The Fish Tank

Well, isn't this fitting. I have a post about our beautiful country right when we go into the time we celebrate the beautiful freedoms we love about our country. We are so extraordinarily lucky. I think most of us would admit that we take our freedoms for granted daily. We have men and women who sacrifice their lives so we may be free to become anything we want to be. We get to worship whenever and wherever we desire. We can eat at any restaurant able to choose from countless varieties of food. We can drive freely from state to state. Men and women mingle without restriction. We can voice our opinions loud and proud. We get to argue and debate and fight for what we believe in our hearts to be right and true. We don't have to wake up everyday in fear of death or violence or that our children may be kidnapped and sold into the sex trade. We are free: free to love, free to hate, free to worship, free to believe, free to deny, free. I think where things get murky is when we ident...

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 Scott walked into the bedroom to grab something before going back out into the front room to watch the end of the baseball game. What does any good wife do at a time like that? Well, she starts a debate with him on the most pressing current pop culture news story because now is as good a time as any. I am good like that. We begin discussing the issue and Scott, being the good debater that he is, kept pushing me to see the other side. I am a stubborn debater and don't succumb to another's points easily. This time, however, he led me to see his side. He used to joke with me about a book he had to read in his master's program called, "How to Change People's Minds," was a book he was reading for me. He's a funny one. Of course the baseball game was over by the time we finished our debate. I f...

Jackson came home from school seeming a little down and out. We always talk about his day but today I had to do a little more digging. He eventually told me why he was bummed. Two boys from his class set their lunch boxes up to keep Jack out. They told him he was an outsider because he was not on the inside of the little fortress they built. My heart was sad for my boy but we talked through it and just like that, all was well with is soul once again. We can giggle a little about the silliness of elementary school antics. But, I wonder how often we feel like Jack; an outsider who doesn't fit in to the current mold, standard, or place. I have had numerous conversations lately with different people who do not feel connected to our church. We are a large church: one church, three locations. Our pastor preaches at one campus and his message is broadcast to the other two. Thousands of people walk thru the doors of our church each weekend. It is easy to feel lost, disconnected, and like...

We talked on FaceTime for almost two hours. We compared gray hairs and the size of the bags under our eyes as only friends of 20+ years can do. We laughed and joked about things that only make sense to the two of us. We said our I love yous exhausted from talking well past our bed times. I hung up feeling refreshed, encouraged, and reenergized in a way that only she knows how to bring out in me. You see, yesterday was my birthday. And if I am honest and take off the mask of "everything is fantastic" I can say it sucked. I woke up with low expectations. I knew I'd have a quiet day since Scott had an overnight trip he couldn't get out of. He felt awful for leaving before I woke up but such is life. Life doesn't stop because it's someone's birthday and I get that. I woke up and walked to the kitchen as I always do. I passed the dining room table that has become Lego central. The moment I walked by, my oil and water-type boys start bickering. I sighed annoye...

When I was in college, I had my life planned out. I would be married with at least one child by 24 and eventually have a boy and a girl. We would skip merrily through our life with smiles on our faces and color coordinated outfits. Ha. Boy, was I wrong. I got married at 24 but didn't have my first child until I was 28. He was a textbook pregnancy and birth. The other two? Not so much. There's so much to motherhood that I didn't know. I thought I was well-prepared having been around kids most of my life. I had changed countless numbers of diapers and knew how to entertain kids. I went to school to be a teacher for goodness sakes. I knew kids. Or, at least I thought I knew. And then I had my own. The moment they put my slimy screaming first born on my chest life as I knew it changed. The world stood absolutely still in that moment. Nothing else mattered. After hours of labor, we became a family of three in a matter of seconds. I thought I knew, but in that very moment I rea...

I could feel the eyes rolling after I posted the picture of my weights at the gym. I couldn't help but post. Working out is my jam. I remember talking to Jackson's teachers before I left teaching and moved to Texas. They could see that I enjoyed doing and being active. They encouraged me to find my thing after we moved. They knew I'd need it; I'd need something for me that challenged and moved me. After three babies, I had to find something for this mama. I've always been active so working out wasn't foreign. I started with a goal to run a half marathon after I had Wyatt and I accomplished that goal. My knees, however, did not want me to keep running so back to the gym I went. Scott and I found a little gym in our community and began working out together. We grew attached to our little gym family and I could not get enough. I enjoyed the challenge and the drive to push myself a little further each time. I was hooked. I was talking to one of our trainers recent...

"When the world seems too loud, we must be quiet. When the world seems too violent, we much be peaceful. When the world seems too evil, we must be good." Glennon Doyle Melton, Momastery "...and may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow." 1 Thessalonians 3:12 To say there is a lot going on in our world is an understatement. Doesn't it always seem to happen that way; everything happening at once? Our world is in chaos. I believe it always is but shows more loudly at times. People are hurting; hurting in a bad way. From natural disasters, to protests, riots, supreme court rulings, and polarizing interviews on TV, the world as we know it has come crashing down in a pile of rubble so big none of us feel equipped to tackle it. We sit back chins fallen on the floor in utter amazement that this could be our world. We spew our opinions and how we would handle the situation better, yet we don't move. We are glued to our TV an...