Where Have all the Daddies Gone

Yesterday during worship at church I noticed, two seats down, our friend with his pre-teen daughter on his lap. Her legs dangled down, almost to the floor. She was completely comfortable laying back against  her dad, singing her heart out. I could hear his voice and hers and when I stole a glimpse I was moved. She was so content, feeling so safe. My first thought was that I’m supposed to feel like that when it comes to my Heavenly Father…all safe in his care. Then I realized that this wasn’t some super-spiritual thing, it was a human, flesh thing. This is one blessed little girl. Her dad loves her and his other three children so deeply and so well. He invests in his family. That is evident by observing their children. I felt an ache in my heart...

Hey, That Old Guy is My Dad!

I ran into Kroger today. I had just enough time to make my swath through the aisles and get back home before the school bus came. Coupons in hand, I was on a mission to remain devoted to my short, stick-to-it list. I was distracted by an old man wearing the typical old man, greenish/gray sweater. The kind that zips up in the front, Mr. Rogers style.  He was using a cane and moving very slowly. He was adorable…then I realized it was my own dad! He was going in through the exit door, just what you would expect from an old man. But, he’s not any old man, he’s my old man. Apparently, mom was doing some grocery shopping and he was wandering in to find her. I pushed my cart through the produce, dashed from one item to the next and ventured to the...

Choose This Day Who You Will Serve

  You have a choice today: You can either treat your spouse like he/she is a child of God or, you can choose to act as if you are an only child. Yes, you are a beloved child of God. So is your spouse. Even when they have said mean things to you. Even when they have disappointed you. Even though you don’t understand them, don’t want to consider their point of view. Even when you aren’t sure if you have love for them anymore. God loves them. God care about them. What you do to them, you actually do unto the Lord. You have a choice today: You can either please man (yourself) or you can please God…when we are interested in pleasing man, we can not please God. Find it difficult? We all do, that’s why God says to you, “Ask me to...

FEAR

The majority of time in my early years of marriage, I reacted rather than responding. My behavior, often cold and accusatory was rooted in fear.  As I began to align my life with God’s, I recognized how much fear had controlled my actions.  As I was nagging my husband about how he needed to change and lead his family, deep down it was really the fear that my circumstance might not ever change. I wasn’t trusting God to change my husband. I placed more leverage on my husband’s actions and attitude than God’s ability to change his heart. A fearful heart has great difficulty being an obedient heart.  God’s word speaks to His children to remain in obedience. In I Peter 3:6 he specifically instructs women to be like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham...

To Persevere

Sometimes we look around only to discover that we are still struggling with the same issue, same person, conflict, addiction…sometimes in relationships we find that the sins and struggles of another bears down on us to the point where we don’t care to have the heart to carry on. It has become exhausting and wearying. It would be so much easier to walk away. Dealing with women who have spouses that struggle (or when the wife is struggling) has been revealing of all the sorrow that people carry when someone close to them is in bondage to sin. There is no way around it – sin is ugly, it destroys, it wounds, it has consequences. It is especially difficult when you are married to someone who seems to be bent on destruction. How does one persevere in...

No Longer Ashamed

The old farm truck sits in the barn as dusty as ever. Most everyone in the family has mentioned how great it would be to have her restored. Until that happens, she’s used as the back drop for many a picture when people use the farm for photography sessions. I think this truck is so cool, but there was a time when I didn’t want to be seen riding around in it. It was during those awkward and not-so-fun middle school years. You know, when guys are too cool to wear a coat when it’s 10 below zero and girls are so afraid they will make a wrong move they just stand around…being frozen and awkward. I was with my dad, we were heading into town and when we got to the main road, I saw some kids I knew from school walking alongside the road. I...