Reflections and Responses

Happy Thanksgiving! This morning I tried to think of some things I am thankful for, yet fail to recognize – things I take for granted. I thought about things I'm grateful for besides the obvious blessings. A little "thanking" outside of the box - pardon my bad pun. So, besides Jesus Christ and my salvation, my husband and wonderful family, my church, health, job and home (sorry, just couldn’t NOT list those!), here are things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving day. The conveniences of modern life. Not to be cliché, but we take many things for granted that make our lives so much easier – gas stations, washing machines, even entities like the U.S. Postal Service. How wild is it that we can drop off a card in a box somewhere and have complete confidence that it will reach a specific destination across the world? All of these things save me hours, labor and worry, and I am grateful for them. The ability to have memories. I am thankful for the mental pictures, sound bites a...

I was challenged by something I heard recently while participating in Rick Warren’s “40 Days of Love” Bible study. Warren was speaking about recreation and how important it is for all of us to engage in activities that re-energize us emotionally. Recreation is not something I think about regularly. In fact, when he first said the word, I thought of my younger days playing basketball for the county Park & Recreation department – clearly, I was missing the point. Dictionary.com defines “recreation” as: 1. refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like. 2. a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment. Literally, recreation means to re-create or create anew. Preferred methods of “recreating” vary among individuals, since we all define pleasure and work differently. For example, Warren said that as a pastor, author and speaker, he works with his mind every day. For recreation, he likes to work with his hands for a chang...

I have encountered many “firsts” this year that accompanied my life changes - graduating from college, transitioning into a full-time job and getting married. Many additional firsts come along with marriage. Everything is fresh and exciting as a newlywed – even consuming a simple meal such as spaghetti can be exciting when you realize it’s the first time you’ve eaten spaghetti sitting across the table from your husband! John and I are about to experience our first Christmas season as a married couple. I’ve been blessed to celebrate seven holiday seasons with him, but this year will be completely different since we are now our own family unit. That means a lot of things – including the fact that we now have to cook something for all of the holiday potluck meals we will enjoy with our families! Yikes. Seriously though, I’m excited that we have the opportunity to set our own traditions. We can decide how we will celebrate Jesus’ birth from 2009 forward and what we will incorporate into ou...

I recently took my car to a drive-through carwash for the first time. I realize that many of you may be surprised by this, but yes, I had never been through one. As a teenager, I was blessed to have a dad who enjoyed washing cars – it was recreational for him. However, now that I am married, he probably would not appreciate me parking in his driveway and asking for a wash. Anyway, as I anxiously sat inside of my happy little car last week, waiting to go through the stall, I had an interesting thought. Going through a drive-through carwash is kind of like deciding to trust God with a situation in your life. Stick with me here for a minute. I first had to DECIDE to go to the carwash. Then I had to make a sacrifice – I gave up money for the service, and I also lost something along the way; an employee unscrewed my antennae and handed it to me before I drove through. Then I had to totally relinquish control. I was not expecting that, but a sign with a flashing yellow light told me to put t...

Well, I did it. I have been toying with the idea of blogging for quite a while now, and I've decided to just sit down and give it a try. Be patient and bear with me here as I navigate through the blogosphere and get used to this. My content may not always be compelling or juicy, but this is new territory that I have wanted to explore for quite a while now. So, here goes. I feel like God has things He wants to share - both with me and for the purpose of me to share with others. This will be a good exercise of discipline for me, forcing me to pay attention and really listen - and hopefully it will be fruitful for you as well. Thanks for meeting me here. I look forward to listening and sharing with you - good things are to come. He promises us that indeed.