Living Life for Christ Alone

The sun was shining in the window as I held our newest little blessing in my lap and fed her a bottle.  I could hear my two-year-old crying in her crib, while my three-year-old softly tried to talk sense to her from her bed across the room. (It's hilarious to overhear, but that's a whole other topic.) I looked up at the clock and my heart sank.  "Late again," I thought. "Poor girls... When will I get the timing of the morning down? No wonder Avi is so upset."  As usual, I felt like kicking myself. Two weeks of this, and I still don't have it down....  A gentle nudge from within stopped me from going any further down that path.  "Do you really expect to be mistake free?"  // The last couple of weeks have been uncomfortable for me as I learn the ropes of endless paperwork, visits, communication with people involved in the foster care system, court dates and building a relationship with the baby's biological family.  It would certainly be a lo...

It's way too easy to fall into a pit of condemnation and shame, isn't it?  I don't know about you, but there are many moments in my life where even the smallest of missteps in my life are like big arrows pointing deep into my soul, accusing me of being the worst person on the planet.  Too much time is spent in this pit, pondering the "what if I hadn't done that?" questions, as well as the "is there any hope for me now?" question. Or there are other times where I've jumped straight to the "there is no hope for me now" conclusion. Do you relate?  As one who can easily overthink things, I have often found myself digging deeper into this pit, simply because I am good at finding more reasons to do so.  But as one who has been bought by the blood of Jesus, is this really where I should be living? I am His, am I not?  Didn't His sacrifice and glorious resurrection make it possible for us to get back up when we fall and not even look back w...

The thin figure caught my eye as the team and I gathered back together from evangelizing on the pier in El Salvador. I didn't know if it was a he or she, but this person walked in a rather strange way. He wore tights and a green trench coat. His hair went to his shoulders, and he wore a hat that seemed to fit his look. In his hand he held a blonde doll.  The people I was with also noticed him, and we all watched as he walked by. Suddenly, he turned and saw us watching. "Don't make eye contact," someone warned us. He took a few steps toward us. In his eyes, evil danced, a grin spread across his face that seemed to say, "I see you watching..."

The day had been a long one. I had taught all morning, then rushed to a cleaning job, then ran an errand for a ministry at our church. I was so tired that on the way back from the errand, I missed my turn and found that out of habit, I was headed towards the store closest to our house. Oops! I thought to myself, I missed my turn... Oh well... I decided that I would go ahead and go all the way there and do some shopping for my upcoming trip. I walked in to the store, realizing just how messy I must've looked...