A Smackeral Of Life

Waiting...it's not always an easy process. Waiting for the job interviewer to call you back, waiting for the baby to come, waiting for that new Christmas gift to arrive in the mail, waiting for your paycheck to come, waiting for a vacation....waiting.  A lot has happened in this last year, and if I'm being honest a lot of changes have been made. Someone asked me today if they were good changes or bad changes, my answer was, "They were mostly all good changes (a few bad), but they were also hard ones."  At the beginning of this year my family flew in from being in Florida on our boat trip to attend my uncles funeral, a few months later we returned home for good and completely finished our boating adventure, a few months after that I was engaged, and a few weeks later I found myself heartbroken and no longer engaged, for the remainder of the year things like a new job, a new haircut, a new car, losing some friends, and making  some great new ones came along. Change. ...

  I've loved this book ever since I was a child and have even been given this exact book several times as a gift. It speaks to my life in more ways than one, but I never thought I would get to a point in life where the words would mean so much. Where I would tear up at the innocent rawness shown in this children's book. But, I found myself reading it today, I couldn't find the actual book I had been given (it's probably stashed under my bed in one of the many boxes I haven't unpacked yet since being home,) and so I read it online. Right here , and I found myself with tears gathering in my eyes as I reflected on the imagery shown throughout it and how much it spoke into my life right now. This book is full of adventure and options. Full of paths, and roads, and "out of towns." It talks a lot about choices, and how each one has an impact on our path in life. But, something it also touches on is the fact that not every path is known by us. Some...

Sometimes we have rough times, and recently I've had a lot of them. But God has taught me a very valuable lesson. And believe it or not He taught it to me while I was on an island. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Out of all the things I've learned the past three weeks there is one saying that has become near and dear to my heart. If you follow me on Facebook you will know that recently my family took a nice little mini vacation to Put In Bay. This is a saying that is seen vastly throughout the island. I've seen it for years, every time we go actually.  I've taken countless pictures of that same rock and used it for old Instagram posts, Snapchat Stories, and probably Facebook photos as well. But this saying has never touched me as much as it did this last week. The story behind the saying goes something like this: I n the year 1813 Captain James Lawrence of the American Navy commanded troops aboard the ship USS Ch...

  As Mary Magdalene walked slowly to the burial place of Jesus, she recounted the last few moments she saw Him. Wrapped in linen, laying in a tomb. They did not have time to cover Him with spices, and with that knowledge, Mary had set out that morning to go and finish properly burying her Lord. She hadn’t slept well in a few days, and when she did sleep it was fitful and only brought nightmares. Flashbacks of Jesus hanging on the cross went through her mind, bringing tears to her eyes during all hours of the day. But, she really did try to be strong, for she wanted to help Mary, Jesus’ mother, stay strong too. The poor woman had suffered so much, watching her precious child die for all the world to see. She had faithfully stood at the foot of the cross, below her son, her own flesh and blood. She too was getting less and less sleep and more and more tears.         Mary Magdalene walked on through the garden towards the tomb of her Jesus. She paused,...

As the disciples sat together, each in his place around the table, they talked amongst themselves of the many miracles they had witnessed over the years with Jesus.  “Do you remember when all those people gave a lot of money at the temple?” Peter asked. “Yes!” said John, “And then the widow came and gave one mite. Jesus was quick to point out her act of love for God.” “What about the day we threw tables around the temple?” said James. “That was a whirlwind of a day!” They all chuckled, remembering the faces of the workers as their tables were being flung across the courtyard. As they continued to recount all of the amazing things that had passed, Jesus rose from His seat. They all rose, ready to follow Him to wherever He would lead them next. “No,” said Jesus, “stay seated please, my brothers.” With that, they sat down once more and watched as Jesus left the room. He returned a short time later dressed with a towel around His waist and a bowl and jar in His hand. He ...

Hey guys!! This week I'm doing something very different, not only that, but I'm making this something different into a 3 part series!! So stay tuned this week for some new blogs! I can't wait to share this story with you! :)       It was but a few days before the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread. They had traveled many miles through the desert, feeling hot, dusty, and tired. For every time they stopped to rest, a crowd was sure to gather near. They were used to the people by now, sometimes they would even follow them around. Listening to the stories told by their teacher, watching Him perform His miraculous wonders to those in need.        Jesus was an exquisite man. He had a way with calling people to Him and teaching them about God. The sick, the poor and the needy were especially drawn to Him. Seeking Him out day and night for healing that only He could give. Jesus was perfect in all His ways, and they counted...

Mountains. I’ve definitely seen my share of them, both physically and spiritually.  I think everyone has.  But, lately I’ve been thinking more and more about the mountains we climb, and I’ve realized that life itself is a mountain.  It has winding paths, ones which we can choose from.  Some of them are graceful dirt paths that are easy to walk on, while others are caked with mud and tumbling rocks.  Maybe, just maybe, the mountain everyone always talks about climbing when you reach a hard spot in life is actually nothing but a little rock.  The one tumbling at you on your path up your true mountain.  A rock full of difficulty, one that can either knock you down or build you up….but in our human minds we have exaggerated the rock in our path to that of a mountain.  Giving it more power over us than we’d like to admit. Our mountain has its ups and downs, and sometimes we tumble so far that we hit rock bottom. We look up once aga...

Let me start out with this question.....have you ever been tapped by God? Just a small tap to get your attention? Well, have you ever been lovingly smacked upside the head by God too? Yeah, same here! God taught me a lesson today. But it took Him quite a few smacks for me to really get it. So, after learning some on my own, I thought it would be nice to share it as well! After all, sharing is caring! I hope you stick with me in my vulnerability, and that hopefully He can speak to you through me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As most of you probably know, today is Ash Wednesday. The day that kicks off lent. The day when people gather around and get a cross marked on their forehead with ashes to symbolize the scripture in Genesis that says "for dust you are and to dust you shall return." A day used to begin the remembrance of Jesus's life after birth, ministry, death and resurrection. I decided to start my own devotional pertaining to the ne...

This blog is going to be a little different, instead of writing on a topic, or giving my opinion, or pouring my heart out to the people who mean most to me. I'm simply going to pour my heart out. I absolutely love this song by Bethel Music and Jenn Johnson. It explains something that everyone goes through at some point in their faith. While listening to it today I began to picture the story in my head, and so I wrote one. I hope you enjoy it :) Take a listen to the song and then check out the story below :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As she steps closer to the place where the sand and the water meet, she hesitates, thinking of everything building up inside of her. That place of meeting....that place of longing. Her heart is full, yet longing for more, more of something. Her spirit is thirsty.  She longs for it to be filled.  She's ready for this something to come do whatever it wants to do. So, she takes a step into t...

This is such a cliche topic to write on during this time of year....every one is blogging about it, and if they're not blogging about it, they're probably sharing a blog about it. But, what better time to bring up what I think love is then during the month of love? So, here's my take on the "L" word! Enjoy :)  "I Love You" That one sentence that can bring out a smile, melt someone's heart or.....make someone roll their eyes. The word "love" gets such a bad image anymore. People say things like... "Ugh, love is such an overused word. Everyone just tosses it around like it's free." Hate to be the captain obvious one here, but, love is free :) Check out this quote from C.S. Lewis. "Do  not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did." Unfortunately, some people put poison in their love. Demanding a price for it, misusing the word for their own personal control and in turn making ...