Whole Heart Devotion

If you walk into a Bath and Body Works store, you will become quickly overwhelmed with what seems like an infinite number of scents.  Each scent is transmitted in various forms, like lotions, sprays, hand sanitizers, wall plug-ins, candles, body washes . . . the list goes on and on!   As the vast majority of the population has made the shift from bar soap to liquid body wash, that is one thing that has yet to change in my house.  I suppose that everyone has their "thing" that must remain constant. From Jif peanut butter, to Tide detergent, to Levi's blue jeans, some people are absolutely married to specific brand of household items.  One of my husband's undeniable affections is towards white Dove soap.  He remains completely faithful to his age-old friend, and I don't see this love affair changing anytime soon! I guess we all have our preference in soaps, and from Japanese Cherry Blossom to the white Dove beauty bar, there certainly are no shortages

"I am the vine; you are the branches.  He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."  John 15:5 After a year or more of neglect, my gracious parents took pity on me and came to the rescue of my poor, pitiful flowerbeds.  While my family went on a camping trip, my parents came and put in numerous hours of hard labor on my attention-deprived landscaping around our house.  It was less of a makeover and more of an overhaul ! The beautiful transformation that took place didn't come without a cost.  Sweat, blisters, fire ant bites, poison ivy, 20 heavy bags of mulch, torrential downpours . . . you name it, they endured it!  And in spite of the fact that they bore the brunt of the hard work, it's my responsibility to maintain what they worked for, or else all of their hard work was done in vain. Aren't most transformations that way?  They require continual upkeep.  I get my hair styled at a salon called  Transformatio

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."  Psalm 143:10 Are you the kind of person that can allow life's little annoyances to get on your nerves from time to time?  I'm talking about those insignificant things that will drive you absolutely nuts if you allow them.  Perhaps the ticking of a clock, or the incessant clicking of a pen, or someone's chewing sounds are enough to send you over the edge.  If you are like me, you have to force yourself to focus on something besides that annoyance. One of the other things that tends to bother me is the picture that is not hanging just right.  There's something about that slightest little imperfection that is magnified whenever you look at the straight line where the wall meets the ceiling and then realize that the beautiful family portrait is obviously higher on one side than the other! Well, God is seriously challenging my amount of long-suffering these days!  H

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."  Psalm 139:1-3 Well, I finally did it.  I finally became a full fledged preacher's wife!  Yes, I've technically been one for thirteen years, but it wasn't completely official until last Sunday. It was a very normal Sunday morning.  Preacher-hubby was out the door bright and early to be at church for our early service.  I was at home in a somewhat state of shock because the devil hadn't reared his nasty head in our house that morning!  The kids were interacting peacefully with each other.  Breakfast was eaten, Sunday lunch was prepped and ready to be eaten when we got home, and everyone had gotten what we call "out the door ready" in a very timely fashion.  ( Don't even think about coveting our Sunday morning routine because all of these thing

"And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Ephes. 4:24 I've been known to be a proponent for change.  I enjoy seeing change within the walls of my home and I'm able to make that happen by very frequently rearranging the furniture!  I like the fact that our government allows for change and that we can see new faces in political offices every so many years.  I enjoy seeing our church try new things and implement change in an attempt to draw people to Christ. What I've realized lately, though, is that my fondness for change is contingent on the amount of change that takes place within a certain amount of time.  I like change, but I like to have the power to determine when enough is enough!  I guess when it boils down to it, I think change is good whenever it is on my terms. Isn't that the way most of us are whenever it comes to allowing God to enact change in our lives?  We are quick to give Him our heart, but

"Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be."  James 3:10 My kids were recently fascinated by the amazing feat that was conquered by tightrope walker, Nick Wallenda.  Having watched him complete the walk across Niagara Falls some time ago, they were thrilled to hear that he was going to attempt to cross a portion of the Grand Canyon that was 1500 feet from the rope to the bottom of the canyon. We sat with sweaty palms and frequent gasps as we watched him battle the gusty winds and seemingly never ending rope that was in front of him.  As he traversed his way over the canyon, his prayers spilled all over the tightrope.  He praised God for His creation, he prayed for Him to calm the winds, and he called on Him to give him patience and peace. The witness and testimony that he displayed before millions of people on live television that night was undoubtedly a breath of fresh air to cable TV.  His unashamed use of the name of

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."  Phil. 2:5 Last Friday I found myself with five very anxious children who were excited about going to swim in the pool in my mother-in-law's subdivision.  As we approached the pool, we all marveled at how nobody was there and that we would have the pool all to ourselves.  It wasn't until we got a little closer that we realized why nobody was there . . . there was a padlock on the gate and the pool was closed for maintenance! As we walked away and I very quickly realized that I had five children who were dressed and ready to go swimming, I said to them, "Well, looks like we're going to have to take our lemons and make lemonade!" My daughter had never heard that expression so she asked me what it meant.  I explained to her that it basically meant that you take something bad and turn it into something good.  Although the pool was closed, we could still make it a fun day by going to the beac