The Grass Is Green Enough

I've never been a runner. Ever. Once this girl gets above a brisk walk, she can't breathe, her legs feel like jello, and she feels like she wants to die. Don's the jogger in the family. He even ran a marathon back in 2000 (at age 46). So impressive! I've always felt like if I could walk, then I was doing pretty well. But here's the deal. I'm getting rather fat. It takes all of two minutes for me to go from my Weight Watchers goal weight to 10 lbs over that weight! What gives? I just had a health check for a new life insurance policy on November 1st. That was six weeks ago, and I've put on 5 lbs since then. Thanksgiving. Christmas goodies. Wine. Lots of wine. The Christmas season is so stressful! Ugh! So, this weekend I decided I'm going to become a runner. I want those endorphins everyone talks about. I want to experience a "runners high" - whatever that is. I want the cellulite to melt off my thighs. And to be able to zip my pants wit...

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning (Psalm 130:5-6) As 2016 comes to a close, I am amazed at how God answers prayer. He is so faithful. We asked for guidance in finding our next home, and God lead us to Lincoln. It took three houses - and three offers - before the right one came along. Ironically (or God-ronically) it happened on my 54th birthday! We saw the house, prayed about it with our realtor, immediately put in an offer, and the offer was accepted. Praise Jesus! Everything just fell into place. We put everything in storage for three weeks, stayed with Jackie and Dane, then moved into our new house on October 18th. Whirlwind is putting it mildly. As for the house, it's a perfect fit for us. It's got the open floor plan we wanted. It has a small patio (with waterfall), and it's near a duck park/nature area. The neighborhood is lovely. After a li...

In May 2015, I wrote about my desire to move from our current residence - the house we've been in for the past 17 years. The kids have been raised and are all living on their own. The nest is empty. Ironically, just three months after my post, one bounced back for 10 months. Thankfully, he's back on his feet again. This was the desire of my heart a year and a half ago: "My prayer is that by next spring, we can sell the house and buy a small condo instead. Perhaps when we pack and sort through all our stuff, we can dump half the crap we don't need. One can only hope." God's timing is perfect. Always. No matter how bleak things seem, there is ALWAYS hope. Spring 2016 came and went. I'll admit, it was not a happy-go-lucky season by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, God was working. Things were happening according to His plan. After Father's Day, we started doing some massive cleaning and packing so that we could put the house on the market....

A very sad thing happened to Rudolph on the way to Christmas dinner.  He lost one of his antlers on the freeway. "How can this be?" You ask. Well, it all started when my mother-in-law rolled down the window...well, actually, it started when I purchased a red nose and antlers for my KIA. Silly. Yes. But fun. And these days I'll take all the fun I can muster up. But my fun didn't last long, because when we picked up Don's mom on Christmas, she didn't know the rule about not rolling down the window. So, there I was, perched in the back seat balancing the scalloped potatoes and flowers and salad and such. In a split second - woosh! The antlers flew onto the freeway. Oops. Sorry about that.  I've been praying for the past couple weeks about what ONE word God wants me to focus on in the coming year. Last year my word was HOPE. I've been sensing that in 2016, He wants me to focus on the concept of RELEASE. Letting go. Setting free. Giving up. I think t...

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9) I recently attended an amazing funeral for a dearly loved woman at our church.   Barbara touched so many lives during her 79 years on this earth that the sanctuary was packed!   In hearing the stories about her, the most evident thing was that she always took time for people.   She lived out hospitality in her day-to-day life everywhere she went.  She made others feel welcome, whether it was in her home, at Bible study, or in the church lobby.   I don’t doubt that she was intimately acquainted with the goings on of her mailman, hair dresser, and local grocery store checkers/courtesy clerks as well.  Barbara asked questions.  She was genuinely interested in others’ lives.   She listened.   Most of all, she was a devout woman of prayer.   Barbara truly lived out 1 Peter 4:9.   But how did she manage to balance the whole “Mary/Martha” thing so well?   I wa...

Okay. So I'm going to be brutally honest. My next door neighbor annoys me. Truly annoys me. It's not her fault, though. She has an intellectual disability. Lisa has been my next door neighbor for 17 years. She's basically a "child" living inside an adult's body. When we moved into our house in the summer of 1999, my daughter Valerie was just 7 years old. She used to bounce over to Lisa's and watch Disney movies or play with her dog. At that time, it seemed like they were at the same intellectual level. Val, now 23, is away at college. She's growing up, maturing and becoming a woman. Lisa, well, she hasn't changed or aged a bit. That's not the part that bothers me, though. After all, I've worked in special education. I've worked side-by-side with many kids with special needs, and I'm currently employed by the Disability Determination Service Division. I get that Lisa is impaired. At least I have the head knowledg...

I just got back from our annual women's retreat in beautiful Lake Tahoe. The weekend was powerful, awesome and lovely as usual. One of the "nuggets" that I took home this year was the message in a new worship song we sang written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown called "Good, Good Father". Oh my gosh! This song just slays me. Pass the Kleenex, please!  The chorus says: You’re a Good, Good Father It’s who You are, It’s who You are, It’s who You are and I’m loved by You It’s who I am, It’s who I am, It’s who I am What a beautiful picture of God's identity - and even more powerful is my identity in Him. I believe the song is especially sweet for those of us who had an Earthly father who was less than stellar. For someone whose father was harsh or abusive or critical or absent, it's often hard to unlearn that image of "Father" and to learn who our Heavenly Father truly is. The Bible tells us that God is loving, kind, compassionate, merciful, p...