The Titus 2:4 Project

One of my best high school friends just opened a quaint little shop where she and her daughter sell 'reclaimed' furniture.  She has an eye for a treasure, and a creative flair to bring the discarded and unwanted back to life. Just recently, my husband and I were helping our son clean out an old barn/garage at his 'new' home (probably built in the late 1800's).  Most of what had been left, after years and years of tenants passing through on their journey of life, was labeled as junk and tossed into the huge pile of burning rubbish in the yard.  (Hey, it's how we roll in the country!  Don't judge!) But there was this dresser sitting there, with a faux-marble top.  Light wood.  Nice drawer pulls.  It was in good shape - except for the fact that the two top drawers were missing.  I studied that dresser.  Looked it up and down and my mind flashed to a photo I had seen on Pinterest of an old dresser-turned-entertainment-stand.  Said dresse...

Today, I am praising God for a victory...one that shows personal growth. When does growth occur?  In the beautiful, sunny days - when blue skies show no hint of rain?  We all know that sunshine is a necessary part of the process, but when we compare a desert to a rain forest, we are forced to admit that growth obviously occurs more prolifically in the rainy conditions than under those sunny, blue skies.  Several days ago, I ran into an old friend who keeps up with me on Facebook.  She asked about the grandkids, and other things she had seen me posting about.  With a huge smile on her face, she shook her head and said, 'Your life is so perfect!' Of course, this caused me to raise an eyebrow at her and chuckle.  'Not exactly.' What she doesn't know is that sometimes, God allows the rain to fall on my spirit, but He does it to bring growth.  Beautiful, necessary growth.  I'm not ashamed of it.  So why doesn't my friend realize that ...

Grocery shopping on a Friday afternoon (4:30!) is never a good idea.  I know this.  I've said it before.  But it didn't stop me.  I had at least 30 minutes to kill and nothing to cook for dinner.  The parking lot was ridiculously full.  In the 12 years I've been shopping at this store, I've never had to park so far away.  So, I thanked God for my health and hoofed it across the now seemingly gigantic lot.  Once inside the first set of doors, I'm shocked to see only five shopping carts and two of the wheelchair carts left sitting there.  Ok...the last time I saw this kind of madness there was a blizzard of epic proportions coming and everyone had to get their bread and milk.  (Seriously...what do people eat during a blizzard, that you only need bread and milk??)

Yep...it was a new purse kind of day.  Not a brand new purse, let's just make that clear, in case my wonderful husband happens to read this blog post.  ;) I couldn't help myself...I dumped the entire contents of my purse onto the dining room table.  Seriously? Who needs five lip glosses in their bag?  I put three of them back in my bathroom.  Some used tissues.  Several crumpled receipts.  A bank deposit slip folded in half with a wad of sticky chewing gum stuck in the middle.  11 cents.  Nice.  That'll get me absolutely nothing these days. It was my youngest son's first day back to high school.  I still can't believe he's a Sophomore.  But the fact that I had to get myself out of bed on time and start back to the dull routine of 'normal', was enough to prompt a bit of a starting-over.  Hence the purse dumping. I stood in my closet, looking up at the dozen or so purses collecting dust on the top shel...

Nothing makes me more frustrated...well, almost nothing...than walking into a fast food establishment (pick one), with my mouth watering for a particular food... I place my order and anxiously wait... When what to my wondering eyes would appear - a pile of something that barely resembles the colorful, delicious looking photo hanging over head!  How do they sleep at night? To be fair, it's not just the fast food joints that are guilty of this crime.  It's also a common practice of many grocery store items, especially the boxed variety.  I mean, let's face it.  If the photo on the box looked like the reality of what you'll be eating, you probably wouldn't have purchased it in the first place, right? It just doesn't seem fair that we should be tricked into purchasing something that is so much less that what we expected.  Whether it's food, or a pair of shoes that's supposed to make our tooshie firmer, or a shampoo that is supposed to make our hair look...

I used to be able to get my son to take trash to the burn barrels or pick up fallen branches around the yard by offering to let him drive his dad's big 350 Ford diesel truck around the farm.  Now that he is almost 16, and driving often on his learner's permit, the allure just isn't there anymore.  I can no longer dangle that carrot in front of him.  What used to be a privilege has become a chore. Isn't it strange how that happens. And it happens a lot.