Joy in the Journey

 “I can’t let boys who don’t listen come shopping with us next time, are you ready to listen?” “I’m waiting to give you your food until you can ask nicely.” “I know you don’t want to hold my hand, but it’s my job to keep you safe and I can’t bring your places if you don’t act safe.” “Try again"…"Try again"… Does your brain ever feel just so exhausted by all the strategic thinking that parenting requires? Do you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over again?  Those were a rhetorical questions, I know that if you are a parent you know exactly what I mean.  The above quotes were recorded during just one shopping trip with my youngest, who is a very strong-willed individual. I don't know if it is because he is the youngest of six or it's just in his DNA, but this boy's happiness is fueled by the power of choice. And I try to let him have as many choices as he can (within healthy boundaries), but man, it can be so taxing on this mama's cranium to...

 We are all familiar with the story of the good Samaritan , right? In Luke 10:25 , a lawyer asks Jesus how to get eternal life. Jesus answers him with a question about his profession (don't you love how Jesus always meets us where we are and speaks to us using our own language?) and the man answers correctly. But Jesus sees his heart and his motivation, so he tells him a story:  30  Jesus replied with a story:  “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up,   and left him half dead beside the road. 31  “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.   32  A Temple assistant [ a ]  walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33  “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.   34...

This photo looks like many spots that you find in the mountains in the rural area that I live, but when I drove up on this old landing this morning, I burst into tears. I’ve been trying to get a chance to go up into the mountains by myself for a while. It’s deer hunting season, and I used that as an excuse, but really, I just needed some time to myself. I tried last week but it didn’t work out. With soccer six days a week, September and October have been crazy busy and I haven’t had much alone time. Apparently I have needed it. This morning I did the dishes, popped the bread into the oven, and kissed the boys goodbye. A wonderful part of having teenagers is that they are mature enough to watch their younger siblings for a few hours. I didn’t originally intend to go to the spot in the picture above, but that is where I ended up and I guess the Lord knew it was where I needed to be. October has become a hard month the past few years. Although I am blessed to get to celebrate two of my ch...

  Photo from history.com I recently read an article about a statue that went through a CT scan. They discovered in the scan that the statue is what is referred to as a "living Buddha"; the Buddha statue was formed around a mummified human being. The man whose remains are inside this statue went through a 10-year process of self-mummification. For ten years he slowly starved his body by eating only nuts, berries, tree bark, and pine needles in increasingly smaller and smaller portions. He ate herbs, cycad nuts, and sesame seeds to decrease the amount of bacteria in his body. He drank a poisonous tree sap to embalm himself and repel insects.  After a decade of this he was buried alive in an underground chamber where he sat in the lotus position and chanted, breathing through a bamboo pine. Each day he would ring a bell to signal that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the chamber was sealed for three years. After three years his body was removed and completely m...

  Do you ever think much about the day you were born? Do you ever think about the moment you were conceived? If you are like me, you don’t really think about those things. But do you know that there is a whole chapter in the Bible devoted to it, telling us how God thinks about it? Most people are familiar with the following verses:  13  For you created my inmost being;      you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;      your works are wonderful,      I know that full well. 15  My frame was not hidden from you      when I was made in the secret place,      when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16  Your eyes saw my unformed body;      all the days ordained for me were written in your book      before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16 The word of the...

  I've struggled with my weight since I was 12. There have been some years where I was able to slim down, but it's safe to say that I have been considered overweight or obese most of my life. I don't need to describe how that feels, if you have been there, you know. Two years ago I injured my knee during fair week. I'm a superintendent for the open class Creative Arts department, and, thankfully, I was able to complete my duties with a bum knee but I went to see the doctor as soon as I could. The knee I injured had been a weakness for a while. It's no surprise because I spent years putting the majority of my weight on it because of compensating for the pain of the hernia on the other side of my body. The doctor prescribed a knee brace, but she said the best thing I could do for my knee was lose the weight.  As if I didn't know that. As if that wasn't what I was praying for and working towards. As if I wasn't constantly dealing with the frustration of gai...