Not Fair", I'm sure sure felt it. I know I would have. But she didn't pause there. In fact, she didn't pause at all and that's what we can learn from her. 

You see, when she learned that her husband had offended King David and he was planning to come and kill everyone she cared for, she got moving. In fact, when Abigail learned what her husband had done, scripture says that "Abigail acted quickly" and ultimatley saved the day. You can read the whole story found in 1 Samuel 25, but here's my personal take away from the story. When life isn't fair, our job is to do the next right thing.  

As tempting as it might be, I'd love to encourage you to not throw a pity party or set up camp in the land of depression. But by all means, go ahead and have a momentary fit, maybe even a good cry or two. It's healthy as long as it's temporary, but then, get up, dust yourself off, thank God that it didn't kill you and do the next right thing and trust that God knew the end from the beginning and can bring beauty from ashes even if you can't see it right now.

Sending you lots of love, 

Good or God?

I love words! 

I love word art! 

I love basically anything that has inspirational and motivational words on it. My family and friends know this about me so I often receive word gifts for Christmas. Like this Mary Engelbreit desk calendar. I get one every year and on the rare occasions that I don't receive it, it's the first thing I go out and buy myself. 

You see, I think love words so much because I believe that they have power. The right saying on the right day can direct you, encourage you and comfort you. But we have to remember that just becuase they sound good doesn't mean they are truth and only truth can be transformational. 

Take for example this saying. "Think It. Want It. Get It." It's a part of a card pack that I received for Christmas. I enjoy most of the sayings in the pack. For example, one says, "You're a diamond, so Shine!". Another says, "Inhale the future, Exhale the Past". They often speak to me. But this one. This one right here caused me to pause. 

I read it and then read it again.  On the surface, it sounds positive, doesn't it? Motivational, even. But what does it really mean? Does it mean that I if I want something, I should just go get it?

Like a pizza at midnight even though I'm trying to eat healthy?
Like a new car even though I can't afford it?
Like a relationship when I'm still working through my junk?
Like a new job just because it pays more money?
Like a new spouse because she's a new model?
Like a new church because the pastor offended me?

What we have to realize is that just because something sounds good doesn't mean it is of God. It might tickle our ears, bring a tear to our eyes or even light a fire in our bellies, but most of the time, that's just a flesh response. As Christians, we must get to know the Word of God so that we can discern the application of what we read and hear.

About 12 years ago, I fell completely in love with the Bible. One of my favorite passages is found Matthew 6:33 and it says this, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all of these will be given to you as well". This verse tells me that if I follow God, that He will give me all that is good and in His plan for me. I don't have to covet it or claw my way to get it. But I wouldn't have known that unless I first knew the Word believed that the God of the Word loves me.


This is a picture of my Bible at home. It is completely falling apart. It's in such fragile condition that I can truly pull out whole books of the Bible and let you borrow them. It's kind of comical! And even though I could replace the cover and have it rebound, I keep it like this because it tells a story. My story. You see, I was so jacked up when I bought it that my issues had issues. I also had a terrible case of stickin' thinkin'. I thought like the world and acted on this beliefs. But over the years, the Lord led me on a journey through His word and little by little He's been renewing my mind and teaching me to think like Him. I've not "arrived" yet and never will until the day I enter heaven, but most days I can tell the difference between what sounds good and what's of God.

How about you? Where does God's Word rank in your life? How well do you recognize truth? Maybe today's a great day to grab your Bible and spend some time with the only words that can not only inspire and motivate but also transform.

Keeping it real,

Convenience or Crutch?

My daughter, Jenna, attends a small Christian College in Georgia. As a general thumb, they are a very discipleship and charachter driven school. Most of the time, I am their biggest fan and fully celebrate the activities they create to help students grow in their relationship to the Lord and within themselves. However, each year, during the month of January, they conduct a week long "media fast." Over the course of 5-7 days, they ask their students to abstain from using their cell phones, computers, tablets, TV's and any other media or technology gadget. Sounds good right? WRONG! I say that because during this week it means that I can't communicate with my girl which makes this empty-nesting momma unhappy. But just the other day, I experienced a God lesson that has encouraged me to get over myself and be more supportive of their initiative. Here's what happened....

I had stopped into my office to do a little catch up work on my day off. It was quiet and I was fully engaged in what I was doing until I heard the thunder. When I looked out my office window I realized that several hours had passed and it was pitch black outside for that early in the evening, clearly indicating that a storm was coming. I had made plans to get a mani/pani for later that afternoon and I wanted to get there before the rain rolled in. So, I quickly shut down my computer, grabbed my purse and made a b-line for my car. It was only after I had checked in at the salon and went to pull out my phone that I realized "to my horror" that I had left it on my desk.

For two hours, I went without my phone. 2! two! TWO! Any way you spell it, it was a long 2 hours. The first hour was the hardest. I wondered who might be trying to reach me. I wondered about the thoughts in my head and if I would remember them until I got to my note taking app. I wondered if I had actually left it on my desk or if I had dropped it somewhere along the way. And even though the salon had three TV's on to entertain me and I had a friend sitting beside me, I was filled with a measure of anxiety. I needed my phone beside me "just in case" and the fact that it wasn't available unnerved me. Have you been there?

Now, in retrospect, I'll be honest with you, my reaction surprised me. More than just a little. I mean, I like my phone and all, but I would have never of guessed that I would have had that strong of an internal response. After all, I rarely buy accessories for it other than a case and I'm not religious about getting the latest upgrade. In fact, if you asked me, I would have told you that I could have easily layed it down. So, when my phone was safely back in my hand, I pondered my response and that's when I relized what my daughter's school was trying to accomplish. You see they were trying to make empty nesting  momma's suffer any more than they were trying to make their students suffer. I know this because they didn't just ask them to fast media, they challenged them to fast, then ask themselves some hard questions, the biggest of which was this....Are your devices a convenience or are they a crutch? 

Think about it, how often do we go to dinner with soneone and barely engage in conversation because we are so busy looking at our phones? How often do we pull out our devices at red lights instead of listening to the radio  or watching the birds fly by. How often do we turn on the TV as soon as we get home to numb away the day rather than talking to God or our loved ones? 

The reality is that our media devices do bring us a significant measure of conveneniece and when used in the right way can bring us a lot of enjoyment. In this day and age, it's a needed part of our lives. But here's the rub...for many of us, what was meant to be for our good has become a snare that has the potentional of robbing us from real life moments with real life people. And if we are not careful, the pendulum can swing too far from what is good and lead us to a place of unhealthy dependence. 

Whether we like it or not, one of the ways that we determine if we are out of balance in any area of our life is to experience a brief period of time without that object. My lesson, on that day, came in the form of media, but in fact, the objects of our affection can be widespread to include food, credit cards, movies, chocolate, sports, coffee, relationships and just about anything else you can think of.

Knowing this, the Apostle Paul writes to us in 1 Corinthians 6:12 and reminds us that we have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial. He goes on to say that while we have the right to do anything, we should be careful not to be mastered by anything. And anything that we struggle to lay down, even for a few hours, is revealing our need to do exactly that....Lay it down; at least for a little while.

I'm going to be paying more attention to things like this in my life. What about you? Is there an area of your life where you too might need God to reveal your heart? Ask Him to show you any area where you might be holding on a little too tight. He will. He's faithful like that!

Sometimes we don't need to pray about it

Several years ago I had a passionate conversation at dinner with a friend on the topic of prayer. My position was that we needed to pray about everything. I quoted Philippians 4:6-7 as my case study. In case you're not familiar, this passage in the Bible tells us to not worry about anything but pray about everything. My friend argued that sometimes, we don't need to pray about situations, we just need to take action. I countered that if we don't pray, then how will we know the best way to act. We were polarized in our positions and agreed to put pepperoni on the pizza and call a truce.

Now, If I'm being completely honest, I don't pray about every single little thing. I don't ask God what color lipstick I should wear or how to style my hair. But I do try to seek His counsel on the important matters of life. I've learned over time that God cares about every detail of my life and if it's important to me then it's important to Him.

One of the greatest gifts that came as a result of accepting Jesus as my Savior has been the knowledge that the Creator of the Universe wants a relationship with me. He wants me to talk to Him and share my thoughts with Him. He regularly invites me to enter His presence through prayer and worship and then gives me the ability to sit at His feet and hear His thoughts, and seek His wisdom on matters of the heart, business, and finances, etc.

But with that being said, I've also learned that God gave us intelligence and expects us to use it when it makes sense to do so. Take for example, this cabinet in my house. It looks perfectly innocent. It was designed to be a turn table and when I first moved into my home, I was so excited about it, thinking that it was going to be the best place to store my Tupperware.



But 5 years later, I've come to the place where I recognize that this spinning cabinet is a terrible place for Tupperware. The lids always get stuck under the cabinet and the containers never fit right. It doesn't matter how many times I organize it, it always comes back to this...

Sometimes, things in our life are a lot like my Tupperware cabinet. We plan, we think, and we ignore issues only to come to the point where we finally accept that whatever it is just isn't working. And it's right here that we are invited to make a decision. We can certainly choose to continue to struggle and ignore the problem, we can pray about or we can just take action?

The reality is that I could stand in front of my cabinet praying all day long but that's not going to change the situation. I can continue to ignore it and that won't change it either. The situation is only going to change when I make a decision to find another place to put my storage containers. Can God give me an idea of where else to put it in my kitchen? Of course He can and I'm not suggesting we leave Him entirely out of the details. What I am suggesting is that sometimes we don't need to pray about it. We just need to act.

For those like me who might like a Biblical example of this, check out Moses' story in Exodus 14. But for the rest of us who are making a list of our New Year's Goals, perhaps now might be a great time to make another list of the things we just need to get done. Things like, go for a walk, organize your closet, tell your spouse you love them, sweep the kitchen floor, read your Bible, pray, get a check up, visit the dentist, attend church on Sunday, spend time with your children, write a blog or even organize your tupperware.

My friends, sometimes we don't we need to pray about it, we just need to take action.

From me to you... Happy New Year 2019!