The Fish Tank

I watching one of my favorite shows, Pioneer Woman, and she was cooking a pot roast. After she put all the ingredients in she said, "Now here comes the most difficult part. Are you ready? Put the lid on and leave it alone." She continued to say that you must leave the roast alone to do its thing and become a juicy tasty feast. This got me to thinking...life is like a pot roast. I don't know about you but when I cook pot roast I break the rules and lift the lid at least once or twice. I am always worried it's not fully cooking or needs a little push here and there with a spoon. I can't just leave well enough alone. I have to mess with it. How often do we do this in our lives? God is trying to work and bless and do great things for and through us yet we can't help but fuss. We can't leave our lives alone and let the story play. Nope. We have to lift the lid and check to make sure God is really doing what He said He would. I mean, we don't want to be tou...

Fear. Anxiety. Unknown. Shaken. Worry. Paralysis. My mom tells a story about me when I was three years old. I used to play in our backyard and collect snails. Don't judge. I was quite the tomboy as a kid. I would take these snails and line them up in a perfect row. I would have them "march" and get upset if they got out of line. The underlying joke in our family is that I have not changed. I like my things, my life, lined up perfectly. If something gets out of place, I get upset. While I know ultimately I am not in control, I strive for this life of stability and all my ducks in a row. I have learned that this is not how God works. He loves to bless us and give us an abundant life but will move and shift in our lives so that our faith will grow and flourish. I think He thought it awfully funny when He designed our family. Jackson was planned and his birth and the timing of it, perfect. Grady and Wyatt? Not so much. Their pregnancies and births were a whirlwind. I believ...

I woke up in the middle of the night...well, let's be honest, a child woke me up in the middle of the night and I could not go back to sleep. My mind started racing and thinking and making lists and doing all of the things it should not have been doing at 4am. What, in particular, was I thinking about? Groceries. Weird I know. My mind is a crazy place. I was thinking about the order of a grocery store (bear with me) and how they are so packed full of food and literally on almost every corner. I thought about all the preservatives they have to put in food to keep it "fresh" and all the research out there terrifying us with all the new "facts" about what we put into our bodies and how each bite of the stuff will lead to cancer and death. Good stuff, right?!?!? Doesn't everyone think this way when they can't sleep. Ha! This thinking about our abundance of food led me to thinking about our friends who are adopting a baby from Ethiopia. I thought about this...

I hate prunes. Everything about them. The taste. The texture. The smell. Prunes are not appetizing to me AT ALL. Fitting God would prune me. I know I need to be pruned but most times, I don't like the process. I have been broken, bruised, pushed, pulled, and drug through the mud throughout my life. The past six months were and continue to be a season of pruning for me and trust me, many tears have been shed. Often times I fight against the pruning until God gives me that one moment, a brief glimpse of grace and reminder that He's got this. There are so many things I have learned during these months being poked, prodded, and moved. I find peace in knowing none of this is being done in vain. There is a greater purpose. I know with all that I am that I am being pruned for something greater. There is meaning to the pain, frustration, and even great joy. I find rest in John 11:40...Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" ...