Coming Soon...

Today has been another eventful day in Hawaii. An 8-week old nephew weighing in at 14.2 pounds, a sister with recovering health, doctor appointments, groceries, fuel, laundromat, and telephone calls. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help my sister in her time of need and among all of the things from today I still made time not only as my morning quiet time but throughout the day to reflect on God and how He is in control of my life. What I also noticed is by keeping my focus on Him I have been honored and blessed with a wonderful husband and family. I often wonder if my daily tasks are in the right priority. I wonder if I am wasting time. A day like today affirms that each task and each day is full of joy. As we were driving 'up the volcano' to go home, we drove a new road and I found a sign that I had to turn around and take a picture of it..... look at this picture... does it speak for itself?

Drawing Close Through The Word

About a week ago my wife left to go stay with her sister to help her through a difficult time in her life. At the same time, and mostly to allow me to still work, my children went to stay with their Nana.

I have been without my family for one week. I have not been able to hold my wife's hand or touch her or smell her or listen to her voice (not digitized at least) for 7 days. I miss her very much. For 7 days our relationship has been on hold. For 7 days I have not been "plugged-in" to her life and her person. For 7 days the deepest interaction I have had from her is her blog postings (see image).

For the last 7 days I have spent a lot of time listening to people talk. I have heard people talk about God. I have heard them mention the name of Jesus. For 7 days I have listen to people talk a lot about religion and "churchy" things...

An interesting part about all of this is that I have not heard anyone refer to God or Jesus or their faith in a way that even slightly implies that they are in a relationship or that Jesus is alive and coming. For 7 days people have talked about things of religion and I have not seen or heard a single reference or smidgen of information that would lead me to believe that they love Him, know Him, or are growing in a relationship with Him... why?

Because you can't grow in a relationship without investing time in the relationship... you can't get to know someone by just standing next to them... you can know about them, but you won't know them and who they are...

If you want to know Jesus, you must spend time with Jesus. If you want a relationship with God, you must spend time in the Word.

My family and I have a practice of memorizing scripture together. There is nothing complicated here. We choose a verse that is special to us and we all begin to memorize. We challenge each other. We encourage each other. We hold each other accountable. We talk about how that scripture is impacting us and our hearts.

Will you join us as we follow our hearts to love and know Jesus in a deeper, more intimate way?

What is your title?

I am so happy for Lisa, my sister, as she celebrates her first Mother's Day. Xavier, or X-man, is such a blessing. His tiny smiles, little noises, slight whimpers, and the joy is impossible to describe. In order to help Lisa with Xavier and her recovery from surgery, I am away from my family. I miss my husband and children each moment, yet, I know that my return to them will be soon.

I wonder if this is how God looks at us? Does He await the day that we will return to Him?

On Mother's Day - away from my family, I was 'Auntie' and I loved the title, but I missed my three little children and my title of 'Momma'...and 'Wife'.

I challenge you to think about your title. Is your title meaningful to you? I hope that my title is 'Christian Wife, Mom, Friend'......Is your title enough for you?