The Grass Is Green Enough

My word for 2017 was ABIDE: To remain, continue, stay, dwell, reside, live . In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Last January, God gave me a perfect illustration for my word. Over the previous month, n orthern California had received 20 inches of rain. Finally, the five-year drought had ended. This was all well and good, except for the little lemon tree in our back yard that was loaded down with a huge crop of lemons. With the soaking wet ground and the citrus trees’ shallow root system, the little tree just couldn’t take it. One winter night, it silently crashed and burned. Just like that, it fell over. Bam!  In an effort to save the poor thing, we cut off two branches and hoisted it back up, supporting it with some posts. Would it survive? We didn’t know. Time sound tell.  Meanwhile, Don had to leave on an extended trip, so we just left the lopped

Its no secret that fall is my favorite season. I absolutely LOVE the burst of vivid colors of yellow, red, orange, and brown. Everywhere I look, I see a a big hodgepodge of messy beautiful. The only thing better than fall is being able to enjoy it with those I love. On Friday, I got to take a drive to Apple Hill with my husband and his mom. Sweet to be sure. Yesterday was even sweeter. I got to savor a few precious moments with a dear friend, sharing our hearts while walking up and down streets strewn with fall color. Nothing beats that. Well, only one thing: after sharing our hearts with one another, we got to share our hearts with Jesus. Being able to fall into the arms of Jesus together, like jumping into a pile of leaves, it's what Christian fellowship is all about. It's absolutely beautiful. And at times, it can be messy beautiful - like the fall colors. We shed tears, we praise, we petition God for help. When we pray and pour out our hearts to God together, it can be

In my Bible study this week, we are learning about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. "I Am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (John 10:14). "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (John 10:3). Wow. I'm simply blown away that Jesus knows my name. The creator of the universe, the one who determined the number of stars in the sky and called each of them by name. Not only does he know my name, but he pursues me personally.  I remember the first time I heard about this name-knowing. I was 19. There I was at a Christian concert, and the performer closed with a song called "Nobody Knows Me Like You".  Nobody knows me like you  You put your arms around me You bring me through And there's many times I don't know what to do Though some know me well Still nobody knows me like you I re-dedicated my heart to Jesus that night. How could I not? It was more than 30 years ago. Since then, my Good Shepherd continues to call

My friends were absolutely right. Being a grandma is like nothing I've ever experienced. I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy my little Con Bon (it's like a Bon Bon, but sweeter). Living close makes all the difference. I can stop by for baby kisses whenever I want!  When Jackie returned to work in mid-June, we started watching Con Bon on Mondays. Each week, our little nugget just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Not to mention, more active! It's so fun to see him learning new things and exploring the world around him. I try to just soak up and enjoy each moment. His first year is already more than half over. Thank you, Lord, for sweet giggles, and drool, and nap time cuddles.  Who knew what simple entertainment we could find just taking walks with the stroller or staying home and crawling all over the house to experience the sheer joy of tasting every object within reach! 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17) Every day with Con Bon is a gift. I'm so grateful that I get to watch him grow and laugh and explore the world. Thank you, Jesus, for all of your blessings. 

A few weeks ago, my boss came into work after having been off for training the previous day, and she snapped at me. I'd left a note on her desk because I knew she'd have fifty million emails to wade though. The note explained that our regional office called and needed someone to sit in on a last-minute conference call in a few hours. "Did you get another manager involved?" she snapped. "No, I wanted to wait and talk to you." Then she stomped off ... Minutes later, she returned to my desk. "I'm sorry. I didn't even say good morning. Can we start over? How are you? Anything happen while I was gone?" Thankfully, it all worked out. Better yet, for the first time ever, she got a chance to have an honest-to-goodness do over at work. She's truly been working on her sometimes-impulsive over reactions. I gave her grace. In fact, later I told her how proud I was that she was able to step back, take a deep breath, and calmly handle that unexpect

Plans. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Fail to plan, plan to fail"? I've always embraced the idea of at least trying to get some ducks in a row, get a date on the calendar, secure a reservation, put together a to-do list, etc. But, lets face it, sometimes our best laid plans still fail. Sometimes stuff just happens.  Take Saturday, for example. Don and I each had plans later in the day - he with all of our boys, which would involve a fun afternoon/eve at Top Golf. Me, a movie and dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday. At 2:00 pm, we were both going to head out in different directions. Only one tiny little problem. On Friday night, we heard a loud "bam " that sounded like a gun shot coming from our garage ( Did something fall? ) Nope. The wire that pulls our garage door open snapped. This would not have been an immediate-fix type issue if it hadn't been for the fact that we couldn't open the door. Our cars were both literally held hostage. Thi

On February 27th, a new man entered my life. He may only be a little over 8 lbs at the moment, but my heart's filled to overflowing. How do grand kids do that? My friends told me that it would happen, but still I wondered. Would it really be all they said it would be? Yep. From the moment Connor was born, I realized, Wow, I have a new little person to love, to pray over, to spend time with, to enjoy. His poor parents are so sleep deprived. Very sleep deprived.  It's been five weeks of getting up every couple of hours in the night. Still, they soldier on. That's all you can do with a newborn. It's one day - one night - at a time. I assure my daughter that time will fly by fast. ("Savor each moment," I say.) When you're in the trenches of sleepless nights, it doesn't feel fast. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. I spent the day with her today. Didn't do much, other than offer moral support. Her h

Most days, there is very little on Facebook that peaks my interest. In fact, I only glance at it about once a week, if that. But this morning, someone posted something that really got me thinking. Here is what it said: Ask Christians what they believe about God, and most will have a good deal to say. However, ask the same people what they know about God from direct experience, and most will have much less to say. Many speak of knowing their sins have been forgiven. Some will speak of answers to prayer or a sense of God's presence. But many will fall strangely silent. Many - even evangelicals who talk the most about a personal relationship with God - will not have much to say about how they actually experience God in that relationship. A.W.Tozer notes that most of us who call ourselves Christians do so on the basis of belief more than experience. We have, he argues, "substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter; we are full of religious notions but our great w

Parenting. For me, the word brings up countless images. The smell of a baby's fresh-washed hair after getting out of the bathtub. The feel of soft new born skin. Cuddles, giggles, drool. Sleep deprivation. Diapers. Mountains and mountains of diapers. Toothless grins. Chubby legs taking first steps. Story time - Goodnight Moon a hundred times. Sibling rivalry. Carpool. Homework. Dance recitals, soccer games, Girl Scout cookies, and proms. Surly teens, the eyeball roll, snarky attitudes. It's a mixed bag. I read a book once titled Parenting Isn't For Cowards. That's putting it mildly!  I've heard grandparenting is way better! I'm totally looking forward to it. In just three weeks, we embark on that new and uncharted territory. I'm sure it will be everything everyone says - and more.   When the opportunity came up recently to take a parenting class at church called Love and Logic, I jumped at it. I've heard that it's great information, applicable f