On Alert

 

Monday morning I dropped my boys off at the high school.

Two tall, blue-eyed treasures smiled as they shut the car door, and walked off to join the crowd.  Oh, Dear Lord, "the crowd" ...

... this pressurized peer group, swarming like bees outside the gym doors, waiting to engulf my young men.

I drove away and prayed.


"Dear God, give them sensitivity and courage to keep in step with You ...

Joy Dare 8.20.12

Giving thanks to God in community for His gifts ...



3 gifts in family
Aunts and cousins - treasured friendships
My mom who thinks of me often
my home filled with children who keep life VERY interesting:)



3 gifts ugly beautiful
the kitchen cabinets - tattered and worn from consistent, almost constant use
my grocery list scratched hastily in writing from three different "contributors"
sun shining through our front door - original 1979 stained glass

a gift in a ring
this story of redemption that still brings me peace

a gift in a curve
brightly colored, translucent goggles on giggling swimmers

a gift in a sphere
whoppers. tiny spheres of chocolaty, malty goodness:)

Body Parts

From the Archives: April 2004


It is Wednesday morning, and the breakfast dishes are clean and put away. Ardyn, the three-year-old, is busily gathering trash cans from all the rooms so it can be taken out. As her eight-year-old brother hauls out the "big trash", she dutifully puts new liners in each empty can and returns them to their rightful place. 

She even sings a little song as she goes:
"Brown one goes inda ... Bath room. Pink one goes inma ... Mom's room ..."

Hers in not a huge job, but it's really important to the other people involved. Her family depends on her. Sure someone else could do it instead, but we would all miss out on the apparent joy she finds in being a part of a whole.

As Landen comes inside from his trash run, he goes to sit at the table.  He has completed his household job, and now he cheerfully works on a responsibility he has to his church family. He copies a Scripture onto notebook paper, and adds "God loves you and so do I!". After drawing a picture, he addresses it to one of our church's home bound members.

His is not a huge job, but it's really important to the other people involved.  His church family depends on him. Sure someone else could do it instead, but we would all miss out on the apparent joy he finds in being a part of a whole.

"As it is, there are many parts, but one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:20

Joy Dare 8.13.12

Giving thanks to God in community for His gifts ...



3 gifts white
Casie's wedding dress
crisp new notebook paper with blue straight lines of promise
winter fresh gum in the dog days of summer

3 gifts eaten
watermelon
squash
pineapple chicken
 
a gift at 10am
creme brulee coffee and some emails

a gift at 1pm
read-alouds before nap time

a gift at 10pm
"White Collar"on Netflix with my main man

MEANINGful

Humility:

Recognizing and revealing the ugly truth,

receiving undeserved grace, and

resting in unimaginable love.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." -Romans 12: 1-2