Splash the Puddles

A good long while ago, I started asking God to unsatisfy me.  Is that even a word? I don't know, and I'm not pausing to look it up. :) If I'm being honest here, which is what I do when I write (albeit sometimes too  honest...), I am a girl who has been far too easily satisfied by the things of this world. At least momentarily, for the satisfaction never lasts long before I find myself longing for more- It's easy for me to turn to others to fulfill inner needs. I have a strong and God centered marriage, a supportive family, amazing children, and I'm extremely blessed with a few close friends who each play their special role in my life. I don't have to look far to find what I'm looking for, or at least what I think I'm looking for. And yet it stands, that those things in all their merit, are never able to fully complete me.   I believe strongly that God created his children with a desire, a craving, that cannot be satisfied with earthly relationships or th...

"Lord help me to pray..." Those words I uttered just a week or so ago, an attempt to reacquaint myself with a blessing of being a follower of Jesus that I so love.  Prayer. I believe in the power of prayer because I've seen God work as a result of it.  I've seen Him move mountains and make the impossible happen.  I've seen Him heal, restore, provide and close doors through prayer.  I've seen Him bring my faith and the faith of others to life, as a result of honest and unrestrained conversation with Him. I also believe in the importance and necessity of Christians praying to bring glory to the Lord.  I've felt a disconnect lately, and I realized recently that at some point I'd begun to pray less.  Sure, I still had my scheduled prayer times.  Mealtimes, bedtimes, church times, frustrated times, fearful times.  But, somewhere along the way, and I'm not even sure when, my habit of constantly conversing with Him all throughout my day a...

This time last year, I was not winning any mother of the year awards for sure.  I think it's safe to say that I had simply "lost" myself in motherhood. The joy of raising two little ones was replaced by the drowning feeling of just not having anything left-not being enough.  My patience resevoir had been exhausted. Their usual childhood antics were too much for me. I was explosive on a small scale, over reactive, quick to condemn and far, far from the mother I wanted to be. And sadly, I camped out there for around three months-much too long. When I spoke to my closest friends about my children, only negative comments came from my mouth. I could hear myself and hear the ugly and was so, so saddened by it. But I was overwhelmed and stretched and they were a safe place for me. I remember asking a very close friend who wasn't a mommy if her other close friend ever griped about her children the way I did.  Her honest answer stung-"no, not really." I think it was ...

March, due to a couple of unforeseen events and expenses, was turning out to be very tight for us.   We’d recently paid two different expenses, both right around $200 each, totaling around $400.    Two hundred of it was money we hadn’t planned as an expense and therefore wasn’t written into our budget.   Then there was the $200 check that we had written to Walker’s preschool the day, maybe two days, before we moved him to my school. (another God story, so see the post below!)   Now, I have no problem giving that preschool my money.   They have been wonderful to us and for Walker, and we truly believe in their cause.   However, there are times when we could really use the extra $200 that we paid for a month of school he wouldn’t attend there, and now is one of those times! Cliff and I are currently doing a 40 day prayer challenge.   We are reading through a book called “Draw the Circle,” and we are learning so much about growing our faith through...