BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD Psalms 23 "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pasture. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Six months after Greg died, my brother, Steve, and his wife Tami took their church on a trip to Israel. I had already been to Israel twice before and loved it. If you ever get a chance to go, DO IT!! It's life changing. I thought it would be a good idea to take my boys and go. Partly to show them the holy land and partly to prove to myself that I could do this thing called single pa...

WHAT BIRTHDAYS MEAN TO ME I have always enjoyed my birthday. Maybe it's because I was the baby of the family and therefore spoiled, or it could be my party personality:) It was my birthday last week and this year, instead of just the celebration (which my family and friends did fabulously), I took sometime to contemplate where I have been and where I am going. I wouldn't say that I've had a mid-life crisis, I would say a crisis found me mid-life. It certainly wasn't something I would have chosen for myself, my husband or my children. But it is the crisis that took over my life and I find myself wanting my life back from it. That's not to say I would want the last decade back for a do-over, as I would never want to live those years again. Nor is it that I wish I could changed anything, because I do trust our sovereign God. Rather, maybe I would like an extension on the younger areas of my life that I feel have been shriveled by the crisis that entered my life. Th...

THE RIGHT PAIR OF SHOES I used to be the type of girl that wore heels with everything. I have even been known to say that I was so comfortable in heels, I could climb a mountain. That was meant as a joke because those people who know me understand that there is a reason why my parents did not name me Grace. Although I love high heels and love the way they make me feel and look, I have taken some very hilarious and injury causing falls in them. I have fallen over curbs, on uneven sidewalks, crossing the road on a very busy intersection on the Vegas strip (I think they honked at me in jest but I took it as their way of encouraging me to get up and out of their way), out of an occupied elevator in a hotel in San Fransisco (thanks for laughing with me) and of course, those times when I was just walking across a room and didn't lift my foot high enough and caught the edge of the carpet. No need for talent ladies and gentlemen. I am entertainment in and of myself. By contrast, my moth...

Summer is hard for me. There is just no other way to describe it. As someone who is surviving grief (I'm only surviving day by day, but that's what a survivor does, right???) I know that certain times of the year are harder than others. December is a downer for several reasons,  but summer to me is romantic vacations (that never happen anymore) and family vacations (where someone is always missing).  I have felt dried up inside. Mentally, spiritually, physically. Thank goodness for a loving God who doesn't care how messed up I am or how far away I try to run. He is always there to welcome me home. Feeling dried up and spiritually dehydrated made me think of the story in Ezekiel 37 about the dry bones. This is a vision that God gives to Ezekiel about the nation of Israel coming back together, which has nothing to do with me, but because all scripture leads back to Jesus, I'm going to take some liberties to draw comparison. God showed Ezekiel a valley that was full of ...