bread and water

 I was 4 months pregnant when I had a miscarriage with our baby that would’ve been Titus’ little brother or sister. Yes, we wanted more kids. Call us crazy, but we were the most excited about this one because we were older and felt like we were finally figuring out how to handle parenthood (yeah right).  I never had feared miscarriage. I feared almost everything else though 😅 It was around this time of year that John and I posted our announcement on social media with us in front of our Christmas tree saying that “I was eating Christmas cookies for 2”.  We told our church family in West Virginia. It was during the time when folks were getting the s h o t for c o v i d . Oddly enough, the miscarriage happened after I had been around my sweet neighbors who had just gotten theirs and that was when people talked about the shedding.  Who knows why it happened. A person in my extended family blamed the miscarriage on me the day it happened. My doctor said it’s no one’s fau...

 My Thoughts on Middle Age Birthdays Turning 41 feels like… should I wear spanx with that outfit? buying eye glasses for the first time but not wearing them because do I really need them? having regrets in life but also realizing it’s not too late to do new things  realizing I should’ve started anti aging skincare decades ago  yet feeling grateful to have lines on my face that show proof I have smiled and laughed a lot and enjoyed the sunshine  it feels like trying not to compare myself to others who have gotten any number of body parts enhanced, plumped, perfected and injected  “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” in a culture that praises beauty, God reminds me that “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised”

      Today was the first day of school for my boys. I have 4 boys from a Senior to a Kindergartener!  My middle two are in 8th grade and 10th grade. I laid in bed and prayed quietly for my boys this morning. Sometimes I “preach” loud at them but I think quiet prayer can do more than any yelling ever could.  When the older 3 were younger I would often ask the Lord why He thought I could handle that many boys. (Years later we had a 4th son and lost a 5th child in miscarriage). I couldn’t and I can’t parent without His grace and help along the way.  Children can be mirrors to parents. More is caught than taught.  Peers can be influencers or influenced. BE AN INFLUENCER 🔥  Sometimes the meanest kids in school are the ones who need the most love.  Pray for the students going back to school to have courage to swim against the stream, to be kind when it’s cool to be mean, to love their enemies and accept the outcasts.  Pray they can be an inf...

 I used to get jealous 🫣 and it caused me to criticize others to make myself feel better.  (I know this is sin and it’s horrible but I’m being honest)  Jealousy can be from an insecurity or a sense of not seeing your own value, purpose or giftedness.  James 3:16 says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” “Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; But who is able to stand before jealousy?” Proverbs 27:4 Have you ever been around a jealous person? It’s hard to be in their presence.  (The verse above says who can stand before jealousy) I started to learn that life is better when I’m cheering for others success and not my own. When I started to allow people more gifted than me to help me, it caused everything to grow.  When I started lifting others up, recognizing their efforts and applauding them, it made my heart happy.  I’m naturally competitive and the job I used to work fed that fleshly tendency. But it’s not abo...

To the young Mom who is trying to decide whether or not to stay home with your young children…stay home.  The season goes by so fast and you won’t regret staying home with them.  My oldest just turned 18. You can’t get that time back.  We have four sons. We were barely getting by financially.  I had numerous job opportunities during the time that I was staying home with them.  I had some great ministry opportunities during that time as well. I said no to some and yes to some.  I didn’t do a perfect job as a young mom and there are things I would’ve done differently now, but one thing I don’t regret is staying home with them.  To this day, if I’m not home when they are they ask me where I’m at.  Just being home with them brings security.  No shame to the working moms out there but this was on my heart to share. I know someone needs to hear it.  The Bible tells us to be keepers of the home. In order to be a keeper of the home we must be at...

Do you want to have something the great King Solomon had?  You can.  You can have wisdom, if you ask God for it.  You can have wisdom, if you read Proverbs in the Bible.  You can be wiser than the scholars  despite your age.  Do you want wisdom?  James 1:5 #wisdom