Journeys of one mom

Today as I was listening to my worship station, this song, "Fear Is a Liar" came on and it really stopped me for a moment as I truly listened.  The fear of the titles we bear often is the liar that drags us down.... Sometimes, the titles that people don't think of are the titles that many bear on a daily basis. You often think about titles just as jobs that we hold.  Positions of power... but we all have titles in our lives... some titles are heavier than the title of any highest power you could hold... it is often a title that we  bear completely alone.  Titles like "Special needs, spoony, terminal, chronic, incurable, progressive..." The list could go on!  Yes... medical titles cause fear!  They hold us back, they tell us we can't be what we always dreamt or wanted... they crush us... but God has a plan beyond that title.  God says in Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans  I have for you,” declares the  Lord , “plans to prosp...

As our children grow, I watch the talks that we have change.  The questions become harder.  The shows that they watch become harder to combat with.  The world we live in grows stronger to over take and overwhelm with ways that seem to take them down paths that are hard and scary... This morning as I prayed, I was overwhelmed by todays society. Thinking of the youth of today... teens taking on the Tide Pod challenge or the Aerosol deodorant challenge... The amount of stories I hear of teens struggling to know their "sexual identity", or the cutting, the suicide attempts because of the pressures of life, drug overdoses, the shootings and killings... it's a heavy world... Then our children ask questions. They want to understand. They want to know why. So, this morning, God took me to a passage I know well, but it clicked in a way it had never clicked today.  It's found in 2 Timothy 4:2 It says, "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, re...

I am reading the Bible tonight trying to put together something on my heart.  As I do, I'm sitting here and I have so much emotion welling up in me.  The question of, "Who is this Jesus" is something I have been feeling I'm to research and write some lessons on.  As I'm diving into it, my heart is being torn in so many ways myself. My first lesson in this series of lessons is that of the Shepherd.  Jesus is our Shepherd.  John 10:11-15 says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep." As I read this, I t...

My life has taken a sudden change... everything I once knew... it feels I no longer know.  I was admitted 2 1/2 weeks ago because of my aspiration issues and a Peg tube (feeding tube) was placed in my abdomen.  I went in with the understanding this was going to be supplemental... and I came out learning this was it... This was my sole nutrition.... The words NPO indefinitely were written in bold letters across the note from my surgeon and team of doctors (NPO meaning... nothing by mouth).  You don't realize how big that word Indefinite is... until it's placed on something major in your life.  This has been a hard road.  I have put on my bravest most strongest face I can... but there are moments... daily moments... I find myself broken... I feel so much better now with my health that it makes it all worthwhile but for me... for many... food is social!  We get together and we eat.... we have parties and we eat... we have victories and we eat... we go on dat...

We got to go to church today.  We haven't been in MONTHS!  It's super hard to pack us up and go places and the weekends are when we are wiped because we have been on the go like crazy through the week with appointments, my therapies, school, etc.  But I was blessed to be there today.  For those needing a church, especially if you have special needs in your home, Whosoever ministries in Fountain City is a fantastic church home. It starts at 2 p.m. on Sundays and 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. Now... back to where I was.  Today, Denver (the pastor) was talking about final words and listening to people to get a better understanding of who they really are.  It got me to really thinking!  So many times, I wonder what people hear from me when they listen... then it made me think... our words are a powerful thing in our lives!  Words can bring hope... words can dash hope!  Words can bring joy but equally bring sorry.  Words can build up or tear down... ...

What do you do when life comes to a screeching halt? How do you focus and how do you handle it when everything flies at you at once?  It seems that is the way of life all together right now for me in my little world.  One thing right after the other... leaves you at a place of questions... makes you feel you've been knocked down... Leaves you to ask... why God? Jeff (my husband) and I were talking just the other day how many people look at Christianity so differently.  The reality is... God never ever once promised that life as a Christian would be easy! NOPE!  He never promised there would be butterflies and roses and rainbows everywhere... but instead... he said there will be hard times... there will be suffering... their will be persecution... there will be struggles... But even in the midst of all of that He did promise hope! He did promise to carry our burden! He did promise to be there in every moment of every joy and every sorrow! For me... yesterday was m...

Chronic illness changes everything... it changes your outlook, your feelings, your desires, it changes the way you view life... it changes your perspective... In Ecclesiastes 3 it says, "There is an appointed time for everything. A nd there is a time for every event under heaven— 2  A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3  A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4  A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance...." Today as I spoke with two very special friends... two people I adore and look up to who also fight the life of chronic illness... It dawned on me... there is a time for everything in our lives!  It sucks (and yep... we say sucks because that is the healthiest most innocent word we can use and every other word would be much worse for what we battle)... but it sucks to face the realities some times.  It sucks to see the ...