Sometimes the best way to grow is to learn from our struggles. Rest is one of mine, and that includes sleeping. As a woman in my mid-40s, you would think this wouldn’t be such a struggle, but honestly, I have gotten worse at it over my life. Why? First, I have failed to recognize rest as a component of humility. Psalm 4:8 states, “In peace, I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Imagine the absolute trust a believer in the ancient world must have had to rest in peace knowing that their heavenly Father would care for them as they…

I read an article in the Summer 2020 women’s magazine Just Between Us entitled Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Tracking God’s Faithfulness in Your Life. In the article, author Helen Cipero outlines life using the compass directions. North is God. East is what is emerging in your life. South is your calling or passion. And, West is what is setting or changing in your life. While a simple exercise, looking at the compass of my life clarified that my two most important priorities in my life are God and family. However, when I looked at how I had been spending my time, it was obvious that something was out of…

Typically, when we hear the word frozen we automatically think of the various states of frozen water. For example, we are all familiar with the various frozen states of water such as an ice cube or when snow becomes sleet. But what about applying the term frozen to a mental or physical state? Let’s discuss that further. For some of us, our endless to-do lists and the seemingly never-ending list of activities may produce a mental or physical state of being frozen. We may lay awake at night trying to get to sleep feeling frozen in place thinking about what did and didn’t get done that day and what is…

I have always thought that you had to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day and look out for pots of gold and leprechauns. It might surprise you to know the real reason behind this interesting day.  As you might have guessed it does have to do with the Irish, but it is actually a religious holiday. St. Patrick was born in Britain to a Christian family but growing up St. Patrick was an atheist. He was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland when he was 16 years old. While in Ireland he worked as a shepherd. He escaped six years later by walking almost 200 miles and convincing a…

Several years ago, I ran into a concept that struck me as important and I have chewed on it since then. Yes, sometimes it takes me years to completely understand what should be a simple concept! The concept was called “white space”. I had been struggling, as usual, with a too-full schedule, which leads me to feel overwhelmed, inadequate, and just plain cranky. My research identified “white space” as a design concept that allows for balance and focus (Gardner, n.d; Glei, n.d.). In addition, some of the sources indicated that your space determines the amount of white space needed for balance. Several lifestyle blogs used this concept in terms of…

This week marks one year since I felt like the lights switched off in our world. It was a domino effect from schools closing, the state closing down and the nation shutting down due to COVID. In a matter of days, it changed and I sat in my home with an eerie feeling of the unknown. COVID is just one of life’s events where things can change quickly. Life throws us job losses, health crises, the loss of a loved one, and more resulting in our world being turned upside down. So do we sit and cry and let it get us down and drive our anxiety high? Of course…

Mealtime is the craziest time of the day for most households. Between checking homework, prepping for the next day, and making sure supper (yes, I am from up North) doesn’t burn, it’s amazing we survive. Most times I feel like our family crashes to the table to inhale our food and get to the next chore with fragmented pieces of conversation between bites. Needless to say, it is unfulfilling.  In the midst of cleaning up the kitchen one evening, I had a God-given “aha” moment. It was the realization that I was epically failing at the part where God instructs us to teach and guide our children and lead by…