The Fish Tank

Teenage Mother A donkey owner Simon of Cyrene Who are these people? I am sure you can figure out the first one: Mary the mother of Jesus. Who are the others and what do all three of these people have in common? They all did extraordinary things but, for the most part, went unseen. Do you ever feel unseen? Undervalued? I do. I try not to get caught up in that space, but I find myself there too often. While Mary is infamous today, she wasn't when she brought the King into this world. She was a teenager who gave birth in a barn. She was an outcast who was pregnant but not married. She told of an unbelievable story involving an angel, a Spirit, and a Savior who was going to save the world. Could you even imagine? It's easy for us to be in awe of Mary. We know the whole story. She didn't. And neither did the people around her. She had to live it. To top it all off, she had to watch her beloved son die a gruesome death. Talk about feeling unseen and undervalued. She faithfu...

Have you ever gone fishing? I used to fish with my dad when we would go to Lake Arrowhead in California. I remember one time my sister and I were fishing on opposite sides of the dock. We were back-to-back. We both felt a tug on our lines and began to reel in. After fervently reeling and not getting anywhere, we finally realized we hadn't caught a fish. Instead, we caught each other. Our lines were tangled. I have since continued the fishing tradition with my boys. I love sitting on the dock with them, poles in the water. They love to play with the worms but don't especially like stabbing them with a hook, so I usually have to bate their hooks. Most of the time, we are unsuccessful and don't catch a thing. But, when we do, the boys go wild when they see that fish flopping out of the water. Have you ever seen a fish on a hook as it's being pulled from the water? That thing goes crazy flipping and flopping all over the place; gasping for air. The more it moves, the more...

"A surrendered yes to where ever you are leading." Ellie Holcomb Calling. Purpose. Life. These are words we contemplate to give ourselves meaning. We need to matter; have an impact on this planet greater than ourselves. We long to have purpose. But man, that can be tough to figure out. Life is constantly changing. We are continuously adapting. The world never stops spinning. Here's what I have learned about my calling. It has changed and morphed over the years. I have changed and morphed over the years. What I did ten years ago isn't what I am supposed to do today. My calling, my life purpose, should align with my passions. My calling may also make me a little uncomfortable and challenge me. Sometimes, our calling takes a lot of work. It doesn't always come naturally. God will often call us to something without giving us next steps. Our first step is always obedience even obedience. Always. We obey even if next steps are unknown. Take the first step of obedi...

"You are like that illuminating light . Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation , so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it." Matthew 5:16 (emphasis mine) Knowing my mom would be in town and she loves yoga, my sister asked me if we wanted to attend a hurricane relief fundraiser at a yoga class. We would meet early Saturday morning (yawn) and do some yoga on the grass by the farmer's market. Well, that sounds amazing! Of course I responded with a big old YES looking forward to getting my stretch on all while having some good mother/daughter/sister bonding time. Only this wasn't you're ordinary yoga. This was Holy Yoga. I had heard about holy yoga from friends and have wanted to try it for some time now. I also heard how many people cried sometime during the experience. Grrrrreat. Since I am a HUGE...