Trekking with Me

"take these truths, day by day... preach to yourself... may you sing with confidence that you are made NEW and CARED for..." I have been in Job recently... and this video is perfect as I think about the deep, unimaginable suffering Job went through... and my own response when I have a bad day. Hope you are blessed through this video.

This past weekend God did something that I don't want to forget.  If your life was written as a biblical account, how would it sound?  This past weekend would have been a "God-Moment" for sure in my account. As you know if you have been reading my blog, I have stepped back into the classroom; with that comes new and old ground.  The old ground is not necessarily my best moments, and honestly, feelings, I did not want to repeat.  But, in a God-like fashion, He gives redeeming experiences, to reframe, so-to-speak, things that seemed painful yet hold eternal treasures of joy and beauty.  Not sure if that makes any sense to you - but I guess I am trying to say, sometimes the things, times, relationships, or experiences that have caused us deep pain are places we need and must revisit in the power of God, to know true healing.  Just a tid-bit from my counselor heart and mind.  And since I am living it... It's simply testimony to His glorious work in me. ...

Ahem.  I turned 40 this past week.  I missed blogging on my actual birthday but its good I did not blog because I have been an emotional mess this last week. Confession: it's been hard swallowing this one. With this past week being my first dip back into teacher land and my BIG birthday tucked in the middle, I was a little emotionally overwhelmed.  I still have not wrapped my brain around it. Just being vulnerable here! I was tremendously blessed through lots of cards, birthday wishes, calls, and even a visit from my parents as well as a series of comments on Facebook regarding the significance of the number 40, especially this one: I'm hearing that after 40 years of gathering/experiencing/processing/feeling/digging.....you are ready for a new era - an era of refreshing/being refreshed/walking in your true identity. Because nothing is wasted, and all that you have already walked through will be empowering you to live in the Spirit and listen to Him as you neve...

Good Morning! I am revving up with excitement this morning. Less than 2 hours until the Willowcreek Leadership Summit commences!  And, the cutest outfit has come together this morning - gals you know that gets you in a fun mood when just the right earrings matches up with the perfect top  and shoes... it is just positively joyful! :-) 3 days until teachers officially ascend back down into classrooms.... 6 days until I officially begin a new decade :-) Mountains of thoughts to share! This is just to whet your appetite: is your cup empty?  God directly answered the cry of my heart this past week, thus pouring shameless Joy all over me!  As one of my favorite preachers commonly says, when you get to the root, you rid of the fruit of worry, anxiety, and fear. I just Love Him for being so faithful! Just this morning... I was so blessed in Psalm 84 (one of my favorite psalms - the subtitle of this blog comes from this!): O God, behold our shield, And ...

If you have been following me here, you will be well aware I have been neck-deep in a huge renovation project.  This last week, it has about done me in! I don't know if I am receiving some physical notices that I am getting older... but every part of my body is "powerful worn out" (know where that quote comes from??)! Since I am in the renovating mindset, I thought it was time to make some updating changes on my blog.  I wanted to add a few gadgets to make it more interesting, give me some better feedback, and freshen it up a bit.  As you can see the "gadgets" are on a slide out thing to the right of the screen: notice I have added a "Popular Posts" gadget.  You will also notice there are some feedback and sharing tools for you! I also added a few links to my "about me" page, if you are just coming through for the first time (or have only visited a few times), stop by and let's officially meet! I would LOVE more feed back, so plea...

I can't believe it's only been a week since last Monday - see previous post and you will understand.  Funny how time can seen to go so fast and yet seem so slow and long or full and more than it actually was: it seems like a month ago!  Maybe I just mentally and emotionally distance myself from humiliating experiences.  My own form of denial? ;-) Update on my Kitchen:  testing a stain color, all cabinet doors have been sanded and wiped down, last of the paint over and around the kitchen window and shelf area is being extremely difficult to remove.  My goal is to have the cabinets stained, and put all back together by the weekend.  The rest can and will need to wait a few months... but it will get finished, Lord willing, by Christmas. So... I have been inspired through a fellow blogger's series on singleness.   Not an unfamiliar topic: I could have easily written " Times I hate singleness " - in fact I may come up with my own post of reasons soon....

Right this moment my arms feel like rags, my kitchen looks like a well used workshop with old paint scrapping covering the ugly linoleum, exposed shelves as at least half the cabinet doors are propped up along the walls and bottom cabinet area.   It's a mess. I am worn out.  I am pushing harder to finish this project before I start up with my school year responsibilities in a week!  (A Week!!) I would like to have my kitchen reassembled, maybe even with a new coat of stain on them by next weekend??? My best helper is showing up Monday, hopefully: Dad, my hero. I have had some unusual circumstances this week... On Monday, just as I was unscrewing cabinet hardware and prepping to brush on the paint remover,  I heard a nice friendly knock is at my front door.  A comfortably dressed young man in a bright orange shirt was standing on my porch.  I greeted him, he politely introduced himself.  He had a few clipboard size items in his hands and sinc...