Splash the Puddles

There’s something that’s been on my heart and mind a bit lately, and I think surely it’s not just me that is bothered by this. I believe at the core, we all truly want to offer love and support to one another, but we so easily fall into the habit of criticizing things that we don’t understand, or ways that are different than the way we choose. Specifically, I’m talking about “momming” right now-you know, the act of mothering, in case my slang isn’t clear to you. :) With the rise of social media over the last couple of decades, there are so many vessels of awareness that weren’t available to the generations that came before. I’m sure momming had its own set of struggles then, but I’m not certain any generation prior to the one raising kids in the age of technology and social media experienced the pressures and opinions  quite like we do. It’s nothing to scroll Facebook and see articles posted about the “right” way to raise your children. Topics such as breast or bottle, which is bes

I shared a post that I quickly read on Facebook the other day.  On the surface, and without much thought, it looked good.  I liked it.  It was a neat concept.  I shared it.  And for the most part, it was good.  Most of it was agreeable. I am not sure who the original poster was.  I don't know them.  I saw it shared many times by people I do know. Here is the post I shared: There's a lot I liked about this post when I originally read it. I don't disagree with most parts of it.  I'm just here to offer a different perspective that I believe the Holy Spirit whispered to me through wise council.    It's true, that like Judas, we have betrayed Jesus, we have exchanged righteousness and faithfulness for worldly treasures.  Yes, we have surely sat at His table, soaking in his words, and walked right out into temptation that ultimately led to a conscience choice of sin.  In the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed, surely we were on his mind, just as Judas was.  As

You've heard the saying, "I've got a good heart, but this mouth..."   That resonates with me.   Y'all, I swear the very depths of my heart desire to honor God with my words, actions and thoughts, but so often this mouth of mine gets in the way.  And out of that mouth comes the overflow of this heart-the one that yearns for complete surrender to Jesus, and yet so often wanders off on it's own selfish path.  Help me, Jesus.  Y'all just don't even know how often I have to pray, "Bind my wandering  heart to thee..." I've shared with you that my word right now is change.  I've also shared with you how much I don't like change.  So, it's ironic and totally God's way, that He'd speak this word over me. Even crazier, that He'd prompt my heart to pray for change.  I don't like change!  Change is hard and scary and difficult and...new.  Remember the spiritual things I said about change in my last post when

I've been doing the word of the year thing, long before it was a trend.  Or maybe it's always been a trend, and I just wasn't aware.  Regardless, words and I go way back.  This year, in particular, it seemed like anytime I scrolled social media during the first few days of the new year, all I saw was others proclaiming their word for the year.  And that's great, really it is.  But honestly, it made me not want to shout my word from the rooftops.  Something about sharing it with everyone else, made it feel less sacred to me.  Something about it becoming a "trend" has made me want to tuck my word deep into my heart and keep it hidden there, where only the Lord and I can know it and have access to it.  This year, I knew what my word was almost immediately, a stark contrast to last year where it was well into February before I felt certain I knew my word.  The simple, plain word popped into my brain before I'd even had my coffee one morning, much less opened

Years ago, I walked the difficult road of losing a child.  I can remember feeling like I was on a never-ending rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was scared and I was sad. I felt peace and then I didn’t. I willed myself to accept our loss as part of God’s perfect plan, but I was angry. So angry. I can recall not having a clue what to do with all of those emotions, and so I cried. A lot. Weeks passed and the heaviness did not lift, though life around me carried on. Those closest to me, inevitably moved on with their lives as did we. Days would come and days would go. Some were good, others dawned with an over-powering awareness of my empty womb and an unfulfilled desire. Where was God in all of this, I wondered?  With every passing thought of that nature, I stuffed the emotions deeper. Guilt overtook my already fragile emotional state and I willed myself to just accept God’s plan. Oh, how I struggled to do so. I had zero understanding of the truth that God could handle all of that-all t

The other evening I was in the grocery store with my boys grabbing a few items I needed to complete a meal we were taking to another family.  I used the self check-out because we had few items.  I decided at the last minute to grab some "cash back" with my check-out, so I pressed the $20 option and completed my transaction.  I loaded my groceries from the bagging area into the cart, convinced the littlest one to stop spinning the balloon stand 'round and 'round, yanked my receipt from the machine, and headed out the door.  I was sitting in the turn lane at the red light of the intersection when it dawned on me that I hadn't grabbed my cash back. I whipped the car across the (thankfully empty) next two lanes, circled back around, knowing that my cash was probably gone.  A small part of me held onto hope that it would still be there, in that drop down slot, waiting for me.  I went back in and the registers were empty, as well as the cash slot that should have held m