Thinking on these things . . .

My daughter came stumbling into our room at 4 a.m. “I had a bad dream”, she said as she crawled into bed. Did she want to talk about it? An immediate, adamant “No!” Ten minutes she was sound asleep safe in her dad’s arms. Safe When she experienced this bad thing she went to where she would feel safe. Later in the morning she told me about her bad dream and it wasn’t as scary to her in the 7 am brightness as it had been in the dark. Could we have explained that it wasn’t that bad and just a dream to her in the middle of the night? Not a chance, at that point she just needed to feel surrounded and protected. When trouble comes, overwhelming troubles like the constant crashing of waves on the seashore, where do you go to be safe? I wrap myself in scripture and claim the promises that God is… a refuge and help in time of need (Psalms 46) the Shepherd who supplies my needs and walks with me through the valleys (Psalms 23) the God who knows the way that I am taking (Job 23) who delights in e...

To quote that great female literary character Mama Bear, "Someone's been sitting in my chair!" But unlike the Goldilocks situation, somebody was still sitting in my chair and there wasn't any indication that they'd be moving anytime soon. That was my chair, my comfy spot for my Bible and morning coffee...(grrrrr) So I opened the door and walked outside and with my first step, I knew this was a good decision...By looking out the window I could tell that it was a nice day; a blue sky and sunshine, which is wonderful given the typically overcast days of spring, but even seeing how nice it was hadn't made me want to go outside... I was forced too! And was I glad! The sunshine and blue sky were just the beginning. There was a breeze tickling the tree's leaves making for a soothing layer of sound. I watched a tiny tiny bird hoping around the branches above me and swirling about was still the faint smell of lilacs. This was so much better than being inside!! ...

This picture is a trail. Seriously. This is the path I have to take. Do you see a path? I didn’t. What you can't see is just how steep this trail is, about a 45 degree angle... All I saw were rocks, boulders if you will, and this “path” looked more like the channel for water running down the mountain than a pathway for people attempting to climb to the top. I stood there looking at it, thinking about myself and how ill prepared I was to scale this. Other hikers had passed me who were well prepared. They had packs, hiking boots, hats, and special hiking sticks. I, however, was adorned in a sundress covering a swimsuit with my normal “running around on errands” gym shoes. Yeah. So not prepared for this. I thought I was just heading for the beach – a little sun, a little snorkeling … instead I’m standing on the beginning of the Na Pali coastline in a dress and muddied shoes and holding a branch ripped off a tree root for my hiking stick. My only choice was to move forward. As I did, ...