17 years of Clayton! Play the Man!
Dear Clayton, I want to encourage you on your 17th birthday to “play the man”. When you are surrounded by the Enemy, when you are feeling overwhelmed and fearful, remember that others have been there before you. Joab first said it to his brother in 2 Samuel 10:12 when he took his best men and…
A Month of Giving Thanks
These are my daily facebook posts. I am posting them here since some of you do not have facebook. November 2012 A Month of Giving Thanks! 1. A month of giving thanks – I am thankful for my job! …and the team I work with! For Starters: Scott Belon, Joel Elwood, Michael Callahan, Allison White,…
Another Year to Live Fully Surrendered
It is my birthday, which is like a new year. I don’t really dream or plan or set goals anymore – at least I haven’t the past few years. But as always I want this day, this year and this one life to count. There is a line in some movie that says, “Ooohhh, that…
“Once Upon a Time – 32 years ago…”
So I am not sure about how to word this: “It is my 32nd Anniversary” or “It would have been my 32nd anniversary”. My “Once Upon a Time” began more than 32 years ago at Biola, in the Symphonic Winds to be precise, and I know that love stories don’t have happy endings because love…
The Freeway Game
Jim and I used to play a game that we called the freeway game. The object of the game was to take as many freeways as you could to get to your destination. Of course we made many sub-rules and variations and for some reason we only ever thought of playing it in Southern California.…
Fresh Start
So it would seem that a new job has inspired several other new or fresh starts, including working on diet and exercise, developing a new normal as far as daily routines go, and cracking some new books. It would seem that I have, for the first time in a long time, mustered some new motivation!…
A New Chapter!
When Jim got sick, I really wanted to be with him every minute of the journey to recovery, but God knew others needed to spend time with him too (and that he would not recover!). I knew I would need to get a job with benefits and God provided for our needs by getting me…
5 Day Challenge – a retrospective
This past week I participated in the “Poverty Fast” with my church family in Illinois. While I could not commit to the “no caffeine” rule without getting a headache at work, I pretty much followed the rest of the guidelines. Everyday food intake was restricted to one cup oatmeal for breakfast and a one cup…
Happy 100th Anniversary FBCS!
I was not sure I would go. I didn’t want to remember because sometimes the memories are hard and overwhelming. But when I was invited and I thought about it, I could almost hear Jim’s voice encouraging me and telling me to go for both of us. I did go and I did remember. It…
New Insights
Today marks the Super Bowl but also 15 months since Jim joined the cloud of witnesses! I make new discoveries and see God’s mercies in new ways every day. Some of them are nurturing, some are healing, some are practical! For example, I recently rearranged my bedroom and added a new comforter. I knew I…