Full-Time

What’s This All About?

The new website is coming along and we’re almost there. In the meantime, I’ll share the reason I’m doing this in the first place.

Fifteen years ago I was a young mother at the end of another exhausting day, and I wondered, is this it?

I graduated college, worked years at a great company, and quit a promising career to be home with my children to wipe counters, noses and bottoms all day?

Today,…

I’m Finally Doing It

I’ve thought about it for a couple of years and talked out loud about it almost as long. I took small steps toward it in January, but the change felt unnecessary and a little scary. After the Speak Up conference in June, I resolved to make it happen, even though the change still seemed daunting. Actually, a little scary turned into a lot scary but I pressed through the doubt and fear and am…

I’m skipping Monday School today so I can share what my friends and I did over the weekend.

We ran the Nashville Sprint Spartan Race on Saturday and the Nashville Super on Sunday. Those are my fifth and sixth Spartan races but the first time I’ve done Spartan races two days in a row.

The heat and humidity took it out of us early on Saturday. By the end of the four mile race all of us were wiped…

I began a ten-week study of the book of Philippians this week. I’m using a resource by Keri Folmar as a guide. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested in joining me in the study. I’d be happy to give you more information.

Philippians is the inspiration of this Monday School and I feel certain will be a source of several more in the coming weeks.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in…

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t like? Or maybe you hated it? Maybe you even returned it, exchanged it or re-gifted it. I know I have.

God is the Ultimate Gift Giver. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize the good gifts and a lot of times, we take them for granted. Some of them don’t feel like gifts at all.

Because some of God’s greatest gifts are disguised as trials.

James tells us to “Consi…

The Same Old Thing

Paul wrote his letters with lots of love and passion. His letter to the church in Galatia is no exception but it’s especially harsh. False teachers convinced the Galatians they had to be circumcised, which was an outward ceremony of the Mosaic law. Paul chastised the Galatians for their foolishness because they turned away from the Gospel of Christ.

“You people in Galatia were told very clearly…

I’m using our Monday School time to introduce a new feature on my blog called Beauty Break. It was inspired by one of my favorite authors, Karen Swallow Prior.

Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh.     Frederick Buechner

Mostly we live in a routine, which is good and necessary. But routines can turn into a mindless going through the motions. If we aren’t careful, we forget to notice…

She Gave it All

Yesterday, I read the story in Mark 12:41-44 about the poor widow giving all she had. Jesus sat near the offering boxes and noticed the crowd tossing in their contributions. Maybe some in the crowd gave their offerings thoughtlessly, just another item on their religious checklist. Maybe others thought a lot about what they gave and walked away with puffed up chests and noses in the air. The rich…

I’m glad this exchange is recorded in Genesis for us.

9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of…

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I was in the Great Smoky Mountains over the weekend on a new trail with a different landscape and its own kind of challenges. The promise of a spectacular view and an abundance of wild blueberries filled me with anticipation as we made our way to the top. The narrow, rocky parts of the climb almost wore me out sooner than I needed to be worn out. I felt like a kid on a long car ride to the beach.…

Choosing Surrender Instead of Success

This is the guest post I promised by author Carrye Burr. Her new book is How to Be a Moon: Embrace Your Worth. Reflect God. Light Up Your Generation. You can read my book review here and purchase the book on Amazon here.

What can the moon teach us about success?

The world refers to success as one’s arrival at status, wealth, power, or prestige.  It measures success by accolades, accomplishments,…

This installment of Monday School is inspired by a man named Nicodemus. I think I love Nicodemus.

The only information we have on him is in the Gospel of John. He was a Pharisee, which means he was a scholar who studied the Law and was intentional in the keeping of it. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews. He was highly regarded by the people and, obviously, an…

How to Be a Moon

I finished Carry Burr’s newest book over the weekend.  The topic of the book is one we’re all familiar with: our need to make a difference and to know we matter. But this isn’t a book about learning how to build your self-esteem, gain a massive following, or improve your life with positive thinking. Instead, Carrye shows us how to embrace our worth, reflect God, and light up our generation.

In…

My kids love the sand. When they were younger, they spent hours building sandcastles. They smoothed over the perfect spot for the castle, then gathered wet sand near the edge of the ocean and hauled it back to the construction site. They pressed the sand into molds, turned them over and patted carefully so the tower or wall of the castle came out perfectly formed. They worked diligently to create…

I’m about to do something I haven’t done since I was a teenager.

SKIP SCHOOL!

There’s no Monday School today, ya’ll!

I’ve worked hard on several projects recently, had a very busy day at work, a meeting afterward, and was unusually late getting home.

I needed to be outside, so my daughter and I went for a walk in the park and had great conversation, while my husband recovered from his own hard…

What’s Next?

Last year, I took my commitment to grow as a communicator to another level when I attended the Speak Up Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I signed up to attend again this year, but was stressed over the time away from my family and the time off from work. I almost backed out.

I’m thankful I made the trip, because it was exactly what I needed. I didn’t believe it was possible for this year’s…

The Greatest of All

Have you ever been embarrassed for someone? Like when American Idol aired some of the most awful auditions at the beginning of the season. Watching the ones who couldn’t sing, try to sing.

I have the same feeling when I read the story about the mother of James and John asking Jesus for her sons to be placed in seats of honor beside him, one on his left and the other on his right (Matthew…