Living Life for Christ Alone

I sat on the bathroom floor, the sound of the girls crying from the different rooms they were in making its way to my ears and breaking into the silence. It had been an emotional week for the girls. Between potty training, teething, leaps and who knows what else, there had been many, many tears. My own emotions were frayed, and I knew I couldn't handle their tears and the intensity of emotion much more.  I took a deep breath and said a prayer. "God, I can't even hold myself together..."  His whisper quieted my soul: "I can hold you -and them- together."  I stood back up and walked out of that bathroom with renewed confidence. ... "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thess 5:24) How readily I take things into my own hands. How easily I grasp for control. And then, how quickly it all gets out of control because of my choice to take control.  But I am here -as  a wife, a mother, a writer and whatever else I am, because He  called me...

Have you ever felt like life's many troubles, pains, challenges and pressures line up at your bed to greet you the moment you wake up?  This has been me the last couple weeks... I wake up in the morning, and there they are clamoring for my attention. I think through one and come to a conclusion about it, and then the next one takes its turn. And then, when I have thought through them all, the first one comes around again with another side to the issue to get me thinking again. Fix it mode is a very real thing, and not just for men. We want control, we want to see wrongs made right, we want our world to be put back in order, we just want peace. And before long, we become consumed.  Have you ever been here? It comes in many different forms... You could call it worry. You could call it fear. You could call it anxiety. You could call it control. You could call it a search for stability. You could call it a desire for things to be fixed. You could call it a pity party. You could ca...

This morning, my girls and I went for our near-daily walk and the sky was almost cloudless with a slight breeze blowing. It was lovely, especially for a typical day in the middle of Florida's summer with all the not-so-glorious heat and humidity. But then, as the morning wore on, clouds rolled in and rains poured down, covering our yard with puddles.  And now, as I write, the sun is shining brightly in our yard with clouds hanging low in the distant sky.  One can never be quite sure what will happen next... More rain? Or how about a cloudless sky? It really could go either way. I feel like circumstances can be like that. Sometimes, the good ones stretch over months, and other times, they last only a few short minutes. And yet, how quickly and easily we put our hope in them. I don't know about you, but my emotions are often intricately tied into my circumstances, and as a result, they can be so... unstable. One minute, the sun of circumstances shines brightly, so my soul shines...

Discouragement often comes on the heels of high emotions and great encouragement.  Ever noticed that?  I recently heard mentioned in a podcast the saying: "What goes up must come down," and  I was struck by the fact that this very much can be referring to spiritual, emotional and physical highs.  A busy and fun weekend is often followed by a dull Monday.  A good day with little ones full of laughs and good behavior is quickly followed by another one with way less of both.  An exciting, energetic trip is often followed by an exhausted crash and sleepy, grumpy days to follow. A spiritual high can quickly be followed by spiritual lows, clarity by fog, joy by sorrow, confidence by faltering.  We so easily get discouraged once that high is replaced with a low simply because we secretly hoped the high would keep going on forever.  I experience this way too often, but I hadn't thought to expect it and even prepare for it.  If we are riding on the hi...

"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense; I shall not be moved." (Psalm 62:5-6) It is in stillness and quiet that we really see God. It is when our eyes are set only on seeing Him that other sights are able to dim before His glorious presence.  Silence. I feel like it's a lost art.  Most of the time, my own soul is full of noise. Worries and cares. Distraction. People I care about. Circumstances I often seek to control. Goals I aim for. Things I'm doing that I'm deeply engrossed in. I start the day all too often with what seems like thousands of thoughts swirling in my mind.  Our moments of "quiet" often amplify the noise in our soul. Ever noticed that?  Maybe it's because we are actually settling down to listen, and that's the first thing we hear.  How do we wait  in silence  for God?  Perhaps it has more to do with expectation than we realize. Maybe there is a l...

It had been a long week full of challenges for me. I don't remember what all the challenges were, but the main thing I remember is that I’d had many moments of overwhelm, many moments where I wondered if I could make it through another day of more of the same.   But now, as I trudged onto the beach, a sense of joy flooded my soul. Here I was, in one of my “happy places”, alone with God.   You see, Kevin had given me the morning off to spend some time alone with Jesus while he watched the girls. I knew where I wanted to go, how I wanted to use that time. I was going to take a long, long, long, uninterrupted walk along the beach. Just me and Jesus.   The waves crashed, the white sand glistened in the sunlight, the sounds of seagulls could be heard, the smell of salty water filled the air, and I felt a sense of awe settling over my soul. I looked around at others there and wondered if they felt it too. How could they not? This was God’s creation, awesome beauty for all ...