My mind feels like a cotton candy machine. It’s going in circles, and as it spins, it collects more to-dos, deadlines, and random thoughts swirling inside it. My brain starts to feel sticky. Then I open my eyes and wake up. My alarm clock says it's a couple hours before my feet need to hit the ground running, but my heart and my head are wide awake. And my stomach feels like I just ate too much of that airy, sugary, nothing-healthy-in-it, cone of pink messiness. Sigh. There are many morning - most mornings - that I am excited Continue Reading
Please Give Her…
Her cheeks were flushed, and her neck was covered with the red blotches that I knew all too well. Her name tag read “Renee – Trainee,” and I think the reindeer antlers she wore on her head made her feel even more self-conscious as she tried to figure out how to enter “no whip” on my hot chocolate order. Continue Reading
Our Response
I hope we don’t miss it… In all the scheduled church services, the pageantry, the choir rehearsals, the Easter Sunday breakfast… I hope we don’t miss it. The opportunity to quietly make our hearts right with God. The colors, the emotions, the waiving palms. The darkness of Maundy Thursday, the deathly beating of the drum on Good Friday, and the Alleluia celebrations on Sunday morning. I love what they mean and what they remind us of during this Holy Week. They draw me in and speak to my heart. But…At least for me… It’s easy Continue Reading
A Place to Relax
Alone… Our shoulders are not big enough to carry what we think we must. Our emotions are too human to care as deeply as we think we must. Our perspectives are too limited to make all the decisions we think we must. We don’t need to live Alone. Continue Reading
Prayer is Letting Jesus In
No More Fretting
Good morning, Lord. It’s me again. Since you and I have this agreement that we will have truthful conversations with each other, Can I just say… All I want to do today is fret. Did you ever have a day like that, Lord? A day when fretting just seemed to be the ideal response to life? Yeah. I bet you did. Continue Reading
A Cleanse That Works
I should have thought it through a bit more. I guess they’re right (whoever “they” are)… Hindsight is 20/20. I had decided to do a cleanse. You know, one of those eat vegetables and make juices so all your insides get refreshed kind of cleanses. So I hauled 35 pounds of carrots, celery, parsley, cukes, and other green produce into our kitchen. Well, it wasn’t really 35 pounds…but it was a lot. A whole lot. And I began to get excited about the 35 pounds I would lose in exchange over the weekend. {Yes, my home address is Continue Reading
Twisted Tights and Lenten Prayers
I was out of sorts. Uncomfortable. Self-conscious. I was 13 years old, standing on the stage in a college auditorium under hot lights, along with eight other 4-H’ers from northern Minnesota. We were competing in a Good Grooming Contest. Yes, you read that correctly. A Good Grooming Contest. {Good grief. As if it’s not awkward enough to just be 13 years old.} Representing the Lucky Leaf 4-H Club (which I loved, by the way), my appearance, cleanliness, and “good grooming” were being evaluated by a man and a woman who I guess Continue Reading
Rain and The Word
This Fall weather in Minnesota brings dampness. Drizzle. Chills. Life’s like that sometimes, isn’t it? Moments are ushered in that leave us needing…comfort. Decisions bring consequences. Misunderstandings wound. Change unsettles us. The soft snuggly piece of worn cotton that we had when we still used a pacifier would feel perfect. Something warm to wrap ourselves in. Something that would stop the shivers. And then there are times when the pastel-colored blanket just isn’t enough. The drizzles have turned into icicles Continue Reading
Everyone Has Something
Hello, God. It’s Gaye. I’m here with some of My Friends… Our little community that gathers once a week to encourage each other. When you look inside our homes and our hearts, You see that we’re a group of good people, Trying to do life well even when life gets hard. Each of us has struggles…because… Everyone has something. Hurtful words and resentment occupy space in some of our kitchens. Children make choices that break our hearts. Too many sleepless nights make us bleary and teary. And sickness too frequently steals Continue Reading
Disappointments Come…Ooftah
Sharing from the heart here… The frustration, the hurt, the resentment… it can seemingly come out of nowhere, can’t it? But it has its source… Someone let me down. Disappointed me. Someone didn’t meet my expectations. Note: Definition of Expectations: Something that I think should have been done…in a certain way…around my timetable. Sometimes it’s big deal kind of stuff… Mostly, it’s stuff that doesn’t really matter. Right? And when those expectations aren’t met… My response is quite clear. Nobody is left wondering how Continue Reading
Permission Granted. Stop Worrying.
OK. So I got a big wake-up reminder this morning from Oswald Chambers. (My Utmost for His Highest is one of my favorite devotionals.) Chambers is writing about Matthew 6:25... “Do not worry about your life.” What a simple statement / command. Right? Not too hard to misunderstand what Jesus is telling us here. “Beware of allowing the thought that this statement is made by One Who does not understand our particular circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and he says we must not think about these Continue Reading
My Worry Prayers
“Hip replacement that includes a hiking schedule” The billboard words convinced me that if I ever need a new hip (I don’t), that’s the medical facility and doctors I’d want to do the surgery. Why? They give me hope. They don’t just tell me the surgery would go well… They tell me that good things will happen after the surgery. They paint a picture of how much better my life could be if I turn my pain and suffering over to them. Here's what surprised me about my "sign-me-up-now" reaction if I ever have hip problems... I Continue Reading
Psalm 23
“God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, You find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath And send me in the right direction. Even when the way goes through Death valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back Continue Reading
A second-grader’s prayer
From the heart and pencil of a second-grader... “Dear Lord, help me change help me meet all the kinder gardeners and give them my kindness and my love and for all my sins to be washed as white as snow and I just want to thank you for offering to forgive me and thanks for watching me and help me express my feeling on paper and help me love you and I could go longer but I can’t I’ll write more later. -- Julia.” My favorite youngest niece, Julia Charron, wrote this just before starting second grade. (She is now fifteen.) Her prayer has Continue Reading
