Walking in the Shadows

  I had a blog post I was planning on editing and posting this morning but my heart is beating in a different direction this Christmas Eve.  Last night I hopped on to a social media platform after church and as I was scrolling I read a post that stopped me in my tracks. I won't post what I read here because honestly I'd rather put it from my mind. But in that moment I knew what the Lord had been saying to me for  a while now, it is time for me to step away from social media. I have been planning for a couple of weeks now to take the week after Christmas away from all phone distractions and just use my phone for calling and texting (its original purpose lest I forget). Today was to be the beginning of my social media break. And honestly I had decided to just quietly step away from it because I often roll my eyes when I read other's announcements of social media fasting or breaks. I really doubt the world needs to hear me say I'm stepping away from social media. Like, rea

  The last couple of weeks have been a struggle, not just for me personally, but for us all. I will not get political because that is not the purpose of this blog, but I think we can all agree that our nation as a whole is divided and a divided nation will fall. So here we are looking for hope, for direction, for answers and for truth. I just finished a novel that was set in Poland during World War II and found myself fearful of what I was reading and wondering if America could ever go that far. The answer is yes. Any nation that disobeys God can go that far.  I have struggled physically the last couple of weeks too, so both my body and my mind have been unsettled and in pain. Where do I turn when I feel hopeless? Just recently I received a report from one doctor that contradicted what another doctor told me, who do I believe? How can I hope for help physically if I can't trust the information coming to me? Where do I turn? Do I continue to seek further opinions from more doctors?

"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward." C.S. Lewis  It was a rare Thursday with all three of the kids home, the first since my oldest started college in August. It felt normal, nothing out of the ordinary, just my three children at home where they belonged. They sat at the table together, argued with one another and did a whole host of ordinary things. But for me, for this Momma's heart, it was an extraordinary day. A day where life felt "normal" after many not so normal days.  Isn't that life though? A lot of normal days that one day become extraordinary because they are no more. Homeschooling my three was normal for so many years until one day it wasn't. We just took a trip to the Apple Orchard that made me feel so nostalgic. Why did an ordinary trip to the Apple Orchard make me feel nostalgic? Because I missed what used to be. I missed me and my three kiddos taki

"There is no telling how much power God can put into man. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no more a hindrance." Charles H Spurgeon  I felt it coming for days. What started as an increase in pain culminated into what I call a Chiari Storm (someone who shares Chiari referred to her flare ups as a Chiari Storm and I have used the terminology since).  It just so happened this particular Chiari Storm coincided with an actual storm, a busy hurricane season has made the weather a real issue with my symptoms. Some say that changes in the barometric pressure bring with it increased pain. I don't know the science behind all of that but can say it has proved true in my journey with Chiari. Conquer Chiari explains it like this "As the barometric pressure lowers, tissues in the body may enlarge. As the tissues enlarge, they put more weight on nerves that control pain signals."  This particular storm came on the heels of Jason and I celebrating our 21st wedding

  Somehow it has been two years since I put my thoughts on this blog. Quite a few things have changed in the last couple of years, but that is true for all of us isn't it? 2020 has been one for the books. If you haven't personally experienced Covid-19 I am sure you know of someone who has. And even if you've avoided the actual virus, Covid has still altered your year and perhaps even your life. We too have experienced the effects of the virus both from a sickness view and daily life view (our year has been altered too). But I'm not writing today because of Covid-19. I'm writing because the nudge to write has been stirring in my heart for months. The nudge is no longer a nudge, it is more like a shove. When I began this blog it was to chronical how the Lord would take care of me and my little family when I walked away from public work. The Lord has absolutely done that. I now have a boy in college, one in high school and a girl in 5th grade. They are all well fed and