Treasure Found

Life Lessons from Toddlers  Yesterday morning as I was dropping Zander off I walked him to the door of his classroom and had the pleasure of seeing 4 or 5 of his friends run up to greet him, all joyously saying his name and one boy wrapping his arms around him for a hug. This brief moment warmed my heart immensely. I absolutely love the pure and innocent hearts of children. How much happier would we be if our friends all cheered our name when we arrived and ran to embrace us? It seems like that could be a little awkward, but only because that is the society that we know. Sure, we might hug our close friends we haven't seen in awhile, but I really don't see adults go somewhere they go almost every day and greet one another with such enthusiasm. If you run up to me at work now or at church and shout my name or put me in a bear hug, I am likely going to think you're a little crazy, but isn't that kind of sad that we hold back on showing that child-like love to one anothe...

Help! I Lost My Parenting Handbook This parenting stuff is the hardest job and often comes with little recognition or appreciation. There are no awards, no ceremonies, no promotions or raises. We don't get much vacation time and we don't get a lot of sleep. We are chefs, maids, chauffeurs, teachers, coaches, counselors, nurses and more. So many days it can be exhausting and we fall into bed and crash the second they're asleep. Mornings in this house sometimes feel like a circus act, as I juggle waking a cranky teen, trying to finish getting myself ready and trying to get a toddler ready whose favorite new words are, "I wanna do", which he says about everything from zippers to seat belts as we are already running late. Sometimes it is hard to find time to breathe and sometimes I find myself feeling thankful for an hour commute, in which I finally have time to pray and drink some coffee. I often float into work feeling energized and ready to take on the world, n...

Happy Mother's Day  This morning at church as we were singing the last song, I found myself getting a little emotional. I started to think about two beautiful women in my life that I was recently talking to about their experiences of hardship in Motherhood. I then started thinking about other friends and their struggles. I know so many women who have had miscarriages and women in my life struggling to get pregnant, and some that have recently had babies that needed extra time in the hospital . Most of these pains I have not personally gone through but I do know that Motherhood is not so cut and dry and that though this day is a joyous celebration for many, it can also be a hard day for those who have experienced loss, whether that be the loss of their own mother or the loss of a child or maybe not even a death of a loved one, but perhaps some kind of separation from someone you love, which is a pain I have experienced. Some people that haven't known me very long, may not kn...

The Gift of Intercession I recently took a Spiritual Gifts Test just for fun. I was curious what the results would be, because I often have a challenging time discerning what my gifts are and how to best use those gifts that God has given me. The test result said my #1 gift was Intercession, which is the gift to pray for extended periods of time on a regular basis and see frequent and specific answers to prayers, to a greater degree than that which is expected of the average Christian. Yikes! That sounds like a tall order to fill! If this is one of my gifts, this is definitely a new discovery for me. Don't get me wrong, God has answered many of my specific prayers in the past, prayers for others and for myself, but I am not always the best at praying for extended periods of time. I am often in "Go Go Go" mode. I will say that if someone is asking for prayer and I commit to praying for them, I will do that. I never want to respond to someone's request for prayer with...

Sharing is Caring This weekend as I was spending some time with a few family members, someone had brought up how one of their Christian friends had been inviting them to church. Everyone else seemed in agreeance that it was great that this friend was going to church and doing their thing, but that it would be preferred if that person did not try to “push” their beliefs on other people. Here is another area of struggle for me, speaking truth and sharing my faith with those who are not really in a place of openness to hear. I need God to do a lot of work on me in this area. I did chime in and say that I felt there was a difference between “pushing beliefs on someone” and simply inviting that person to join you at church. A few of them had mentioned how they were forced to go to church growing up and that they had enough of religion pushed on them back then. Knowing some of their religious upbringing, I had also suggested that there is quite a big difference from the religious upbring...

Foolish Pride This morning as my husband was getting ready for work, I found myself complaining to him. I was frustrated with someone over something rather trivial, but for a moment, in my mind, it seemed like a big deal. I don’t know if it is just because a situation was handled differently than how I would have handled it, but I think there was definitely an element of pride involved, an area I continually struggle with. I don’t typically consider myself a prideful person. Sure, I am proud of my children and my husband and others in my life and even of myself on occasion when I overcome a challenge and I think in those instances it’s okay to have a sense of pride or accomplishment. Where pride can come in and cause problems is when we are putting ourselves above someone else. Perhaps we don’t even realize that we are doing that. It often takes me awhile to notice that I am acting or thinking in a way that is prideful. When I catch a glimpse of what is going on, I need to stop a...

The Secret to the Treasure When thinking further on the name I chose for my blog, a verse came to my mind regarding treasure. It is from Matthew 13:44. Jesus is sitting by a lake, speaking to a large crowd. He was speaking in parables, as he often did and in this one he is speaking of the Hidden Treasure. He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." I have heard this parable several times, but I know the true meaning behind it did not sink in the first time I read it, probably not the second or third time either, but as I spend more and more time in God’s word, some of those things that went right over my head at one time, have started to make more sense. The kingdom of heaven is something that if we were asked to be a part of, most of us would probably say something like, “Yes, when I die, I would like to go to Heaven”, but when it comes down...

I'm not sure why, but on the way into work this morning the idea came into my mind to start a blog. Perhaps it was on my mind as there are a few Facebook friends that have one for various purposes and I often enjoy reading them. Maybe it is because I enjoy writing or it could even be that God put this on my heart to do. Whatever the reason, I am going to give it a try. I don’t know if anyone will read this or not, but hopefully for anyone that does, you will find something useful to take away from it. I just thought this would be a fun way to share with you some of the things that God has been teaching me through my walk with Him. To give you a brief summary of my background, I was raised Catholic and quit going to church shortly after Confirmation,  around age 16 or 17. I never stopped believing in God but for the following 12 years or so, I was not living my life for Him in any way. It wasn't until 2009 when I started attending a non-denominational church, that I really began...