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 doct...

"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...

*Photo was taken in Ghana, West Africa by Ethan Bond I began writing this blog when I stepped away from public work by faith, I wanted a place to document the Lord taking care of me and my family both financially and spiritually. I have tried to be honest about my struggles and victories, I have always wanted this place to be real. I even stopped writing when the words stopped coming. And the Lord has been faithful, even when I have wandered and doubted, he has been faithful. He is faithful to always give us what we need . And sometimes, we all need a little rest. Recently, I was struggling physically and forced to "rest." My body just wouldn't cooperate with the millions of things that needed to be done. So, I rested.  The forced rest made me think, what does rest look like? Maybe it looks different for everyone, but one common thread seems to be the feeling that comes with rest. Kind of like a deep breath and exhale, rest is like one big exhale. Some would pi...

Ah, sweet summer time! It is one of my favorite times of year. I love the lack of schedule, but just for a little while. Once August comes around I'm ready to get back to our routine. I do, however, use summer as a time for unschooling. I incorporate activities where the kids can learn without knowing their doing so. We love the app Epic (a teacher friend recommended this one), it is a great reading tool. We also take full advantage of the public library and all the fun things they do during summer. But reading is where it's at, I can not  say enough about the importance of getting our kiddos to read. As a parent, if we can instill a love for reading in our children they will be life-long learners. Here's a little glimpse at what we've been reading this summer. Our family reads a biography every night before our Bible reading. We have finished a biography on Rachel Saint and are currently reading one about Charles Mulli (he is a modern day George Mueller, this one...