You are here: Home / Archives for Faith / Everyday Faith

Give it to God. What does that really mean?

May 20, 2013 by 6 Comments
Christian Cliches: What does it mean to "Give it to God"?

    We church people love cliches. It's true.  We've got our own vernacular going and when you decide you want in, we are happy to teach you our lingo. I'm pretty much convinced we say some things and don't even really know what they mean.  True story. Today we're going to pick apart something you and I like to say every time we know someone who is going through a particularly difficult time. We look at them with love and sincerity and say, "Give it to God." Now, that's not bad advice.  The Bible says to cast your care on Him.  God is big enough, strong … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , ,

Living with Open Hands

May 6, 2013 by 5 Comments
Love fiercely but loosely. Don't hang on too tight.

    This world - these words and family and fun times - I've been hanging on too tight. I say "We only have this one chance, this one life." I don't want to waste it, to do too little, experience less than I could, but really, it's only a drop in the bucket, as they say.  I never understood that before, and I'm not sure I fully do now, but I see it a little more clearly. This life, it's not going to be around for long. I look at the things I love, the people, my children's faces, and I want to hang on forever and not let go.  I can't let go.   But, they are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , ,

I’m Flower Patch Farmgirl’s Guest

January 22, 2013 by 5 Comments
park bench Domestic Fringe

Please don't faint on me, but I am a guest over at Shannan's place, Flower Patch Farmgirl. I'm writing something completely different, sharing a part of my story I don't normally talk about on my blog. I have a hard time seeing the boundaries and knowing what is good to write and what is better left unsaid, so I seldom talk about the serious stuff that involves other people.  The bottom line is that I've made people upset before by what I've talked about on my blog, so I walk a fine line; however, this is as much a part of me as anything. That's all.  Go read. It's rain and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pay it Forward

August 26, 2012 by 18 Comments
lake on a sunny day

About seven or eight weeks ago, before we left on our long trip, one of my husband's customers went to an Amish auction and stopped by our house to share his haul with us.  We tend to develop friendships with many of my husband's customers.  No reason you cannot be friends with the people at work. Only my son was home at the time.  He looked at the food - lettuce, eggs, squash, zucchini - and thought of a family in our neighborhood.  He knew they had many struggles, so he kept what we could use, not what we could save to use in the future, but what we actually needed. He brought the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Hope Lives Here

February 2, 2012 by 14 Comments
where hope lives

This weekend we went into the city to see my uncle.  While he is being treated for throat cancer, he is staying in The Hope Lodge, a residential facility run by The American Cancer Association.  It's a place for cancer patients and their families to live during treatment.  It is close to the major hospitals in NYC and brings commuting to a minimum.  Some patients are from out-of-state and some live nearby. It's a place where hope lives. Unfortunately my photograph does not do this collage justice.  Each little square has writing in it - encouraging words, parts of Bible verses, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

My Meeting with an Angelic Serial Killer

June 26, 2011 by 11 Comments
Shared on Facebook by thisblessednest.blogspot.com, via Pintrest.

One day last week when the sun was shining, I poured a glass of lemonade and headed outside with my two kids.  Public school was still in session, so the neighborhood was moderately peaceful.  The older woman across the street just brought her two yapping, fluffy balls of fur inside.  The neighbors on either side of us were in work.  I plopped into one of my two green, plastic Adirondack chairs sitting in my front lawn and my son took the other.  My daughter opted to play with her miniature horses on the porch. I hadn't really noticed him until he was right in front of us, but Fred … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Plea to The Church

May 9, 2011 by
100_7527

This post is not a rant, but it is my heart splayed open across a blank page.  It is what I have lived and hated.  These things leave me scratching my head, my heart hurting.  These are the things that turn our children away from church.  They make women's hearts grow hard.  They hurt people. If you see yourself in this post, it's not my intention.  In fact, chances are more than good I've never attended your church.  If you feel conviction of some sort, fall on your face before God.  He wants to restore, heal, and transform.  But, for the most part, I am not speaking to you.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tossed Like a Load of Dirty Socks in The Spin Cycle

March 30, 2011 by 13 Comments
chrissy flying flower

I've been feeling a nudge lately and uncharacteristically decided to pay attention before the whopping kick in the backside.  Sometimes it's the "still small voice" that penetrates my fog, but more often than not, getting my attention requires sky writing from the finger of God himself. I'm thick like that. In the beginning of the new year while everyone was making resolutions and picking words to focus them (like 'Intentional', chosen by Megan), I decided to live abundantly this year.  Armed with John 10:10, determination, and cup of hot cocoa, I stormed 2011.  Only, I've gotten off … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Praying for Blessings X 10

December 29, 2010 by 6 Comments

Please pray with me for Edie from Life In Grace and her family.  She is one of the sweetest women I know.  I admire her commitment to her children, her love for her family, her creativity and her faith. Right now she and her family are facing complete devastation.  They've lost everything except their lives. Go read her story and pray with me that God blesses her and her beautiful family tenfold.  He can take the ruins and make something lovely out of this tragedy.  He is faithful. Job 42:12  So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: ,

Living in The Shadows

November 15, 2010 by 18 Comments
100_6519

Do you ever feel like you're living as a mere shadow of yourself, of the life God intended and created you to live? That thought has been working itself around in my head for the last couple of weeks.  I'm thick as a brick most of the time, and if God wants to get an idea or truth in deep, it takes time.  My "ah-ha" moments are usually slow in coming, requiring lesson after endless teaching lesson. I know God wants us to live victoriously.  His Word says that "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  (Jn. 10:10)  Abundant means plentiful, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everyday Faith, Faith Tagged With: , , , , ,
Next Page»