Inspirations

So my plan for today was to travel with my husband to Binghamton to visit with his family that we have not seen in forever….. ok at least 20 years.  I made sure I asked for the time off everything was set, or so I thought.  I found out one of the days I asked for was denied.  This meant shortening our stay in Binghamton, but we were still set to go.  Then, earlier this week we found out that his family had other plans so we decided to wait and go later when they would be available.  Now I was left with two days off and nothing planned.  One thing I decided was that I was not sitting home and doing nothing for the two day off.  So I decided to go visit a local beach.   I put my mp3 on and walked on the beach.  It was lovely.  I even took some pictures.  Often it’s easy to be irritable when we have to change our plans or when our day does not work out the way we planned.  Sometimes, when we have to change our plans we ...

I dropped Ryan and Abigail off at a camp for a week.  When we got out of the car at the camp, we had only walked a few feet when Abby stopped mid-stride.  I looked and there was a bird standing on the ground less than three feet away and it was scolding and yelling at her.  We did the normal thing in that situation; we grabbed our camera and started taking pictures.  Isn’t that what you do? Ok maybe not, but we knew this was a once in a lifetime shot.  My daughter kept watching it and finally said, “I think it has a broken wing." Later, I was talking with some workers and they said this bird is called a killdeer.  It acts this way to protect its eggs.  It will attack or draw you away from its nest by pretending to be hurt.  As I watched it, I thought WOW!  I wonder if this is how God guards us!  As much as that killdeer loved and protected those eggs, God loves and protects us more.  He loves us and puts himself between us an...

Growing up we had an older neighbor who would often go out walking after supper.  On his wanderings, he would often stop to chat.  Once when I was about ten or twelve, my dad wanted me to do an errand for him. I did what came naturally, to someone born out in the boondocks.  I ran to do the errand. Running back to where my dad and the man were standing and talking, the man looked at me and said, “You are really good at running."  I had never given it much thought until that moment. Later, in high school gym class, we had to run a mile.  While I like sports, I was never extremely good at sports, but running was different. Some were dismayed, but I was happy because I remembered what the man said.    I ran like the wind.  I am sure I did not come in first, but I was in the top three. I stood a little straighter after that because I knew that I could do something that not everyone could or wanted to do, run.  No, I never joined the track t...

I like love salt!  I have from the time I was little. Salty snacks are especially tantalizing.  In my opinion, there is nothing better than a salty chip, pretzel, popcorn, peanuts and a movie. I know health wise they are better choices for a snack, but occasionally I just need that snack.  Don’t give me unsalted potato chips or pretzels, they are not of God. I know I could have an unsalted snack and they would be healthier. Food without salt is bland and found lacking.  God says that we are the salt of the earth.  We are the seasoning.  We are the salt on the potato chip.  The salt on the potato chip makes us want water.  If you eat a salty snack like a chip or a peanut and in a short time, you need something to drink.  The salt makes us thirsty. In the same way, we should make people want the living water, Jesus.  People should see something in us that makes them want what we have. I want to be enough different from the worl...

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, I was watching a TV show called “Undercover Boss” the other day.  The episode I watched was about sanitation workers.  As I was watching, one person stood out.  His job was to clean port-a-potties.  As they were working, he kept saying I’m not just a sanitation worker, I am the best sanitation worker.  I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him.  His attitude was contagious.  I thought, "man! that guy is having too much fun cleaning poop".  At the place I work, we had a door greeter who had this same perspective. He always had carts ready for people; if it was raining or snowing, he had the carts dry; He always had a cheery hello kiddo for everyone he met.  What set both of these people apart from most other people is that though their jobs were not enviable, and they could have looked at their jobs as unimportant and even undesirable....

I have heard this phrase used frequently. Recently, while waiting on a customer, I asked a woman if the baby she was holding was hers.  I meant no harm when I asked and I certainly was insinuating nothing.  I was only curious and I absolutely love children.  Another woman, the baby’s mother, looked me square in the face and told me “in no uncertain terms” that I had no right to judge her daughter.  Wow!!!  I hear it used by others at work and I confess that I have jokingly used it myself. What concerns me is that, in our culture, it seems if I disagree with someone else’s opinion or something they are doing suddenly, I have judged them.  Perhaps we need to redefine or rather get back to what it really means to “judge” someone.  The word judge is a judicial term meaning to pronounce sentence on a guilty party. When we judge, we are pronouncing sentence on a person.  According to the words of Jesus, we are not to judge, sentence anyone. Even with ...

A few days ago, I had the privilege of viewing Mom’s Night Out .   Mom’s Night Out is a delightfully hilarious film produced by Pure Flix’s films. Pure Flix is a Christian film production company, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.  If you’re expecting it to be like the old Hollywood TV shows where the mother is practically perfect you will be disappointed.  It paints a very realistic view of motherhood. Therefore, if, like me, you struggle with feeling inadequate as a mother, you will love this movie.  While I do not think it was not the intent of the movie, it also shows the danger of forming opinions of people too quickly.  I have heard that some critics think that it downplays the working mom.  I personally do not think the movie does this at all.  Instead, it encouraged me and said that, as moms, it’s ok not to have it all together every day.  I wish I could have seen this when my children were little.  It was an unmistakably fami...