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God Walks With You

I was reading the story of Joshua. You remember him I hope. God used him to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land after Moses was taken from them. I picked up the story near the end of Joshua’s life where he was retelling the Israelites about all that God had done for them, reminding them God has fought for them and had brought about every promise leaving nothing undone (Joshua 23:14).  Then Joshua admonishes them to “fear God and worship Him in total commitment” (Joshua 24:14 MSG). He tells the Israelites to choose who they will serve, reminding them that just as God has been for them, He will be against them if they break their covenant of commitment to God.  Every one of them committed that day to worship only God. Flip a couple of chapters ahead and you find Judges recounting the same story of the covenant Joshua had set up with the Israelites just before he died.  What we see is that the generation that made the covenant kept their commitment but the next gene...
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Forget not all His benefits

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Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:2-5 NIV) I’m in the process of coming off some medication that was intended to rid me of migraines yet did not produce the results intended. I’m finding I’m going to miss one of the medicines side-effects—the way my taste buds delight in fruits and vegetables.   Honestly, the way the medicine caused me to take pleasure in these little delectables makes some in my presence feel, well . . . a bit uncomfortable.   Yes, I admit, I sometimes, uncontrollably, moan in expressive response to the explosion of fruit or vegetables entering my mouth as if I had never tasted a blueberry so deliriously delightful or known a carrot to be so immensely tasteful.   If you only knew how good you'...
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Bitter . . . Sweet

The word bittersweet has bounced around in my mind all this week.  It seems to sum up best the emotions I'm feeling today.  In a way, it sums up much of what has transpired in my life in the past three years. Two months ago my husband, Michael was in his second motorcycle accident within a one month period while living 1,000 miles from me (bitter) attending his dream school of becoming a Harley Davidson motorcycle mechanic (sweet).  He's been home recovering (sweet) and now it's time for him to return to school (bitter). And so the ping-ponging of emotions go as they run their course within me. I have held on the past two months delighting in having Michael present once again in our home.  I have watched him gain strength and regain his mental cohesiveness following the accident that left him with several broken ribs, a broken and surgically repaired ankle, and a head injury. Though not fully recovered he is in a good place to return to school and com...
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Little Things Really Do Matter To God

Yesterday I returned home from an amazing weekend spent at She Speaks , a conference for writers, speakers, and women’s ministry leaders.  It was my fourth year attending and I was greatly looking forward to the weekend. I was excited to be spending it with my very good friend, Melissa .  I was also looking forward to meeting friends I only get to see once a year, to learning from the amazing P31 speakers and leaders, and to serving where I could.  The weekend did not disappoint me!  At the airport I was contemplative as I soaked in the information and His truth that I had received at the event. I was beginning to miss the friends I was leaving behind.  I was looking forward to being home with my daughter.  I was squeezing in the last bit of fun with Melissa. My heart and mind were very full from the weekend when I boarded the plane. About the time the plane was beginning its decent I was facing a very real need for a la...
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Happy 24th Anniversary My Love

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I was 17 and had my entire life before me when we first met.  It truly was love at first sight even though it took me a few months to realize it.  But not you.  You loved me from the very beginning.  I was 19 when we committed to love and honor and cherish til death do us part.  Whatever portion of my heart you didn’t already own was captured that day as you stood, strikingly gorgeous, waiting for me to come down the aisle to you.  So much has happened in the twenty-four years since then.  We’ve had our share of really good and terribly lousy seasons.  I’ve disappointed you at least as often as I have delighted you.  And I have held the distinct pleasure of partnering with you as we watched your son grow into an amazing young man with a wife of his own, and our daughter begin to blossom as a young girl.  Best of all, I have been wonderfully loved by you all of these years.  May you in turn know how much I love you my d...
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Wanting to Give Up, Choosing to Remain Where I Am

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Most days I'm doing well. Very well in fact. Then there are moments where I would give practically everything to see Michael, Right. This. Minute!  I get overwhelmed from something as simple as a text message like the one he sent last  week , "I got a 100 on my test!"   I was so excited for him because he had studied hard and earned the grade he received.  And in that moment I wanted to celebrate with him. I wanted to hug him and be held by him. I longed to eat a meal with him. To sit quietly and enjoy his presence.  That's when the tears slide down my face and the ache in my heart deepens a little more as I ponder the 1,000 miles between us. I remember the very first time we were separated.  I was 18 and living an hour's drive away from Michael. I could barely eat on the days I didn't see him. I had trouble concentrating in school. I hated being apart from him.  Eventually I gave up and quit school to be with him.  ...
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Marriage together, living apart

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As some of you may know my husband, Michael, has stepped into a new adventure.   He is pursuing a dream to work on Harley Davidson motorcycles.   This dream has temporarily relocated him a 1,000 miles from home for the next 15 months as he attends school.   I couldn’t be more excited for him!  And more aware of how much I love and miss him. In a phone conversation the other day, I asked Michael if he thought this separation might be good for our marriage.  Although neither of us likes being apart, we are optimistic considering the timeless saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  And so we walk. In the two short weeks he has been away, I have had overwhelming moments of a deep sense of being alone.  Surprised at expectations for him to walk into a room followed by reality, his rooms are in another place now.  I never knew I had so many comforting thoughts when he was home.  His truck in the driveway, his tv on, hearin...
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