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Living for the Glory of God
When Anna and I sat in carpool a few weeks ago, she asked me, “Mom, how do I know that I’m glorifying God?” As believers we want to convey Christ-likeness to the world. We want to show everyone something different about us. So we challenge ourselves to “be the light and salt of the world” and we put ourselves out there for others to see something extra-ordinary about us. We encourage our loved ones and other believers to live that way too. Not too long ago, I wrote about glorifying God at school. You can read about it here. So how do we know that our lives…
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Home Sweet Home
This past week I walked away from a position I loved. Working has brought me so much joy, but after a year of going into an office, I found myself in a familiar place that makes my life seem perfect, but unbearable for those who live with me. I thrive in chaos. It’s the environment in which I grew up in and it makes me feel good about myself. Chaos feeds my selfishness and pride. I write better, work harder and I have my own way of doing things. When things got chaotic with me working, I planned everything from what time my girls needed to get up to what…
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Adios Summer!
Have you ever had a moment in time when you felt completely unworthy? Out of nowhere a season of wrestling, heartache and loneliness takes a hold of you and you don’t know what to do? You can barely breathe and everything you do just feels wrong? You feel disconnected from everyone and from God? Ever felt like this before? Let’s face it, feeling unworthy is for the birds! It’s not fun at all. Talk about a joy killer! I felt like this most of the summer and it brought me to my knees. I’m seriously thankful to say adios to a very difficult time in my life. Yes,…
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Restore to Me
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:10–12 (NLT). Italics mine I wish I could say it’s easy for me to go to God whenever I mess up. It’s not. Instead I want to do something—anything so I can feel good about myself before approaching God. This should satisfy God. That should make it all better. He’s not mad at me anymore. Throughout the Psalms, we see the intimate relationship…
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How to Glorify God at School
Just got home from taking my student to walk her schedule and practice opening her locker at her new school. Despite all the fears that come with her disability—you can read about that here—I feel so thankful for God’s faithfulness in Anna’s life, as she gets ready to start junior high in a few weeks. One of the challenges Anna faces this year has more to do with her desire to glorify God at school than anything else. I told her glorifying God can produce all sorts of blessings, but it can also lead to bullying. She didn’t even blink. Instead she asked, “What am I suppose to…
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Learning From Latin “Comentaristas”
God designed me to feel indifferent about sports. But something has happened to me. I can’t seem to pull myself away from watching La Copa Mundial on Univision. Spanglishly speaking, I blame the comentaristas. I admit that the logistics of futbol escape me, but it doesn’t matter. When my team scores—¡Viva México! Go USA!—when they make a goal, my soul bursts into song along with the comentarista. ¡Gooooooolllll! An endless voice from heaven expresses every ounce of hope I have for victory. Gooooooolllll! Y otra vez! ¡Gooooooolllll! Leave it to the critic to point out the “what if’s” in sports, but a Latin comentarista will show you what's…
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Clear Summer Days
Ah, the first weeks of summer vacation—a blissful time in the life of a mother and her children. Kids have finally finished the school year and moms have hung their chauffeur hats for a while. The Monday morning rush has come to a halt, the emails from school have completely ceased and at the end of the day, mothers across the country can finally stop asking, “Did you finish your homework? Did you study for your test?” The beginning of summer brings such sweet hopes. It gives mothers and children an opportunity to commit their time to each other. Mothers make endless promises of fun and the kids—especially teens—realize they…
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Wait For Hope to Appear
Many times, we will find ourselves surrounded by suffering. It seldom makes any sense and it sometimes hurts so deep that words fail to adequately describe our pain. I wrote the following blog in a time such as this and with these few words, I found hope. “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions. Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The ‘worst’ is never the worst.” Lamentations 3:28-30 (MSG) (italics and bold mine) I struggle with the idea of waiting especially when “life is heavy and hard to…
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A Letter to John
Dear John, Criticism will grow over your writings, but thankfully your reputation, as a devoted follower of Christ will endure the test of time. So much of what you have said has had an impact in my life that I could never express my gratefulness for you. And so today, I thought I’d write down some of those things—the things that I have learned from you—so that perhaps maybe with these few words, I can honor you. I love that you accepted your position of honor as you stayed close to the Savior and walked by His side. You, the disciple that Jesus loved, figured out what it…
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Don’t Let Your Hearts Be Troubled
A few weeks ago, my husband and I decided to skip the traditional fish brunch that I normally prepare for Easter and we made reservations to go eat at a restaurant instead. This past Sunday, along with many other folks, my family feasted—I mean, we ate like kings and queens—on some serious food. My favorite part of the brunch? I didn’t have to do dishes afterwards. My least favorite moment? The weeks before Easter. In the days leading up to Easter, I kind of drove my family crazy. Instead of showing enthusiasm about our new plans, I resisted. Every time someone shared their excitement, I killed it with horror.…
