Courage: Discovering the Courage to Sail Rough Seas Max Lucado recounts about ancient ocean maps that were so incomplete in the 1400s that sailors wrote notes on the unchartered areas of the maps. Not knowing what's ahead on an ocean is especially fearful when there is no land in view and no knowledge there will be. They wrote things like, "Here be dragons," and in another place, "Here be demons," and "Here be sirens." A master mariner who was a → Read more
Conviction: Leaning into the Reminders It was just past 6 o'clock on a Friday night and I was laying on the couch with tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes to match. I put on a comedy in attempts to brighten my mood, but the effects were minimal. There was a knock on the door and in rushed my sister-in-law with a package in tow. "I saw the shipping confirmation and I knew you'd be needing this for tomorrow, so I wanted → Read more
I should have taken a picture of it. I opened my kitchen cabinet and out toppled a half pound of spaghetti noodles. As I looked at the counter I wanted to scream and then thought - "Ah! Cheryl, guess you wanted to play pick up sticks today!" It wasn't more than 15 minutes later that I pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge and it slipped out of my hand and off popped the top and out sprayed → Read more
Decide, in advance, how much you want to 'cheat' from your normal eating pattern, this holiday season. I know! I'm meddling. What a time to ask you to consider what you are putting in your mouth. But the flip side is that this time of year, more than perhaps any other time, you want your energy to enjoy the people and festivities around you. Telling on myself: My doc has put me on a dairy and gluten free diet (save → Read more
Sometimes life feels like it is firing heavy artillery from all directions. We are getting hit from all sides. You might hear yourself saying: No matter what I chose to do, it will be the wrong thing. As soon as I start one thing, something else is going to hit me in the face. This is never going to let up. Where do I even begin? Why isn't someone helping me out here? How do I dig myself out of → Read more
As a child, my younger son, David, was typically so engrossed in whatever he was thinking or saying that he was unaware of his surroundings. Oftentimes we would be in the midst of a change of venue or some other type of transition that required greater thought and concentration. We needed all hands on deck and certainly did not need David's ongoing stories and questions during those moments. He wasn't getting it. By the time he was around 8 years → Read more
I'm writing on a topic that I still am a young student with. This is a tough one for me, so bear with me as I write. Danny and Chris Colucci used to disciple my husband and me. Danny staunchly felt that it was more important to be in right relationship than it was to be right. This man is a Bible teacher and knows the word. He is not talking about compromising on Truth. He is encouraging us to → Read more
Return a blessing for a curse and watch how the Lord will enlarge your heart. Telling on myself: At one point early in my faith walk, the Lord brought a challenging person into my life. She had a true disdain for me and told me so, yet, because of our circumstances, was going to be a part of my life for a very long time. I tried everything to win her over. In that process, I experienced fatigue, hurt and → Read more
Intentionally and willfully changing your focus can lead to tremendous opportunity, renewed hope and new options. Choosing your focus involves a very simple process: Acknowledge the worst-case scenario. (Expect the worst) Acknowledge what you would like to see happen. (Hope for the best) Assess what you know what know right now. (Stick to the facts) Consider next steps. Take the perceived best next step. Telling on my son: My son totaled his vehicle. He had his Beamer for three months → Read more
Build in Shock Absorbers to train for standing firm under acutely difficult circumstances. Physical preparation for possible emergency is good, but not complete. There is another type of preparation that is equally important. Taking a look at the physical first: The first order of business when flying is the emergency exit 'spiel'. The likelihood of needing to know all that information is very slight. In cycling, professional cyclists are encouraged to master the 'panic stop' which trains them how to → Read more