She Stands

Many of you know my daughter returned from her deployment in Afghanistan this past year and this momma was finally able to breathe..... I mean really breathe. I am talking about deep breaths that exhaled with joy and gladness. As a military mom, I am extremely proud of her service to our country.... For her bravery..... Her honor.... Her self scarifies. But on the flip side, as her mom...... I worry to a point..... I am concerned for her welfare at all times..... I pray non-stop for her safety..... I smile on cue, for her benefit.... I make sure I give her encouraging words..... Never showing her my "mom" emotions. And I tell her " I love you" every second that I can. My best day came when I received that all mighty pre recorded phone call that MY solider was heading to US soil..... There was tears, laughter, thankfulness, and praise to my daddy God for bringing her home. Now  almost one year later, I receive a message f...

A little boy asked his mother, “Why are you crying?” “Because I’m a woman,” she told him. “I don’t understand,” he said. His Mom just hugged him and s aid, “And you never will.” Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?” “All women cry for no reason,” was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?” God said, “When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all...

I was driving in dense fog the other day   when I passed an Amish pony cart filled with teen girls. They were holding a small light that blinked on and off, in an attempt to let oncoming cars know they were there. It looked so feeble, this small light that flickered at even paces, barely showing through the fog. Cars well equipped with broad headlights   seemed to fly by them with no trouble   and there they slowly clip-clopped down the road in the white cloud with a lone, small light. " I'm here! Can you see me? Please see me…don’t just pass me by. I’m fragile"  the light seemed to say in the thick cloud, transporting the girls in the flimsy, open cart. The scene made me think of   people going through tough times , traveling on their journey in what can seem like fog-like conditions.  Overtaken by circumstances of life - depression, betrayal, grief….. a thick fog that surrounds and overwhelms when life be...

I don't know about you, but daily planners have never worked for me....... To be honest I would write down my daily tasks and then I would forget my planner at home. Every evening I would jot down my next day activities, place my planner next to my purse and tell my self before falling asleep, "don't forget to grab your planner"...... . And as I would  run out the door the next morning, there on the counter my planner would sit..... Every day without fail. ~Geez~ I planned to bring my planner with me, just as I planned so  many things for my life..... As my planner sat on my counter, so have many of the plans I had for myself. Five years ago I was planning for my "empty nest".... My last child was entering high school and I was planning what I thought would be my life after she was out on her on. Here it is five years later and my life does not resemble any of the plans I had once made....... I went through a divorce......

I constantly scribble notes on my desk calendar at work. Bills that need to be paid.... Appointments that are set..... Phone numbers that are needed in a hurry...... Reminders for upcoming deadlines. I know that if I do not make my "scribble" notes, I will forget something........ Working for my dad,one needs to be able to multi task but after the first ten items he rolls out, my multi tasking skills are challenged. ( I promise you he is the energizer bunny re-incarnated) And so my desk calendar becomes my back up. So where do we write our spiritual notes? Deuteronomy 11:18 18  “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.   Proverbs 7:3 3  Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.   2 Corinthians 3:3 3  Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of...

My personal battles over the last few months have seemed to increase in size and strength....... Emotionally and physically hit from every angle...... It's been during this time, I have had so many unanswered  questions...... My lack of understanding grew just a tad..... My stress  rose to a new level..... And to be honest, I could feel myself shutting down..... The place where I emotionally go to hide within myself........ At least that is what I thought I was doing............. Linking up with "Shakin" the Foundation. Click  Here  for more~ Xoxoxo Stacey

Over the past several weeks, my daddy God has me reading..... And reading, and reading and reading some more. No TV, no phones calls..... No favorite weekly shows......  Just reading. He has had me reading everything from Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, Ruth, Amos, Aaron, Jonathan, King David to King Solomon....... The old testament is where He has placed me ....... And it seems I will be here for a time set by the Lord. I was never an old testament kinda girl..... After so many "begats" I honestly lost interested..... I couldn't keep with them all..... Bored and irritated I would become. I was a new testament girl...... Or I though I was......... Right? It was easier for me to read the new testament..... The understanding was greater...... I saw the promises..... I felt the joy.... The old testament..... Not so much..... ~sigh~ It holds so much war, death and destruction.... Harsh correction..... And s...