The Titus 2:4 Project

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 woo...

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 ...

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, s...

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... ...

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...

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...

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....

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 'comfortab...

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 meaningf...