Traveling Towards Home

I am currently in route to Washington State.  Plans are for me to stay a few weeks to help our eldest child with her family while she settles into her new role with the National Guard.  My dear husband and I prayed and talked about what we could do as grandparents and this is one thing we felt would benefit the boys as they adjust also. Many times in our married life (we just celebrated our 32nd anniversary) we have had to adjust to new direction.  We met in the small church of Christ in a tiny mountain town in California where he worked in radio and I was the new school teacher.  I smile as I remember those early days of shyness and uncertainty.  Little did we know when we committed to one another that hot day in June where the road would take us. We could not have begun to imagine the places or experiences we would visit. He eventually left radio to begin training for pulpit ministry.  God blessed us with children. He also blessed us with loss, not on...

Let us hold fast the confession of   our   hope without wavering, for He who promised   is   faithful.  Hebrews 10:23 We know that God speaks to us through His word.  But have you ever heard that 'still small voice' nudging you when you begin to doubt?  Let me assure you, it just takes a little of that doubt to settle in and soon the mind becomes  paralyzed by fear.  I was privileged to hear a Ladies Day speaker a few weeks ago who challenged me in my weakness. "I want to leave you with two words today, "Trust Me."  She reminded us of what God had already said, but my own thoughts drowned out.  I shared a few of her thoughts with my husband, but left this one out. Maybe I was feeling guilty over my lack of trust and faith.  I don't know.  But Sunday evening I heard him say, "God is telling us, 'Trust Me.'"   It made me squirm!  I knew I was being reminded that I was wavering and needed this reminder!  Ag...

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no  children.  And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.  So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the  Lord  has restrained me from bearing  children.  Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.   Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.   So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. ----Genesis 16:1-4 What is written in the scriptures is there for our instruction in Godliness.  When you consider Hagar, several issues that we as Christian women should consider come to mind.  First:  although Abraham and Sarah were God-fearing and faithful, Hagar never, apparently, comes to an understanding of who God really is. ...

Yesterday was, in effect, a day of losses. In the middle of packing and storing our home of 2 years, Gabe called to fill us in on Jen's latest doctor visit. Just a short time later began a series of increasingly sad calls. On her way home, she had severe abdominal pain. He rushed her to the ER and they took her by ambulance to another hospital. She had an ectopic pregnancy which resulted in internal bleeding and miscarriage. She was doing well last night, but due to the blood loss, they were watching her, with the possibility of going home today if she continued to do well. Jen's physical recovery will be fast because they were able to do the surgery laparoscopically. But the emotional impact of losing their baby tugs at my heart. Miscarriage is as real and tangible as losing a child you've held in your arms. Hopes, plans, and dreams are crushed and scattered. It challenges your view on life, death and what is fair. Faith is battered. Sometimes we don't get w...