the back door

i've had some emotional wrestlings lately.  seen some of my failures big time.  seen a few joys in the midst.  really wrestled with what goes through my mind and weeding out the truth from the lies.  this morning while in the shower, i was taking some time to ask God to help me take my thoughts captive and to think on truth.  there has been one relationship of late that i have struggled with.  not sure where things really stand.  repeating once truths to myself and wondering if those are still truths today.  again, God help me take my thoughts captive. i was asking God to use this upcoming getaway as a chance to maybe release the lies and cling to the truth.  my husband and i are getting away to one of our favorite spots to celebrate our anniversary.  we've gone there a couple of times, but 10 years ago was probably the toughest.  10 years ago i had just lost our 3rd baby.  i had carried him for 6 weeks and the week before...

Wow!   I’ve been home from Haiti for nearly 5 weeks now and I am still at a loss of words on how to communicate the amazing experience I had!   God definitely had His hand on this trip and I will never forget the impact it had in my heart.   I hope that I am able to communicate some lessons learned in at least some small way through this letter.    My role in the clinic was to take temperatures and weigh people.   I had the amazing honor of seeing all 423 patients during the week.   Each encounter was one that I will not forget.   Each one revealed at least one of the lessons below in a tangible way.     HUMILITY : The largest lesson God taught me began on Monday morning.   I believe this set the tone for the week and allowed me to see all that I did, the way I did.   I had finished my role and was heading out to visit with the kids gathered in the courtyard.   Two boys caught my attention and asked m...

three years ago i stole an idea from another church and helped launch love week at crossroads.  this year we were back at it again.  for my little family, years past have led us to year round serving at our local food pantry, sparked a passion for blessings in a back pack (entering it's 3rd year as well), and given us a bit bigger hearts for those around us. this year during love week my dear hubby logged many hours for his non-profits.  the kids and i headed out to the convent for some waffles and games with my tweens ministry.  we served our regular time at the neighborhood center food pantry where we had 48 families come through that night.  the kids wrote letters to some dear widowed friends.  but i kept asking God for a vision for something new to do. my precious daughter had mentioned wanting to bake cookies to hand out to people.  knowing another group was doing that same thing for people in our downtown i kept the thought tucked away. ...

 last blessings packing day of the school year! the kids clearing the garden    passport arrived, support flowing in, first round of shots done!!  haiti here i come!!!!  nothing pleases him more than finding mushrooms in our woods...2 batches this year prayer night with my preteens....God gave me this:)

back on march 1st i decided to make an effort, okay, committed to getting up at 6:20 sunday through friday.  if you know me at all, you know mornings are my least favorite time of the day.  i mean i HATE mornings.  i find it funny that several of my friends love getting up at the crack of dawn.  my husband used to get up in the wee morning hours too.  i've since converted him a bit:) anyways...i would drag myself out of bed each morning and head to the shower.  it was dark and way too cold.  but i would do it.  the first several days were really hard...then i saw this one morning.  as i headed into the kitchen to grab my coffee i was stopped the glaring sun.   there were several of these over the month.  not too many as march was very gray in these parts.  and frankly april has been way too gray too.  but there were just enough for me to see that God was giving me a glimpse of His simple beauty. ...

  this fall i read about a girl somewhere in indiana that put together birthday in a box kits for their local shelter.  now that's a great idea for our kids ministry.  so this past holiday season we had the kids donate birthday's in a bag!  i delivered 15 bags in january!!! those families were so grateful.  this morning i was listening to klove and they were talking about  kids birthday parties today.  we go a bit overboard in my opinion while many families can't even do a cake and fun plates!   anyways....that got me thinking....maybe you'd like to do a birthday in a bag!  i'd love to continue to bless families in our community  with this unique item.  it is really pretty simple.  put together a cake mix, frosting, aluminum pan, plates, napkins, and any other item you'd like.  toss it in a gift bag and bring them to me!  i'll take them to the neighborhood center. if you have kids, can i encourage you to ...