Running On Empty?

Has it been a long week for you? Are you feeling out of steam, tired, worn out?  Do you long for the weekend so you can rest and relax?

Often the weekends don’t even provide for that break you are craving. Let’s face it, we usually spend that time playing catch-up for things we couldn’t get done during the week. Grocery shopping. Yard work. Home maintenance. Laundry. Paying bills. Parents spending their time shuttling kids around to various activities and sports. Looking in on relatives.  It can be exhausting.

If only you had more energy. What to do… Continue reading Running On Empty?

Are You There, God?

fog2Recently my husband and I decided to take a day trip down to Maryland. There was a thick fog in the morning when we left. As we crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge, all we could see were the supports of the bridge and a few cars in front of us.

I turned to the right to look out the window at the view. Nothing. There was nothing except a thick grey curtain. I knew everything was there, I just couldn’t see it. The river, the city, the factories, the hotels and boats. All there, but they couldn’t be distinguished through the veil. Continue reading Are You There, God?

Is God Trying To Get Your Attention?

stop sign

We were taking my mother (aka Grammy) home one night. It was a routine drive through some residential back roads. Suddenly, a car flew across an intersection directly in front of us. I instinctively slammed on the brakes. The driver had run a stop sign and was going full speed ahead. He missed barreling into our car and t-boning us by two seconds. The thought of this set my heart to pounding.

I pulled off to the side of the road. Heart still racing, I said, “Let’s pray”, to my mother and daughter, who was buckled in the back seat.

“Dear Lord, thank you for saving our lives tonight, in the name of Jesus, Amen.”

We continued on our way, although I was still shaking.  I recounted what had happened, as I needed to process it myself and I wanted my young daughter to understand the significance. If we had passed through that intersection just two seconds sooner, I most likely would have been killed or critically injured. Continue reading Is God Trying To Get Your Attention?

Freedom

american_flag_kite_by_public_domain_pics-d4s7htw

Freedom. It wasn’t something we had to think about when we were young. Freedom was playing with your friends down the street and being home in time for dinner. Free to play. Free to just be.

We learned in school what freedom meant in terms of our country. July 4th. Independence Day. A celebration of what we gained from those who went before us. Fireworks. A free nation. Under God. Indivisible. With liberty and justice for all.

As the years went on, freedom became something different. More like a representation of what we didn’t have. Responsibilities now weighed us down, and stole our “free” time away. You couldn’t just play anymore. You couldn’t just be. Schedules took over. Lives became busy. Too busy. Nobody thought much about what freedom meant. Until it was taken away.

Now the threat looms. Those who would choose to steal our freedom are in the background, planning their next attack.  It’s scary. It’s real. It’s too close for comfort. Continue reading Freedom