The Titus 2:4 Project - Women Mentoring Women

The trappings of life.... trappings is defined by  Dictionary.com  as: 'articles of equipment or dress, especially of an ornamental character.' I think 'trapping' is apropos, because these 'ornamental' things can certainly trap us.  For many of us, we are truly slaves to the trappings of life.  We become accidental slaves to the things we work to acquire.   It's a First World Problem.  But it's a problem. My friend Jenni once asked me, after hearing me comment that something was a 'First World Problem', what that phrase meant.  She said she'd heard it many times, but wasn't exactly sure what it meant. I explained that we, as beneficiaries of a privileged life, live in a 'first world' country.  Some, who live in underdeveloped countries, would be appalled at the things we fret about... missing a manicure appointment because you're on vacation in the Caribbean? Definitely a 'first world problem'.   First world problems a...

Thursday morning, after the hurricane, as the sun rose above the trees, we nervously stepped outside to assess the damage. Despite the winds that had howled all night long, our neighborhood was in surprisingly good shape.  As we surveyed our neighbor’s lots (neighbors who had not yet returned for “the season”) we began dragging big, green palm fronds to the street and loading them into the bed of our truck. First this lot. Then that lot. I snapped pictures and messaged friends to let them know if there was any visible damage to their property. T hey would reply with their gratitude and then ask “can you check lot ‘such and such for so and so’…” so we would. More clean up. More pictures. More messages. And our 8ft truck bed filled up fast. Very fast. Over and over. As the day wore on, my mind was filled with thoughts like, WOW! These palm fronds are heavy! I asked my husband how much he thought they weighed on average… he guessed about 25 pounds.  Lifting them over an...