Everyday Imperfect

  As a child, the only time I ever heard about fasting was when the preacher of our little baptist church happened to mention or preach on Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.  In my teen years, when my family started going to a Pentecostal church, I saw where some people made fasting and prayer a regular part of their devotion to the Lord.  This was a new concept to me, but I couldn't help but notice those who practiced periods of fasting and prayer had a lot more power and faith in their relationship with God.   I know there has to be others in my shoes from back then - wondering what the big deal is with fasting added to your prayers.  So I thought I'd jot down a few truths I've learned along the way (with the help of some awesome pastors I've had, as well as MY pastor and leader - my husband!).   Because this is the way my brain functions, it will be somewhat of a list format, but please feel free to ask questions for clarity's sake.  As I tell m...

Isn’t it interesting that as many times as you read or hear about a Bible story all your life (especially if you grew up in the church), all of a sudden one time you hear the same story and something remarkable jumps out at you that you never realized before?  That’s what happened to me a few weeks ago when I was doing a devotional on Lazarus - the guy Jesus raised from the dead.   I actually have been going through the Bible in a year, and I like to have my YouVersion app read it to me while I’m getting ready each morning.  This particular morning, I learned something that really shook me, to be honest.  Here’s a quick backstory— Jesus and his disciples were on their way, ministering and at some point came upon a village (which we now know was Bethany), where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. - this is where most of us first learn about Mary & Martha, who were Lazarus’ sisters.   Luke 10:38: 38  As Jesus and the disciples continued on their ...

This was taken from a message I was blessed to deliver to our Womens' retreat at our church, coined "the Weekend at the Well".   Before you dig into this lesson and my heart from this well known passage, let's refresh our memories on this favorite story of mine.  (Read John 4:4 - John 4:39) This link will take you there:  Bible.com So you have this woman - this woman that had NO self-worth to speak of.   Society labeled her. Her past labeled her.   Her own actions lived up (or down) to that label, and she even cut herself off from the rest of society because of it.   (that’s why she was at the well in the midday instead of the morning when most other women would draw water).   She was the one the other women whispered about as she passed by - whether it was true or not.   She was the one who was so desperate to fill whatever it was she was missing, that she chose to go from one man to the next, desperately seeking that fulfillment she’d ...

I was honored to be able to share at our church's women's fellowship meal a while back, and felt led to prepare this.  Anytime I speak truth like this I get pretty nervous - like I'm worried someone will get offended, you know?  I'm working on that, lol!  But here's what the Lord gave me this time. Hope it blesses you too! ******************************************************* Have you ever met someone who just seemed to always be a victim?  I’m not talking about those truly victimized people that have lived through life’s worst horrors - I’m talking about those who always have something bad happening, and it’s always someone else’s fault.   I have thankfully earned the reputation of being a friendly and encouraging person.  And I LOVE being an encourager.  But y’all… it sure does take a lot of energy trying to encourage someone who is so determined to be someone else’s victim.   Being done wrong is a hurtful thing, And not to sound all “Pollyann...

Figuring out how to walk in this new chapter of ministry has been ... fun, we'll say.  Actually, I quite enjoy the planning and creating and feel that this new season God has me walking in is completely ordained by Him, so I do feel at peace about it.  I had considered doing a brand new blog or website, but after chatting with my husband about it, we realized there were many good, God-given things in my old blog that really could help more people still.  So we decided just to give this one a makeover, and continue to let God us it however He sees fit.  I'll be sharing some of my favorites from the past on my social media, but feel free to go through here and comment on your faves as well before I share them these coming weeks.  As part of a life update, this new season is one that I've honestly dreamed about for sometime, but never felt it would really come to pass.  And, like most God-ordained seasons, it does look a little different than I originally thou...

It's been a full year - as of today - that I nearly lost the love of my life. If you don't know my hubs is a little older than me, so I've always had it in the back of my head that there would be a day that I'd be without him. But in the middle of a pandemic? We had no idea how close we were to living without him. For weeks he's been dealing with a cough - we blamed it on allergies (though he swears he doesn't have any). The last week of April, though, he was getting progressively worse, short of breath, and very weak. He barely got through that Wednesday night's lesson online. And by Friday he couldn't walk from the bedroom to the living room without gasping for air. He swore that it was just a bad chest cold. I was convinced he either had Pneumonia or Covid! Nevertheless, he kept taking meds to help with his cough and "chest cold". He was supposed to meet our children's church teacher at church Saturday morning, but was too weak ...

One day, my little family and I walked into our local restaurant for dinner.  Some friends from church own the restaurant and our town literally has about 600 people, so we knew several people there. My husband got stopped at one table, while I went over to another and started chatting with some church members there.  As I was talking to the mom, their adorable little 4-year-old girl tilted her head, squinted her warm brown eyes at me and said, "I tink you go to my chuhch (church)."  I'm her pastor's wife, she'd seen me there every Sunday and Wednesday (and sometimes in between) for a year or two at that point.  Before we had the chance to assure her that yes, she did know me, my husband finished his conversation and walked over to the table, draping his arm across my shoulders.   When this little sweetie saw my husband, her eyes got as big as saucers and the biggest smile lit up her face as she exclaimed, "PASTUH! PASTUH!" (toddler speak for "pas...