The Titus 2:4 Project

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. At our church they did a child dedication service. Several families presented their youngest children before the congregation to publicly profess their intentions of raising the child in the way of the Lord. A beautiful, albeit brief 'ceremony' of sorts. I remember the day I did that with my first born.  Many years ago now.  And something occurred to me, now that this child is in the throes of adulthood - facing adult struggles. The verse that the pastor had spoken over my sweet little infant that day was from 1 Samuel 1:27: "For this child I prayed..." I have tossed this verse around in my head for the past few days and this morning, as I laid awake in the wee hours of the morning, I was suddenly in grammar class with the Holy Spirit before me at the chalkboard, walking me through this simple verse, using a long pointer stick as we read it over and over, each time emphasizing a different word... FOR this child I prayed...      For...

Life is precious...and often too short.  Even though death is the only thing that we can absolutely count on, when a life ends, someone feels the pain of loss. A sweet lady once said to me that she never understood why people worry more about car insurance than life insurance, because you may or may not ever wreck your car, but you would eventually die.   (see Ecclesiastes 7:2) Many of you already know that just over a week ago, a young man from Kentucky was fatally injured in a motocross accident right here in Montgomery County, Indiana while racing at the Ironman Raceway Regional Championship. As a mother, it's unfathomable...I can't begin to imagine what his family is going through. But as a mother of kids that race, it's down right frightening.  My son, Jake, and I had a long conversation about the tragedy. The same day that Austin Mincey died, my son and a few of his friends posted their bikes for sale...

Technology is really great...when it works. I'm not sure how we ever lived without cell phones, tablets, lap tops and the like. My children certainly can't fathom life in such a way. This past weekend, my husband and I spent some time cleaning out our basement. We got rid of two computer monitors and multiple key boards, mouses, mice (what is the plural for computer mouse??) whatever you call them...there were speaker systems, cords, cables and attachments galore.  All gone. I laughed when I tried picking up a monitor.  It must've weighed 40 pounds! Oh mercy, am I glad we now have these nearly paper-thin computers.  It has taken me some time to learn to use just a fraction of what my new laptop is capable of doing. All these amazing programs written by some genius sitting in a cubical somewhere. It's like so many other things in my life that are powerful beyond my wildest imagination and all I know how to do is push the power button...log on to my fa...

Remember back, a few days ago, when I talked about my son that will be graduating...tomorrow!  Yesterday, as I was pulling out of the school parking lot after dropping my youngest son off, I passed Jake.  He was in his fancy new truck and gave me that two-fingers-off-the-steering wheel wave that says, "I'm so cool, I don't even have to use my whole hand to wave at you."  Maybe it's not so much a wave as an acknowledgment.  'Yeah, I see you.' It suddenly occurred to me: tomorrow will be the last time I ever get to pass my boy as he's pulling in to school!  I got choked up.  Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks.  But a deep yoga-style breath helped me maintain my composure. This morning, as I was talking with God, He told me to write a love letter to my son.  So I did. I told him how proud I was of him and how much I love him.  I told him I pray for him.  I told him, "I hope you never get too grown-up for your momma.  I'll...