“But I have No Value…”
Redefining Value, beginning with your core beliefs He sat down next to me as tears filled my eyes. My pen wasn’t moving like the other women sitting around the table. Instead, my mind raced. I could not answer the question. Tears rolled down my cheek as I looked him in the eye and said, “I have no value.” The words poured into the empty space, taking every emotion I had kept inside. For the past few months, I fought physically and emotionally to stay on my feet, but in this one sentence, it all came loose. I felt worthless, and I had just verbalized my deepest belief about myself to…
The Unexpected Element of Surprise
I am not a fan of surprises. If you drop even a hint of a surprise, I will bug you until you cave and tell me what is in the works. I love the anticipation of what is coming, but I can’t get past the scared feeling that comes with not knowing exactly how things are going to work out. Are you with me? If you are, you know what it is like to hear the words, “I’ve got a surprise for you!” as the on switch for a focused mind. You begin to look around with concern, think through your last two weeks of conversation, recall the calendar in…
Why I Feel More this Easter
When “Stay-at-Home” feels like the death of normalcy, find hope in the tomb How can I find hope in the current situation? How can I be hopeful when I am “stuck” at home? Because of the tomb. For the most part, I am doing just fine here at home. As an introvert, I lived for the days when I had no place to be or no schedule to follow. To be able to sit and read all day or to do a home project I’ve wanted to try. I am enjoying time by myself (or as much ‘by myself’ as I get when the family is close). I am soaking…
How A Mug Reminds Me to Value My Time
I have a mug addiction. But this one is a favorite. Seriously, have you tried Donuts?!? When I pulled this mug from the cupboard this morning, I chuckled yet again. I’ve been trying to consider things from other perspectives, and today this mug reminded me of something a friend said a few weeks ago. She said, “When you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else.” Life is full of choices, but whatever choice we make leaves something unexplored or untouched. Like when I say yes to donuts, I am saying no to my Batman-esque 9-pack. It’s easy for me to say no to something when I…
Debunked: God Needed Him More than You Do
Grief is hard. If you have never walked through the loss of a close loved one you don’t always understand its depths. And so out of our mouths roll phrases like, “God gained another angel,” or, “God needed him more than you do.” Though we mean well, its not always truthful. I cannot speak of grief as well as my friend Jennifer. She is a remarkably strong woman with an incredible story of love and loss. So today, I invited her to share with you about this phrase and the truth of God’s place in loss. Jennifer’s story goes like this: “God Needed Him More Than You Do” Loss is…
Debunked: God Won’t Give You More than you can Handle
When it comes to comfort, I am not good at giving it! I never know what to say when someone is going through a rough time. I want desperately to say the right thing, yet all that comes to mind is an overused cliché that often doesn’t even make sense. I remember one day, wrapped in the side arm of a friend, quietly speaking aloud the words, “You can handle this because God will not give you more than you can handle.” It seemed like a great piece of advice, but it also gave no comfort to my friend. It was simply words floating in one ear and out the…
Debunked: Thinking through the language of Faith
Personification. Simile. Metaphor. Oxymoron. American English, like many other languages, uses a wide variety of figures of speech to express our thoughts. Some produce beautiful, poetic prose. Others form tangible examples that illustrate a point. The way we use our words can create meaning beyond the simplicity of the words. But have you ever had to explain a figure of speech to a curious seven-year-old? Lately, it seems as if my two elementary age boys can find every metaphor and idiom. One asks what it means, the other turns it into a funny image or thought that makes everyone chuckle. I have had more run-ins with our crazy language in…
The Ups and Downs of a Season Change, and the Blessings It Brings
We bundled up in coats and hats and gloves. The clouds looked heavy and dark, and the rain or snow was due to fall on us mid-practice. It was the first soccer practice of the spring season, but the 40-degree air and breezy cold did not feel like spring at all. When I think April, I think warm sun. Hoodies and rain boots. Tulips, daffodils, and the smell of fresh cut grass. April is the beginning of the spring season- the bright, yet wet, season between the cold of winter and the heat of summer. Spring is the transition from one extreme to the next. This year spring seems to…
The ‘Shoulds” of Easter
I should have bought a new dress. I should have made an egg dish or a fruit salad. And I should have filled the baskets with toys. Easter is a holiday of tradition. We fill it with all types of ‘shoulds.’ The things we should do and the people we should see. The clothing we should wear and the goodies we should buy. We tend to do the traditional things of this day year after year. With bunnies and lilies in every store, new dresses on every girl, and eggs on mega sale, our culture has bought into the ‘shoulds’ of the holiday. My nine-year-old reminded me of this on…
Keeping the Tank Full
“Never let your gas tank get below a quarter.” My dad offered this practical advice to me when I turned 16. I had just learned to drive and passed the in-car test. He handed me the keys, the gas card, and a ticket to independence. The freedom of the car came with a curfew and a few practical tips. Always keeping gas in the car was very important to him. “You never know what is going to happen,” was his mantra and gas in the tank was the solution to it all. I can recall several times I wanted to skip the gas filling responsibility. The hassle of pumping gas,…
