This morning I was listening to an interview with the Marquette basketball coach – Buzz Williams. I was impressed to hear him openly speak of his relationship with Christ and how his faith has influenced his coaching style. Mr Williams made one statement that grabbed my attention and deeply spoke to my soul. “Let’s not … Continue reading →

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4. I find this scripture comforting when I am facing a trial. … Continue reading →

The big sensation on the web today is the “laughing baby.” The baby’s laughter is stemmed by watching her father tare up employment rejection letters. This morning, as I listened to KLOVE, I couldn’t help but laugh along as they replayed the audio. Pretty soon my five year old son was laughing right along with … Continue reading →

I have loved my husband for 15 years. I think I knew from the moment that I met him that I was going to love him – deeply, intimately, and without judgement. He was raised in a good home – a Catholic home and attended church regularly. Somewhere along the way he got lost. He … Continue reading →

2 Corinthians 1:22 says, “He annointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”. It is life changing once we actually experience the full effect of Christ’s annointing. It is empowering and incredibly humbling when we feel His spirit enter … Continue reading →

There came a point in my life when that care-free child just disappeared. I found myself burdened down with responsibility, expectations, and self doubt. Day after day, I could feel myself sinking but couldnt find a way to get out. Slowly, I was forgetting the brightness and beauty of life. I was slipping slowly into … Continue reading →

Tomorrow night I will be sitting with some wonderful women of God and we will be discussing the importance of forgiveness. I know that many of them have very deep hurts and those hurts seem impossible to heal and move on from. Others are not sure if they have ever experienced such a crippling event. … Continue reading →

The past few years for me have been difficult to say the least. I have been tormented by what my call in life is and what I should be accomplishing. I have always been one of those people who couldn’t seem to sit still. I was always involved in everything, played every sport, sang in … Continue reading →

My heart was nearly broken yesterday. How is it that a person could never have experienced happiness? Is it possible to forget what happiness feels like? Have I ever experienced such pain that I could, literally, forget what happiness was like? A beautiful woman of God said those very words to me yesterday. “Jen, I … Continue reading →

I love it when my kids come home. I love hearing the door open or seeing their smiling faces when I pick them up from somewhere. Even if they’ve had a bad day- I just love that initial embrace we get. Once Kennedy started riding the bus, the initial “welcome home” kind of changed. We … Continue reading →

According to the encyclopedia, the definition of a puppeteer is: a person who manipulates an inanimate object—a puppet—in real time to create the illusion of life. Everday, every action, reaction, spoken word, and even thought requires such a huge amount of conscious effort. The choices that I make effect my life, yet there are times … Continue reading →

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about Moses these past few months. I have tried to imagine what he felt during those 40 years in the desert. I can only imagine that he felt confused, abandoned, as though he was watching his life pass hime by. All the while, God was working … Continue reading →

I’m sure if my neighbors could have heard me this morning, they would have thought I was either reprimanding my children or having a nervous breakdown. If they had been able to see into my windows they surely would have seen a maniac woman, throwing her hands up, and screaming at who knows what. For … Continue reading →

“Put on then, Gods chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgine you, so you also must forgive.” Colossians 3:12-13. My heart was broken today. I have spent every waking moment … Continue reading →

I was a world traveler this past summer.  I was very thankful when I finally got home. That was until I saw my garden. Dan isn’t much on landscaping. I have the green thumb in the family and I really enjoy it. Its alot of work but I love the quietness and the oasis that … Continue reading →

We all face disappointment. I couldnt count the times that I have been disappointed in my life. Disappointment comes in all forms – our children, spouses, relationships, friendships or even ourselves. Many times we find that we are our own worse enemy and so we sit in our self pity and disappointment. As I write … Continue reading →

My daughter, Kennedy, began bringing home these rubber band bracelets a few weeks ago. At first, I questioned where they were coming from but soon realized that these cute bands were the newest fad for school aged children. They come in all sorts of shapes and colors; the kids spend their recesses trading them with … Continue reading →

We’ve all done it – wondered who our children might resemble or take after. It’s pretty clear with my kids. The girls look like me and Deacon looks like his dad. Of course, we will always have those family members who desperately want the kids to look like my great-great grandmother or their dad’s eleventh … Continue reading →

Clutter- we all have it! Usually when we talk about clutter we think of our homes, cars, that one drawer in the kitchen that’s the catch all! We all have one Unless you are just completely OCD but then you really do have problems! Last night our womens study realized that, many times, the findings … Continue reading →