The Meandering Mind of a Christian Woman

            Noticeably, I have been absent from the blogosphere for a while. No excuses, just life. I will admit it has been a busy summer and fall. I sold my home, downsized to a smaller place in a different town, adopted a senior cat, and my greatest joy, I gained a granddaughter! Downsizing is not an easy experience as one sorts through all the sentimental properties one clings to for comfort. Prioritizing one’s emotional connections is a true challenge. I have also taken on the task of living alone for the first time in thirty plus years.             As a Christian, I constantly remind myself I am not alone. God is with me. I admit after some time that thought becomes a platitude, especially when sitting by myself for the umpteenth evening in a row. Others have suggested getting out in the community and finding things to do, simple enough, correct? But is it? I want to step out, yet I find my couch (got a new one) really comfortable 😊 .             Prayer has been my blanket

            A couple days ago I referred to God having a plan. Do you ever question that he has a plan for you? I encourage you to consider who Jesus selected as his disciples.             Take a look at the men Jesus chose as his disciples; fishermen, tradesmen, a tax collector? Although fairly respectable they were not well educated, but the 12 disciples shared their faith with all the known world at that time. Ordinary people, like you and me, & changed the world (without the internet!)             I just completed a study of the book of John, one of the gospels of the New Testament. John has a different way of telling about Jesus’ ministry than the other gospels do. One of the things that hit home with me is the contrast between John and Peter. John comes across as a calm, observant and reserved man. Peter, however, was impulsive, enthusiastic and quick to speak. As I read about Jesus meeting the disciples on the shore of Galilee after his resurrection, I kept thinking of

            Something I hear a lot when my life feels like it is filled with pot holes; God has a plan. Although it is true, there are days when it feels like a platitude because whomever I am speaking with doesn’t want to listen anymore or even at all. Seeing another person hurting or angry makes us uncomfortable. But you know what? Uncomfortable is okay.             I believe part of the problem is that we believe God’s plan is going to be a beautiful garden with no weeds or thorns. We need to remember this world is not our home, it probably should make us uncomfortable. The problem with comfort is that we never want to leave it, yet, leaving is paramount to leading others to find salvation in Jesus Christ. We will get to our home with the beautiful garden someday and when we do, won’t we want our friends and loved ones there with us?             What if we demonstrated the same excitement about salvation that we do for a new phone, car, movie, game, job, home or any other mater

            This weekend is Easter weekend, a time of joyful Alleluias in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Before we arrive at the celebratory day however, we must recognize Good Friday, Jesus’ death. I have never been a fan of Good Friday; such a somber day, why need we relive it? For years, I felt it was the guilt trip of epic proportions for Christians. It was/is something of “epic proportion” but it isn’t guilt, it’s LOVE!             The love God has for us truly is epic! We must look at the big picture. Firstly, Jesus humbled himself to born of a virgin. He left His Father in heaven where he held a place of honor and power to become human flesh. He set aside his divine nature and took on flesh; meaning he experienced all the emotion, physical pains, and daily afflictions we do. He wasn’t born into a wealthy family, he did not have a cushioned life, he worked alongside his earthly father perhaps even hit his thumb with a hammer (we all do that at least once in our lives, rig

            I started making baked goods about a year ago. Naturally, I have shared my successes with pictures on Instagram and Facebook. When something turns out well I get very excited about it and I want to share it. Honestly, I should be equally, if not more, excited to share the gift of eternity with others too. Why is it so difficult? The human tendency of course is that we don’t want to be rejected by our peers. People are a bit more receptive to a chocolate croissant than they are to a sermon or testimony. If we really consider it, my croissant will lead to hardened arteries and eventually death while my testimony could lead to life, eternal life.              What excites you enough to share it with your friends and family? In my bible study this morning I read John 17:24 (Jesus is praying) “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”   As I read it,

“Christians sin, but sin does not characterize Christians.” (BSF – John lesson 21) This phrase captured my attention last week and I have been pondering it. There are plenty of us who are prone to looking at our individual lives and believing we aren’t THAT bad. Honestly, that in itself seems a little sinful in a ‘pride goeth before the fall’ sort of way. As Christians; we really need to compare ourselves to Christ himself, we are his disciples, meaning we (should) follow the discipline of love he demonstrates for us. Discipline: “ train (someone) to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. ” Discipline is hard for the giver and the receiver. I am the youngest of six children, by the time I was growing up my parents were exhausted and divorced. My siblings had already put them through a fair amount of turmoil. I remember watching an episode of Bonanza as a kid and Pa explained to a young boy that parents sometimes spank their children because they

            Imagine you are standing in a circle with a group of people. You make mental notes of each person; brown eyes, big smile, thin eyebrows, a mole just under the left nostril and so on. There is one face that you cannot make notes on; your own. Your own face is one that you can never see first-hand, it is only through mirrors or pictures or perhaps another’s explanation that you can have any familiarity with your own face. This realization has occupied my thoughts a lot lately.  It is interesting that we cannot see something of which we are most critical. Yet, that is not what others see or notice about us. We lean toward focusing on the things about our faces that we don’t like.             This may sound a bit boastful, I present the following to make my point. I have quite lovely, deep, dark, brown eyes with appropriate eyebrows. Yet, the first thing I assume others notice are my flaws, I have a scar on my upper lip from a cleft lip at birth. In my mind that scar is a bu