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    Practicing A Four-Letter Word

    “The answer is on the Danube.” A friend encouraged me with these words as I explained my husband’s and my plans for a summer vacation along the Danube River. I laughed at her statement. She repeated with more emphasis, “The answer is on the Danube.” As it turned out, she was right. Let me explain. My husband and I just finished an extremely intense, challenging, and difficult season of our lives. That season had included many accomplishments and successes, but it had also included sickness, medical expenses, heartache, and loss. And it had been three years since he and I had “run away” together for a bit of respite. What…

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    The Tapeworm Gallery: Empty

           Your Bible is just where I like it—on your nightstand covered in dust. You have power to make me flee. Yet you never do. What I want most of yours He won’t let me have. So I’ll settle for your time and attention.             You make it so easy I can hardly take credit for it, though. By the way, your nail polish is chipping again. And time to redo the extensions on those perfectly normal eyelashes. Because every forty-year-old woman deserves the dark lush lashes of a teenager. Who cares what Mark says? They look natural to me. Besides, letting a non-medically trained kid approach your…

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    The “Busy” Problem

    The holiday season is here, and for many of us, this time of year only further exacerbates our already busy and too-full lives. So in the spirit of slowing down, pause, take a few seconds and ask yourself, “What is my current pace of life? Is my pace slow, hectic, challenging, life-giving or sustainable? Am I tired, busy, fulfilled, or bored?” According to the Barna Research Group, 59% of all women are dissatisfied with work/ home balance, 72% are stressed out, 58% are tired, and 48% are overcommitted. If you’ve ever thought, “Time is getting away. There isn’t enough of it. I must pedal faster and faster to keep up,”…

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    FRO*ZEN

    Weeks of record low temperatures of – 42, – 26,-17,-11 are causing a freezing phenomenon. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reports that the lakes are now more than 85 % iced over. The world’s most famous waterfall, Niagara Falls is frozen enough that professional Canadian ice climber, Will Gadd, was able to climb to the top of the frozen left side. It is not supposed to thaw until May. Even in the Texas Hill Country are recent reports of trees iced over creating a winter wonderland effect that rivals the graphics in the movie “Frozen”. We know according to Webster’s Intercollegiate Dictionary that frozen means the state of “being treated,…

  • Heartprints

    Fixing Busy!

    Every Spring and Fall my wife and I gear up for our kid’s soccer season and by “gearing up” I mean we get our calendars out and start moving our life schedules around to accommodate practice and game schedules.  The schedule is ultimately exhausting and it kicks our tails! My question is this: If you have kids who are in competitive, club or select sports or multiple sports – How do you do it? Here’s why I ask, because my wife and I have noticed that every soccer season, we experience a real lack of communication, family togetherness and intimacy.  Perhaps it’s a combination of work and personal schedules that…

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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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    Peace on Earth? What about a Little Peace in the House?

    What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Perhaps family gatherings, carols, Santa, the manger, shopping, debt, a favorite food, or decorating. Your mind may go to joyful or hurtful memories of the past or to anticipation of problems ahead. For those of us with heavy responsibilities to see that everything is done on time and everyone is happy, it can be difficult to find peace in the busyness of high expectations or ourselves and others. Our homes may end up as battlefields rather than the sites of joyous celebrations of the birth of God as man. This morning I was meditating on the truth that God wrapped himself…

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    The Place of Joy

    As you read this post, perhaps your turkey is roasting in the oven. Maybe you just finished crimping the edges on your grandma’s apple pie. Perhaps you’ll whip potatoes into pillow-y clouds just before guests arrive. Today our bustle embodies all the feelings of fall. Our full schedules and full tables leave us feeling festive and sometimes a little frazzled too. Amidst all the gatherings and baked goods, it’s easy to forget what truly gives us joy. When life turns busy and my turkey nearly burns, I start scrambling from one thing to the next—often shuffling others out of the kitchen and shutting them out of my schedule. Without even…

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    Stop and Smell the Roses

    Spring has sprung here in Texas; trees are budding and bulbs are blooming. It’s the perfect weather to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. I would love to walk through a park smelling the roses, listening to the birds, and sensing God’s presence. How renewing that would be! But I am bound to my busyness, my tasks, and my responsibilities. I have a big list of what must be done today, and it includes only the things that God has given me to do involving ministry, family, and home. Sound familiar? How do we stop and smell the roses when our schedules and responsibilities force us to…