This year would be different.  This year those rose bushes wouldn't win in the yearly spring pruning battle. This year I wouldn't have the scars from the battle upon my body.  

Why do I do this every year?  It's simple.  I love having fresh cut flowers such as roses in my house, so I have been willing to tackle this annual task. This year I was better prepared. I wore long sleeves, my thick Duluth overalls and had gloves on as I worked on pruning back the rose bushes.   In the past, the rose bushes with their thorns have left evidence  upon me that I have tackled the job of pruning them.   I was hoping to avoid that this year.  And it worked or so I thought. I came out with not a single scratch. Unfortunately right as I was cleaning up the area one little thorn tore right through my glove,  and somehow in the process a splinter entered my hand. 

​Usually it is best to immediately remove a splinter.  I didn’t.  I left it under my skin.  It didn’t really hurt and I thought it would just work out of my skin naturally.

Only it didn’t.  And it has been a month.  This little splinter has become permanently embedded under my skin, becoming a tiny little irritation that I look at and feel frequently.  An irritation that could possibly continue to grow even possibly to infection.  So I must get out the tools; the tweezers, magnifying glass, and perhaps even sharp edge of a razor blade to remove the splinter.  What would have been so easy to remove is now going to be a major pain. 

As I have been chastising myself for not removing the splinter the day it entered  my skin, I have been comparing  that with the little annoyances or irritations that come into our spiritual lives.  Both need to be removed quickly or damage can be done.    A physical splinter is really minor compared to the splinters we allow into our hearts - disrupting our love for one another.  It starts innocently, we simply become annoyed with a situation or a person.   It is either something someone says or does that we allow to get under our skin, and annoy us.  Perhaps it is repeated annoyances with another.  These begin to grow and fester rapidly morphing into a major grievance.  Forgiveness is no where to be seen. We begin to think ill of the person, perhaps we try to avoid the person or worse yet speak ill of the one we have allowed to get us into a full blown state of contention. 

I wonder if this is what happened with two sisters in Christ, Euodia and Syntyche, that Paul speaks of in the book of Philippians?  These two women will forever be known as the two sisters who couldn’t get along. 

Therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord my beloved.  I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.  Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.    Philippians 4: 1-3

Take a closer look at this.  These two women were workers in the Kingdom, sharing with Paul in his struggle for the gospel of Christ.  Wow.  That is amazing to be mentioned in the word of God as a fellow worker for the cause of Christ.  They must have been hard working women who put Christ first  choosing to commit to work for His cause- to further the gospel.  

But.

What an awful little word, three letters that can often negate the good.  Three little letters that when put together can be like a thorn ripping out the good and replacing with pain. 

But.

They couldn’t get along.  They were out of harmony and therefore causing disruption in the work and the love of the church at Philippi.  There was a splinter festering in their hearts. To the point that the Apostle Paul had to mention it in his letter- to this group of Christians whom he considered his crown and joy.  His plea was to help these two women, these two workers for the Lord - to get along.   How sad to be known as the two women who couldn't get along. 

While we will never know the source of the splinter nor the outcome of Paul’s admonition, I do wonder.

I wonder if Euodia and Syntyche prayed earnestly for each other.

I wonder if Euodia and Syntyche tried to talk to one another about the splinter between them.

I wonder if Eudoia and Syntyche loved - really truly loved- one another.


Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8
​

​It’s time for me to remove the splinter in my hand.  I've allowed it to stay for too long, so now I must do the hard - slightly painful work - of removing the foreign object before it becomes a permanent part of my skin - potentially damaging the tissue they are under. 

Perhaps it’s also time to remove splinters from our hearts - and do the hard work of praying and loving those who have gotten under our skin, before it festers,  damaging our ability to love unconditionally as our Lord wants us to. 

I hope that Euodia and Syntyche were able to remove the splinter that caused the disharmony.  I hope they followed the rest of the Apostle Paul's admonition found in Chapter 4 of Philippians.   Please forgive my paraphrase of Philippians 4: 6-8.

~Be anxious for nothing  (Don't get all worked up about the things that irritate, or bother)
~Let your requests  (anything your are concerned about ) be known to God
~Have a grateful heart when you do so
~Think on the true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and good (about the other person- or whatever is annoying to you)
~Dwell on the good


Thats how we remove splinters from our hearts and in so doing cover a multitude of sins.  

It's time to get serious.  Way past serious.  Serious about doing something about these weak sauce arms of mine.  I am aware of the fact that the only way to strengthen my arms is with weights.  But oh how I really really don't like working with weights.  I would rather run for miles and miles than work with weights.  I'ld rather be pricked with needles than work with weights.  I'ld rather...oh never mind, you get the idea.  As a little 3 year old child has said, "I just can't want to!".  That's my mentality when it comes to weight training. I come up with every excuse in the book to avoid it. 

​So my dilemma is just how badly do I want stronger arms? Enough to push past the excuses and the "I can't want to's"? Or am I willing to settle and what will I be settling for?  As I have pondered this question, I realize that if I don't do the hard work now, I could possibly be giving up things that are still very important to me.  I might not be able to pick up my grandkids who are getting heavier by the day. Nor would I be able to garden as easily, or to work the horses, lifting heavy saddles.  All because I let  excuses rule me, instead of determination.  Not any more! Age is becoming an enemy in the strength department.  I can not afford to do nothing while time marches on.

It is no coincidence that as I have begun to work on strengthening my arms, I have also been working on developing stronger, deeper, more specific, fervent prayer.  There is an interesting parallel between physical strength and spiritual strength. Both take hard work and determination and both have an enemy to be fought against and overcome.  The enemy of prayer is Satan.  He is a master of distraction whose aim is to derail us spiritually.  When his strategies are deployed, our minds fill with negativity, worry, fear and self-doubt.  We become satisfied with haphazard, rote, generic prayer, something done out of duty, or only when there is a pressing need.  Passionless, powerless prayers.  Weak flabby arms.  Put that picture in your mind, because that's what weak prayers are.  Not very effective. 

I'm not satisfied with that. I've got too much to pray for and too much to do to succumb to either weak prayer or weak arms.  I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure there are people who need my prayers, and I will be letting them down to just accept the status quo of praying.  Nope - I want the deep, specific, fervent, pray with out ceasing kind of prayers.  I want prayer to be as easy and as vital to life as breathing.  I want to do battle in prayer; to go to war in prayer, for this country, for my loved ones, for His kingdom. 

So how does this happen?  Prayer is labor intensive.  How do we go from desire to depth?  How do we move from wanting a deeper more effectual prayer life to actually having one?  

The same way I am trying to get stronger arms.  Here are 5 principles I am using to grow stronger physically and spiritually.

1.  You can't do it alone.  Period.   End. Of. Story.  
      You've got to enlist a partner, someone to come alongside you encouraging you doing this with you.  Being accountable to
       another person is a very effective tool to getting anything done.

2.  You need training.  You must read and get information.  Become a student of what you are hoping to grow stronger in.
      Ask for advice from a trusted stronger source.

3.  You have got to get in the water, so to speak.  You've got to jump in with both feet.  Just start.  Not tomorrow...today.

4.  You have to get into a groove, a routine, a habit.  Plan it out.  Write it down in your planner.. Put it on your to-do list- daily.

5.  You have to be fully aware of how hard it will be - at first.   Realize you have an enemy- Satan- who will pull every trick in his 
      arsenal to derail you and defeat you.



​In my desire to  grow stronger in prayer, I have enlisted others, and we are currently reading scriptures on prayer and reading through a excellent book on prayer by Priscilla Shirer, "FERVENT - A woman's battle plan for serious, specific and strategic prayer."    In it she writes,

"If I were your enemy (Satan), I'ld want to devalue the most potent weapons in your arsenal."

What a true statement!  When we devalue prayer, by not praying effectively,  we handicap ourselves. We take our most powerful weapon, a weapon designed to help us be victorious and joyful in our Christian walk, and hang it up to gather dust.  The subtitle of her book, " A battle plan for serious, specific and strategic prayer,"  is what our prayers should be.  That's what fervent is.  Fervent prayer is having prayers so saturated in faith that Satan's fiery darts can't get through.  Powerful.  Passionate. 
Purposeful. 


He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  Psalms 18:34


What about you?  What bow of bronze are you being called to bend...in prayer?  Make no mistake, we are in a war, and we must train for battle.   We can't afford not to.  There is an enemy to defeat.



Authors note  

Thanks Meg, Brit and Joan for coming alongside me to strengthen prayer muscles.  Thanks Brenda for being my arm strengthening partner.  And Cody- my patient eldest son- thank you for writing out the plan, and going to the gym with two grey haired women patiently teaching us how to use the equipment.  You are a tough trainer.  I'm still sore!

I stood there hesitating.  I had intended to snowshoe through this undisturbed field of snow, but once there, competing thoughts rumbled through my head.

"It's easier to stay on the well worn path already made by others."
"You know, you're alone."
"Snowshoeing through undisturbed snow this deep will be a lot of work."
"Don't mess up this beautiful site by your snow shoe trail-when there are other trails to take.
"You can make a new path for others to follow."

As I listened to all these competing thoughts, a stillness overtook me. Whether I walked through the virgin snow or walked in an already established path was really of no consequence.  What mattered was to walk.  Every year up at the cabin, I take a winter walk by myself. Usually I take it at night, but the sub zero temps and my lingering head cold made me rethink the night time walk. I take this special winter walk to reflect on the past year, and refocus for the new year. I ask God for direction and for words of emphasis as I pray during my snowy winter walk.  It is a special time of silence, cold, and crunching of snow beneath my feet. And if I am really fortunate, it is a time of looking into a crystal clear night sky at the thousands upon thousands of twinkling stars.

Though it wasn't at night, this years walk didn't disappoint.  It was a beautiful bitter cold day, with the bluest sky punctuated by a scattering of feathery clouds. For this walk, I had snow shoes strapped to my feet. As I stood there looking at the pristine  undisturbed snow, I thought of walking out into that snow, and leaving a trail that others might follow.  Then my mind drifted to the paths we take in life, and how once we have stepped into a new day, or even a new minute, there is no erasing it.  Our footprint has been left, our words have been heard, our actions have been observed.  Every day, we leave a legacy.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about legacy, as my husband and I have consulted a trust attorney to set up a will.  He asks interesting questions.  What do you want to leave, and to whom?  How will you leave it?  What is most important to you?

Loosely defined a legacy is something of value left by someone in the past.   In that sense, we all leave a legacy; we all leave our footprint upon others. Whether we are young or older, every single human leaves something of themselves in whomever they encounter.  But do we leave something of lasting value, something imperishable?  

I don't want things or money or belongings to be my legacy.  I want my legacy to simply be one woman's life journey to know, love and serve the Savior.  One woman who sat at the feet of Jesus.  A woman who tried to bring light to relationships and daily encounters in her life. I also hope others see my struggles, my battles with Satan in prayer, and the triumphs; that Satan didn't win.  I hope they see forgiveness in action, both the giving of forgiveness and the many times I went to the deep well of forgiveness for the times I stumbled.    I want my legacy to point right to Jesus. I pray my footsteps  lead others to deep study of the word of God, fervent prayer, and joyful worship while serving God and others.   

To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  To be strengthened with power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  Colossians 1: 10-12

This is my aim, this is my goal, this the the imperishable gift I so long my footprints to lead to.  What about you?  What will your legacy be? Something to think about every day, whether young or old. Don't wait until you  begin to  contemplate setting up a trust or will. What IS of upmost importance to you?  Figure it out and start living your legacy this very day.  Leave footsteps to follow.

On any given day, most of us find ourselves with any number of things to do.  We women in particular seem to live and die by our 'to do' lists. We daily have an agenda for what needs to get accomplished that day.  And oh the joy of crossing things off our list!  It turns the 'to do' list into a 'ta da' list.  What a great sense of accomplishment just crossing one mundane thing off the list does for us.  Woohoo!  Party!  Shout out to the world, we got something done and off that list!  Except sometimes our list, our agenda for the day,  doesn't match up with our actual day. Because sometimes we have to yield to someone else's agenda for our day.  

I had a wonderful reminder of that recently.  I was out on my regular running/walking path.  It is a wonderful rural stretch hidden in the midst of growing surburbia.  There are horses, cows,  and chickens along the way.   It borders a Nature Conservancy meant to protect nesting migratory birds, so there are many open fields, with the beautiful mountains off in the distance.  and often all manner of birds to see.  There are many regulars I see on my path,  all ages, sizes and dedication of runners and walkers.  Most of us are not the runners who are in training.  There are just too many things to see, too many beautiful things to get distracted by,  such as horses and colts to pet or migratory birds  nesting or flying over the nature preserve.  So most of us who run along this path, aren't trying to increase our pace, we are just out for fresh air, enjoying nature, and getting some exercise,   Recently though, I saw someone I hadn't seen before on my routine path.  I saw a lady far off in the distance, pushing a double stroller, running at what seemed quite a fast pace, (actually since I am so slow, anything seems fast!)  As she got closer, I could tell she was a dedicated runner, she had all the appropriate gear, with the exception of that double stroller.  In that double stroller were two boys who eyes were wide eyed with wonder at all the interesting things this little path holds.   We acknowledged each other as we passed, and I heard her boys saying, "Wow mom, look at that, or ohhh, that is cool and Mom, I think I saw a snake! "   I grinned to myself, wondering how long she would be able to ignore the wide eyed enthusiastic chatter.  Sure enough, on the return loop, I again saw her in the distance, this time she was walking, and the boys were out of the stroller.  As we got closer to each other,  I noticed the boys had put rocks,  sticks, and leaves in the stroller.  Those boys were beaming, so proud of the bounty they had collected.  Mom looked at bit defeated.   She said to me," Who needs exercise anyway?"   I walked over to her, and said, "This may not have been what you had planned when you walked out the door to run this morning, but this is way more important.  You are a *great mom, you are doing such a good job.  Those boys may not remember a run in a stroller, but they will remember you stopping and allowing them to explore and take home their treasures."  (Among which, upon closer inspection, was a snake skin!)   She got a bit misty eyed and thanked me for the words of encouragement.   And we agreed, that sometimes our agenda for the day, is anything but "Our" agenda. 

That happens to all of us doesn't it?  Our day gets **hijacked, and we get off track, doing nothing we had hoped to accomplish in that day.  So much for exercise, so much for cleaning, or laundry, or whatever it was we had wanted to get done that day.  And then we get a little grumpy or mopey or just plain down because the day came and the day went and we didn't do what we wanted to or thought we needed to do that day.  Let me say that again, 'We didn't do what WE wanted to or thought WE needed to do that day.'   And now let me ask a question,  "Whose day is it anyway?"   

This is the day, the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.   Psalms 118: 24

Yes, it is His day.  He made it, therefore it belongs to Him.  And He may direct our day in a direction other than what we had planned.

The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps.  Proverbs 16:9

Are we open each day to His direction for that day?  Or do we hold on so tightly to our agenda, our list of things to accomplish, that we don't heed His direction?  And if so, what opportunities might we have missed?  For His glory? For His kingdom?  For serving and loving others?

That young mom, the one running with the double stroller, she had an agenda for that day. And I don't think it included slowing down to a dead stop, walking the rest of the way home, and bringing home a bounty from nature's treasure chest that her boys collected.  No, her day was altered into something much better.  Something those boys will remember and with excitement tell others.  

I hope we will 'live with abandon' in surrendering our agenda to His.  I hope our eyes, ears and heart are open and listening to God's call to occasionally abandon our agenda, and go where He is taking us, to the opportunities that He places in front of us. 

It's ok to make those ' to do' lists.  In my life, with my 'Dory' sized attention span, it is a necessity!  But it is not ok, to be so rigid with our plans, that we don't listen to and heed the direction He wants us to go.  

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."  Yet, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow...Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that."  James 3: 13-15


So maybe our 'to do' lists should look like this, as a daily reminder to us that on any given day, it really is His agenda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* For all you young mothers out there whose every day gets hijacked by your little ones, you know I have a tender spot in my heart for you.  So,  please listen to my words.  YOU ARE DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB!  I AM SO PROUD OF YOU.  KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.  Your agenda is simply to raise Godly children, not to have the cleanest or fanciest house, or make the cutest things ever, or meals that would rival any top chef.  You are not in competition with anybody.  Quit beating yourself up for what you 'think' you aren't accomplishing, and look into the eyes of those children.  All they want is your love, your time and your sweet nurturing.  And you have that in spades! 


**For an excellent blog piece on our thoughts getting hijacked, see lindsayslens, and her words on thoughts being hijacked.

Look behind you...you are being followed.  In fact we are all being followed.  I'm not talking about 'Big Brother', or our shadow.  No we are being followed by something far more important, something that has the capacity to shape who we are, and where we are going.  But we do have a choice in what we allow to follow us.

Let me digress for a moment, to state that you and I have much in common. Though I haven't met some of you, I know that time is a factor in our lives.  Oh I am not talking about how busy we find ourselves on any given day.  No, I am thinking in linear terms,  we all have a  past, a present and a future.  

 I have observed that some of us tend to dwell on our past, mistakes we have made, regrets we have,  past disappointments, the trials we have faced or injustices committed against us.  We let them shape not only our present but our future. We allow them to follow us, and they start to haunt us, thwarting our spiritual growth.  We have a hard time 'shaking it off',  forgiving ourselves, or others. We live in the past, the disappointments and burdens end up being our constant companion.   We forget all about pressing on toward being that new creature that Christ's blood makes us. 

The Apostle Paul tells us  in Philippians 3: 13-14
to "forget what lies behind, and reach forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal  for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." 

He had quite the past, persecuting Christians, even having some put to death, before he had his life changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.  Some interpret his words in Philippians as, don't look back.  Period.  Only look ahead.   I am not so convinced.  While we should not let our past, in particular our sins,  or the trials we have had to bear follow us the rest of our lives,  I believe a wise person will often look back and reflect on what God has taught them and the blessings that sprang forth from the trials of this life.   Isn't that what Romans 8:28 teaches us?  That God causes ALL things to work together for GOOD to those who love God?  The same principle is found in the Old Testament, in Psalms 23.  We are told there will be enemies, there will be evil, and there is that ominous valley of the shadow of death to deal with.  But it also tells us that we have a Shepherd who will lead us, restore us, comfort us, feed us, anoint us.  It also says that our cup will overflow  and that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life.  I don't know about you, but I would rather have goodness and mercy following me, than my past!

I want to share a comment that a reader shared from an earlier post of mine titled, "Beside Still Waters", based on Psalms 23.    At the very end of the post, I wrote

I pray you will be refreshed by the word of God, and that you realize just how much your cup overflows.  And if you look behind you, you just might see goodness and mercy following you.

To which Jennifer commented

I appreciate your thoughts. I'm especially drawn to the final sentence. I love looking back and reflecting on how all the challenges in my life have been nothing more than a brick on my path that have taken me to the place I find myself today and that without that part of my road, "ALL things" wouldn't have been there to "work together for good" in my life. Looking back I see so many prayers answered - not as I had asked, but as I had need in the big picture. Much goodness and more mercy than I deserve. It's humbling. It builds and reinforces my faith. It makes me love and want to serve God more each day. Thank you for helping me start my day off in such a positive way. I know it will make a difference in my life today.

Let me quote her again, 

"LOOKING BACK, I see so many prayers answered-not as I had asked-but as I had need, in the big picture. Much goodness and more mercy than I deserve."

Thank you Jennifer, whom I don't know, for your words, and the permission to use them.

You have certainly looked back to see  goodness and mercy following you.  They have become your teachers and your companions.  And I would venture to say, without even knowing you, that they shape how you see your present and your future. 



I won't pretend to suggest that it is an easy process, that of seeing the good in all things.
No, it is rather difficult.  While we are struggling in the midst of a trial, or a mistake we've made, it is so hard, almost impossible to see goodness and mercy in the situation.  It is usually only when the storm has been weathered, when we look back, and reflect, that we so clearly see God's hand orchestrating good in our lives, turning what we see as no good and horrible into something wonderful, a blessing,  the blessing of goodness and mercy following us through thick and thin, all the days of our life.

So, yes, press on, forgetting the past with it's disappointments, mistakes, and burdens.  But in your pressing on, occasionally look back, just over your shoulder to all the blessings, all the goodness and mercy, that have followed you and shaped you into who you are today, a beloved child of the King. 



Authors Note:
I would love to hear your stories, of how God turned trials into blessings, of how goodness and mercy have followed you, if you feel led to share by commenting. 
 

I have a novel floating around in my head about this picture.  Two best friends, the summer of their high school graduation, going to the movies to see “I’ll be seeing you”, a very popular movie of that time.   What a different world it must have been then.   Slower and simpler perhaps.   Harder in some ways, easier in others.    I  wonder what happened to these two women.  Did they stay good friends? What choices did they make that influenced their life?  Or what trials came their way, and how did they weather them?

I am left to my imagination with the woman on the right, Ina Lee, but I am very well acquainted  with the woman on the left.  She is my dear mother-in-law, Kathleen.

Kathleen worked as a secretary for a while after high school, then met a handsome young airman named George.  Within a short while they were married.  They settled in a small town in southern Oklahoma, and began having children.  They were blessed with 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls.

Kathleen may think she didn’t have choices.  She would say she was just doing what any mom of that generation did; stay home and raise kids.  But her six kids would disagree. She did so much more. She chose every day to put their needs first.  She taught them so much, by simply living a quiet, Godly life of service to her family.   That is not to say they were doted on, that every whim or desire of theirs was met.  No, those kids learned to work hard, to respect authority and by example learned how to serve. They learned joy in simple things because they observed it in their mother.  Kathleen’s joy came from being their selfless mother.  She learned contentment in the small things of life.  Her needs were few, she didn’t need to get away from her kids to rest.   Sitting on the back porch sipping tea and fanning herself while watching her kids play was her rest.    Her house was not immaculate, but it was always inviting.  Her food was simple, delicious and always enough to feed the neighbor kids too.  Perfection was not a word in her vocabulary, but gracious service was.

Ah yes, but it is a different world today.  A world where women are encouraged to “lean in and lead’ at the workplace,  a world in which one might brag about only needing 2 weeks off for maternity leave, a world in which we are consumed with perfection, a world in which we qualify decisions or choices with “What’s in this for me?”.   In an ‘all about me’ world, not much room is left for gracious selfless service to our families.

I am a firm believer in the Biblical principle, “You reap what you sow”.  Kathleen, along with her husband George, sowed seeds among their children; seeds of kindness, laughter,  joy, hard work, integrity and selfless love.  Her reward is in the lives of those six children.  Those 6 children all became Christians.  They all worked to put themselves through college. They are all God fearing, responsible, productive citizens of this world and His kingdom. Those 6 children love each other and love to be around each other, laughter spilling out whenever they are together. Those 6 children, their spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren ADORE her.  Kathleen, by the life she lived, left a legacy to her children.  A legacy not of money or perishable things.  She gave herself,  completely.  She is reflected in their lives.  That legacy is imperishable.  That legacy was wrought with tireless, selfless love.


Kathleen, I’ll be seeing you, long after you have left this world. I’ll be seeing you in everyone of your children, grandchildren and those precious great grandchildren.



“Her children rise up and call her blessed.”  Proverbs 31:28a





Authors note:
To all you young moms out there who tend to beat yourselves up and wonder ,” Am I a good mother?”  To Megan, Stacy, Elaine, Sam, Tonya, Melissa,Becky, Rebecca, Becca,Vickie, Miranda, Michelle, Lisa, Megan K, Keena(you are not so young!),  DeeDee, Jessica, Chelsea, Heather, Julie, Kristen, Alison, Katherine, Karen, Lindsay, and to those who will read this that I don’t know; the answer is YES!   You are praying for your kids, you are teaching them about God everyday by what you do and who you are. You are bringing them to church showing them how to worship God.  You are giving of yourself. You are gonna make mistakes, forgive yourself!  And just stay the course!  You are doing great!!!  (And so are you dads, aunts and uncles!)

This quilt was made in memory of a wonderful Christian woman, a dear friend of mine, who lived a life that truly honored her Lord Jesus Christ. It was designed and started by her daughter, who just graduated from high school.  Finishing touches were added by myself and another life long  friend of her mother’s.   This quilt consists of items of her mother’s clothing, and pictures representing her life.  She was an amazing woman, whom I was so very blessed to call friend.






     Let me tell you about her.


She had the most beautiful blue eyes, eyes that could look into your soul.

A smile was her constant companion.

Her laugh was contagious, and quite unique.

She would always, always fight for justice, sometimes just jumping in without forethought.  I wish I was more like that.

She made mistakes, she recognized them, and was not afraid to admit  them to others.

She LOVED the Lord.

There was not a person she did not have concern for; she was compassionate.

She studied God’s word voraciously.

Her talent for organization and for teaching was used to teach young people how to nurture their relationship with God, and dig deeply into His word.  Some of those young people were my own children.

She was always thinking of and doing  for others.  At her funeral which over 500 attended, the speaker asked how many had ever received a gift or a card from her.  Over half of the audience raised their hands.

She had a passion for the Holy Spirit, whom she felt was not spoken of or taught about as God the Father and Jesus were.

 She was a wonderful wife and mother to 3 children who love the Lord, just like their mother did. She adored her children and they adored her.

Though the disease ravished her  frail body after a 5 year fight, it could not ravish her spirit.  She did her best to care for her body, but she did even better in caring for her soul.  I think she would want me to ask you;


                                             What are you doing today to take care of your soul?



Her spirit lives on within us.  Her soul lives on with her Lord.  I hope to see her again someday, to hear that laugh!

She gave me a verse, that I have written her name above in my Bible.  It has special meaning to me.

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear; proclaim upon the housetops".   Matthew 10:27

This blog is my way of doing that Lynnette.

                    I miss you.