Bringing calm

Proverbs 29:11
New International Version (NIV)
 11 Fools give full vent to their rage,
   but the wise bring calm in the end.

Today the forecast was for 6 inches of snow. For the small ones in my house, that meant snow to run in. For the sixth grader, it meant a paying shoveling job.

But the forecast was wrong, and the day ended up raining and slushy.

Brady waited all day for Jack to return from school, and when he did, they went downstairs to play.

Life was as it was meant to be. Until there was a dispute about a building, probably of Legos. It Was knocked down angrily, and a fight broke out.


After the calming, the time outs, the apologies, we sat down with the boys and talked about how better to handle the dispute, without fists.


And then I began to think..... Of the times I was eager to get someone back, to prove I was right, to be the top dog.


Good thing this season is all about repentance.

And even better, that my God is a merciful, graceful God.


Have a great weekend!

You lead....

The kids and I love to have dance parties. We usually rock it out to WMUZ or our pandora stations.... One of our current favorites is by Jamie Grace.... You Lead.

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more than I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

Sometimes the plans I have for my day seem just PERFECT, you know, I will sit down and write out my day.....and man, am I good. I can juggle the kids, the job, the house.... All by myself.



And those plans sometimes work.

Sometimes, the day ends up just as I planned.


But, more often than not, there is an unforeseen emergency. Something I cant get done. Something that took ten times longer than I allotted. And I feel like I failed.

Then the song circles back....

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more than I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

And sometimes, I listen.


I listen to Him.

And I agree to more tasks then I think I can handle. I seek out ways to help others, on a day when my calendar app is sighing under the weight of my commitments.

Today was one of those days. Plans started out as us watching a toddler for a few hours in the am, and a baby in the afternoon for a few more... Add in my parents over for dinner, and an open house, and a lunch date with my most favorite eleven year old.

Plans changed.

He Lead.

I followed. And as the day wound down, Jason and I headed to the middle school open house with the oldest one... Sitting in metal folding chairs, we saw it. The plans God has for us are good. Jack sat waiting for the new adventure to unfold. Waiting to be led. And we knew his youth let him follow his Leader better than we could ever dream.


This Lent I am following the path. Walking the way. Listening for the all.

And following His lead.

Keeping clean.

1 Peter 3:13-18
The Message (MSG)
 13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.


This was the scripture tonight....


And it sums up the path we are trying to walk.

To let Christ live through us.... Living a clean life, willing to share our Savior with anyone who asks. Not afraid of ridicule.

Not afraid of punishment.


God is not here to protect us from all discomfort. He's here to help us through it.

Tonight, our minister spoke of the opportunity for fellowship with Christ when we suffer. To walk HIS path of pain.

During the service tonight, as I listened to his message, Kinsey chose to lie her three year old self down right under the pew.... Then slid herself forward a pew or two.

Then a pew or two more.

There was no way I could reach her, and she was quiet.... So I sat and waiting, worried, just a bit, about what the rest of the congregation thought.

Then I listened to the message. That God wanted us to live for him, to be clean. So on the dusty floor, there lay a three year old blonde, quietly singing to herself during the sermon....and what you ask was she singing?


Jesus loves me.


And who am I to argue with that?



She's been brought to God. As she was laying on the floor, UNDER the pew, she knew exactly to whom she belonged. I pray that those of us properly seated above her can open our hearts this Lenten season to know that same undeniable truth.


Jesus loves me, this I know.

Forty days of ........

Lent begins tomorrow.

Focus shifts from jelly donuts to family devotions, from beads and glitz to ashes and repentance.

I will be blogging daily and reflecting on bible verses as often as I can.

Preparing for the empty tomb. Preparing my heart for His sacrifice, and the blessings that rain down on me everyday.



Here we go....