The Titus 2:4 Project

I have a confession to make.  I watch that zombie show that everyone is talking about with my family. Don't be a hater.  Don't judge...and you don't even have to admit if you watch it, too.  I got 'sucked in' last winter, when the snow was piled sky-high and there was nothing to do.  My twenty-something daughter and her boyfriend watched it regularly and talked about the characters as if they were personal friends.  So my husband was the first to pick the fruit and take a bite.  He logged into our online movie provider and began a weekend-long, commercial-free marathon of that zombie show.  I wasn't interested at first, but once the dishes were done, laundry was folded, floors swept, and any other menial task I could come up with to keep myself busy was finished, I finally resigned to sitting beside him on the couch, with a bag of popcorn in hand, and began learning the plot and the characters.  By the end of the night, I too was hooked. Let's be hon

It's December 1st.  Wow.  I know it's very cliché...but this year has gone so, so fast!   We've survived Black Friday, Small-Business Saturday, and today is Cyber Monday...tomorrow is Giving Tuesday.  Do you ever feel like every body wants a piece of you?? My dream is just to get back to the meaning of the season.  Love.  That's the reason Jesus Christ put on a robe of flesh and entered this cold, selfish world in the first place.  The love of God.  Jesus brought it to us.  We need to bring it to others. Today's Advent scripture is found in John 1: -5.  The NIV says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  He was with God in the beginning. 3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [ a ] it. Jesus is the Word.  He was spoken into

Again, this morning's Bible reading reveals one of those stories that leaves me wondering how I've missed hearing this before...and laughing a little. I'm slowly (very slowly) making my way through the book of Acts (still)...and in chapter 19, verses 15 and 16, I read about this amusing, but painfully 'too-close-to-home' kind of situation. Paul is in the middle of a missionary journey and he is moving and shaking and God is working miracles through him.  So these seven sons of a certain Sceva (a Jewish high priest) decided to try casting a demon out of a man in the name of Jesus, "preached by Paul" (MSG).  The evil spirit talks back to them, saying "I know Jesus and I've heard of Paul, but who are you?"  I'm sure they weren't expecting this reaction....after all, Paul made it look so easy.  They probably stood there, dumb-founded, looking at each other, going, "I don't know...who are we??"  Then the guy jumps on the

Somehow, here it is October 30th in central Indiana, and we have yet to turn on our furnace.  The 's-word' is in the forecast for tomorrow night, but my heels are dug in and I'm not budging...until Saturday.  November 1st is our goal for firing up the wood furnace - and it looks like we are going to make it.  So what if I have to sleep in a stocking cap, sweatshirt, wool socks and fleece-lined leggings.  As the sun comes up, so does the temperature inside my house...and I finally broke down and brought the electric space heater in from my husband's 'Man Cave' last night.  It has helped take the chill off.  I'm thinking we could go another week without the furnace... As I stood in the shower this morning, watching the steam billow from the top of the shower into the chilly air of the bathroom, I seriously pictured myself standing there until every last drop of hot water was gone from the tank.  Cold water would certainly chase me back to my wool socks.

Ever had a bad haircut?  I mean a BAD haircut.   I have.  As a woman, it can be emotionally devastating.   This haircut isn't that bad.  It's not my hairdresser's fault.  I pretty much got exactly what I asked for.   More or less.   It's a long story.   I wanted to embrace my natural color...which includes a great deal of gray and some other color I'm unfamiliar with.   My plan was to grow out my roots until I couldn't take it anymore then go shorter, removing as much of the fake blonde as I could.  Then my natural color would take over and I could grow my hair back out.  Easy. Peasy.   In theory.   The cut I was going for... In truth, here's what happened: I couldn't take the roots anymore.   Called my hairdresser.  Show her a picture of the adorable pixie haircut and told her my plan.    Her suggestion was to put some shades in my blonde to blend the roots out and not have a drastic blonde/dark line.  Sounds good.   It

I knew that title would get ya!  Who doesn't want better sex?  First disclaimer...God intended sex to be within the confines of marriage.  The best sex you'll ever have is with your spouse, because that's the relationship blessed by God. Ok, now that we've got that straight... let's talk. So many  things keep us from enjoying a good, healthy sexual relationship...stress, finances, exhaustion, the kids among others.  Assuming those other things aren't physical or emotional damage that is truly inhibiting us, then let's call ourselves 'normal' (for the sake of this discussion)...and before anyone gets upset with me, I'm not saying that someone with physical or emotional problems isn't normal...I'm just not sure how to get my point across without using common language, so if you would, please show me some grace as we approach this subject.  Deep breath...ok, so I'm not sure where we (my husband and I) learned these things - I beli

Have you ever watched a movie more than once?  For me, it depends on the movie.  There have been a few worth watching twice because they were just that good...and some that required a second-watch to 'catch' the things you missed the first time. Yesterday my husband happened to stop channel surfing when he came across a movie that we'd seen years before.  The movie was about three-quarters of the way through and as my brain caught up with the action, I was able to recall a few details about the movie...but not many.  I did, however remember the BIG ENDING.  That's about the only part I was sure about. Same thing with novels and books.  I enjoy reading, but since I don't get to do enough of it, I rarely spend the time to re-read a book.  I can only think of one novel in my life that I enjoyed so much that I sought it out to read a second time.  I could remember the ending and the over-all story line, but the details and events had escaped me, so I could actually

I had a great conversation with my dad today, which sadly, I don't do nearly often enough.  We chatted about the usual stuff: my kids, Randy, my dad's health, football...and then he asked me what I was doing these days.  It's a fair question.  Everyone asks.  It's almost as cliché as "Hi, how are you?"  The next layer in rote conversation.  "What have you been up to."  Standard answers vary from, "not much" to "keeping busy."  Aren't we all?  Keeping busy, that is.  "What am I doing these days?  Well, I have put my real estate license into referral status and sold off my share of the business.  I have shifted gears after a whirlwind year with Mary Kay.  I am blogging and trying to focus on what God has called me to do.  I'm trying to be the best wife and mother I can be." I heard the words come out of my mouth...I'd never said them before.  I'm trying to be the best wife and mother...  Today, that

What are you called to do?  Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." To do good works.  God didn't prepare us in advance to complain, gossip, act selfishly, promote negativity or to live in a constant state of drama-induced exasperation.  No!  He prepared us for good works.  And as far as I can tell - every single good work mentioned in the Bible hinges on ONE WORD.  LOVE. According to Romans 12:6 - 8 we all have different gifts.  Some people might use the term 'calling'.  "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. (7)  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; (8) if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of other, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is sh

Today I had the pleasure of a face-to-face visit over delicious coffee with a friend I hadn't seen in 13 years.  I almost said that I 'reconnected' with a friend...but thanks to modern technology, we were never really disconnected.  I  just moved 60 miles away.  But we have kept track of the big events, the silly things, the sadness and the successes in each other's lives.  A couple of things that stuck me as I drove away from our two-hour visit... I realized that it's great to have godly friends.  We shared prayer requests for the things that are going on in our lives now and we talked about God's faithfulness and mercy over the things that have happened since we last talked.  We talked about what's going on in the world and the second coming of Christ.  We talked about death and spending eternity with Jesus.  We talked about our kids and the challenge of parenting.  We talked about careers and the opportunity to be a witness for Christ in a dark wor

Ebola.  School shootings.  ISIS.  Cancer.  Do any of those things strike fear in your heart?  These are what I refer to as the big-kid boogeymen.  This is a scary world we live in.  Right now, as I type, my husband is watching the news and I am hearing about a woman who tried to strangle another woman with a phone cord and steal her 10-week old baby.  The world is full of crazies.  Some of the horrific images I have seen on Facebook lately have literally made me physically ill, to the point where I have to put my phone down and walk away in tears, crying to God, "Why?  Why God??" I wish God would explain it to me now...but He whispers to my soul, "In time.  But for now, peace.  Be still."  Is the world worse now than ever before?  I doubt it.  There are so many stories of war and famine and annihilation in the Bible.  Murder and violence are certainly nothing new.  Did you know that at the time of Jesus' birth, King Herod ordered all the male infants i

Have you ever seen a gorgeous rainbow in the sky...that was only one color?  A beautiful, calm shade of violet.  One color.  Always the same. Of course you haven't!  Rainbows are meant to have all eight colors of the spectrum...Roy G. Biv.  Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  (My momma taught me that.)  And I've discovered that our emotions are a lot like rainbows - meant to be experienced with the entire spectrum in tact.  Happy, sad, angry, surprised, silly, content, frustrated, and a long list of others.  I started taking antidepressants many years ago to help me through a 'rough time'.  Not only did taking medication not help...I largely attribute the medication with making things even worse.  And what typically happens when a dose of medication isn't helping the way 'they' think it should?  They change medications or increase the dose.  Maybe both, as was my case. I settled in to a 'comfortably numb' state of mind.  Unt

As you know, my hubby travels extensively for his job.  There are many days that go by and I'm lucky to get five full minutes of conversation.   Much of our communication happens via text message.     Several years ago, while listening to a radio show, my husband learned that the numbers 1,4,3, when sent as a text, mean "I love you."  The number 1 represents one letter, "I".  The number 4 represents four letters, "l-o-v-e."  The number 3, as I'm sure you can guess,  represents three letters, "y-o-u."  The first time he texted me 143 I had no clue what he meant.  He explained it to me and since then it has become a regular part of our conversations.     It's a great way to share a sentiment when he's in a meeting and can't take time to type much.  It's our little 'secret' (or was until now.)  It's a special way to share a special message.   And, you know how I love meaningful ink, so when I saw a pict

No, I'm not talking about myself.  The blonde isn't real and let's face it, sweet hasn't been an adjective that's been used to describe me  very often.  I could be talking about my children....but actually, I'm talking about my coffee.  I'm sort of a coffee -snob.  Not because I demand the finest beans, hand - picked on some far away mountain top, or because I use some fancy French contraption to press the beans and steam the milk (because I don't! )  but I am uber picky about how it tastes....some may say I'm a lightweight.  I like it sweet and creamy.   A little coffee with my cream and sugar.  Just like momma used to make it for me when I was twelve years old.  Drinking coffee at a public place is always cause for another fun round of "How Many Cream and Sugar Packets Will it Take?"  Today is was 5 creamers and 8 sugar packets.  it wasn't great, but I was in desperate need of caffeine. Right now I'm wishing I had another c

I enjoy talking to people I've never met before.  I start with a warm, genuine smile and a sincere compliment, and just let the conversation take a natural flow, like rain water rushing through the countryside.  On a trip to Key West, Florida several years ago, I exercised this strategy.  We were crowded into a shuttle bus that would take us from the plane to the tiny little airport.  Somehow over the course of the very short ride, I engaged another female passenger and her sister in a conversation about our pedicures.  She had hot pink toe nails with little white flowers...and from there it went to our purses, our dogs, our trip, our names, and by the time we stepped off the shuttle we were Facebook friends.  (And six years later we still are!) Another perfect example, I was at a large park with my in-laws.  Our men were out riding bikes and we girls were responsible for cooking out.  No one remembered aluminum foil...but there was another woman at the picnic site next to us w

What a busy weekend!  I hope you all had a good one as well.  I was blessed to be able to help move my daughter and her boyfriend back 'home' (an hour's drive from my house) from Nashville, TN.  Last Thursday I was dreading the weekend.  I have a strong dislike for the entire process of moving a household, be it mine or anyone else's.  Add to it a 12 hour round-trip drive and I might pull out the H-word.  (Hate is a word I try not to use lightly.)  I started having anticipatory back pain to such a degree that I had to take medication to get through the day.  Not a good sign... My youngest son, who is a nice, strong, healthy 15-year old, went with me.  Not because he has an overt fondness of assisting his siblings in their time of need, but more because he was able to miss a day of school.  And yes, he does love his sister...and thinks her boyfriend is pretty awesome as well.  I was happy to have some company on the drive down, even if he takes control of the radio

Remember Paul Harvey?  I always enjoyed listening to his radio commentary that ended with the now famous line..."and now you know, the rest of the story." Well, I recently found myself wandering around one of my favorite book stores and while perusing the 'Religious' section, a book caught my eye.  "The Story" by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee.  It's scripture, arranged chronologically.  Some verses condensed, some rearranged, some omitted, for the sake of the story-line.  So it reads like a novel.  I wouldn't recommend reading it only .  As in, you need to read the Bible first and foremost.  My dad always told me not to read so many books about THE BOOK...just read THE BOOK.  But this is a  pretty cool accessory.  Tonight as I was reading, enjoying the familiar story of Joseph, who had been made ruler of all of Egypt, revealing himself to the brothers who had hated him and sold him off to be a slave, one particular line really jumped out at me.  I

Tempers flaring, we stood toe-to-toe.   "Well, what did you expect? " He roared. "Not this! " Tears pooled in my eyes. I stormed away and locked myself in our room.   I don't even remember what we were fighting about that day, only how I felt when my expectations had not been met.  I felt like he just didn't care.  I was disappointed.    In all my years of marriage,  I have come to understand one thing.  Every single frustration, no matter what it's about or the degree of emotional turmoil, always boils down to one thing: unmet expectations.   I expected one thing to happen, and it didn't...or I didn't expect something to happen, and it did.  Plain and simple.    I expected a card for Mother's Day.  He forgot.  I expected him to let me sleep late on Saturday.  He woke me up before the sunrise. I expected him to put his dirty dishes in the sink before he went to bed.  He left them on the coffee table.   - or -