The Meandering Mind of a Christian Woman

                It’s New Year’s Eve, a day when many of us perform a retrospective of our year and evaluate what went right and what went wrong.   We resolve to make productive changes to improve our health, our lifestyles, our finances and so on.   Typically, the motivation to change does not last. Health clubs enjoy increased attendance for a couple weeks. The house stays clean and tidy for a while. The savings account fattens slightly only to be thinned out again when the holiday bills hit the mailbox.                 This may sound like a defeatist attitude although I prefer the term realist.   2 Corinthians 5:17 “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come . The old has gone, the new is here! ” While today is highlighted for such retrospective, as Christians, we know that every day is a new day, a new opportunity to serve the Lord with gladness. Serving God is not just about feeding the homeless and caring for those in obvious need. Serving God does inclu

            Some people get music earworms, you know, that song that will not leave your thoughts. I get those but I also get vocabulary earworms, a word that persists in my thoughts, I roll it around in my mind and consider it from different angles.             The word rolling around in my head the last day or two has been the word conduit. Years ago, when I worked in a factory conduit was a large spool of flexible, jointed, metal tubing through which wires passed from a motor to a large exhaust fan. The tubing protected the wiring from outside elements.   After getting away from factory work I saw conduit as a pathway from one entity to another, it didn’t have to be a mechanical thing; conduit now took on some spiritual meaning. I now identified the Holy Spirit as the conduit of my faith; he is my pathway to God. I love the fact and I am reliant on it too; that when I cannot formulate the words to pray the Holy Spirit speaks for me in groans that words cannot express. Roman

                Our first Christmas as a married couple twenty-nine years ago, Don and I began the tradition of choosing three “special” ornaments each year.   As the years progressed and our family multiplied the task of choosing ornaments went to our daughters, eventually, we no longer had room on our trees for the traditional glass ball ornaments, all our ornaments were (are) special.                   Today, I am decorating for Christmas, hanging all the special ornaments I have room for. I just spread the cotton roll over my mantle which I have had for twenty-three years, it is grayed with age but I don’t feel the need to change it. In fact, I have a certain pride about the fact that we have had it so long.   So many memories wrapped up in these decorations, stirring up smiles, sentimentality and the occasional misty eye since Don is no longer here physically to share in the new memories being made.                   Life goes on; this was a hard principal to digest after

            Christmas is just two weeks away and this really is my favorite time of year. Although, I must admit, I am far behind in my shopping and decorating this year. I am usually one of those annoying ‘done by Thanksgiving’ people.   Since I am also a low key control freak, this situation produces a fair amount of anxiety for me.   I am thankful for Philippians 4:6-7 “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.     And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ” It is a verse I repeat to myself with a certain amount of frequency.             Oh, how I crave that peace of God that transcends understanding! Getting through rocky moments in life, high stress situations, adversity and yes, anxiety; requires trust in God. When I look back over my life I can always see the ways he has provided for me at every stage of life.  

           I just returned from a trip to Israel & Palestine. One cannot go to the area without being affected in some way. I met many Palestinians in Bethlehem; every one of them was friendly and welcoming. They are helpful and hopeful, which is quite commendable when one considers their lifestyle in occupied territory. The simple things we take for granted are withheld from the average Palestinian.             Consider the freedom to travel from one city to another. Should I want to go to Chicago, I simply get in my car and go. For the Palestinian going from Bethlehem to Jerusalem (about a 30 minute drive on major roadways), they must have a permit to go, once they arrive at a checkpoint (via non-major roadways) they must leave their vehicle and take public transportation the remainder of the way. While I believe mass transit is a beneficial thing; I have the freedom to choose when and where I will utilize it. Not so for the Palestinian.             There is also a wall s

            Most of us are familiar with the object lesson of the pickle jar. First, one fills the jar with large rocks, then adds smaller gravel, then adds sand and to prove the point one finally adds water.   This demonstrates that there is room for everything in your life. However, the order of things is important. The large rocks represent the most important things; family, friends, God. The gravel represents things like; job, hobbies, vehicles and so on. And on it goes. Yet, if the water is put in first, none of those top priority things will fit in the jar.             I have had times in my life where my God priority changes from the large rock to the gravel, still high on the list but not the priority he should be. I am not proud of this fact. Since I have been a life-long Christian I sometimes envy those who became Christians later in life; they have that moment of enlightenment, the epiphany of just how great God is. While I too have had similar moments, recognizing th

So, tell me if this rings a bell for you. You’re a kid who wants to sleep in on Sunday morning but your mother is an early church sort of person and she says, “How would it be if Jesus had slept in on Easter morning?” How does a kid fight that logic?             I got to thinking about this as I was running this morning, when the desire to slow down and walk came over me, I realized that I actually used a mental guilt trip of, “Your pain can’t even compare to the shadow of Jesus’ pain on the cross!” Even though it is a true statement, I really don’t think Jesus wants to be the guilt trip Savior. I heard a little voice in my head say, “Really? Thoughts of our Savior should produce joy, not guilt.”             I tried to turn my thinking into joyful, positive things. This became a list of all the blessings I’m thankful for including the things that don’t instantly make one thankful; like dust bunnies, sore muscles and homework. As I focused on creating my list the end of the ru

            Since I have become a runner, I have come to the decision that having bruised toenails is a sort of badge of honor. When I look at them, it says to me that I have tried my best. There is something about it that makes me feel that I am a true runner. I would imagine that everyone has a badge of honor of some sort. Perhaps it is an award, a distance, a success, children, or a time span to deprive oneself of a bad habit such as smoking or drinking too much. We take pride in these badges and rightfully so, because we have worked hard to achieve them.               Perhaps you have seen the sticker that says, “ If God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it.” Have you ever considered that you and me are God’s badges of honor? The trick is that we are living, breathing badges of honor that make mistakes. I usually pray in the morning that the life I lead will, indeed honor God. Before I fall asleep at night. I try to look back at the day and see where I may have