Louder Than the Voices

 What if rest isn't a reward for finishing everything? What if rest is an act of obedience? As we prepare for vacation, God has been reminding me that rest is not laziness—it's part of His design. Robert's boss requires him to take two weeks away from the shop each year because he knows burnout serves no one. I realized I wasn't much different. I had every day of our vacation planned and packed with activities. Then when our lives were turned upside down, we made a different choice. We stopped buying tickets to shows, purchased three comfortable zero-gravity chairs, and gathered some good books instead. We're intentionally making room to slow down, breathe, and allow God to renew our hearts, minds, and spirits. Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is simply rest in His presence. I started really studying rest and came up with some things to share. #1: Jesus invited people to rest     Mark 6:31     "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get so...

  "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 4:7 I am still working on thank you notes, so many people have done so many things for us in the last month, it has been overwhelming, and overwhelmingly comforting. There are seasons in life when the words "thank you" seem completely inadequate. How do you thank the friends who sat beside you when your heart was breaking? How do you thank the family members who showed up without being asked? How do you express gratitude to people who carried part of your burden when you were too exhausted to carry it yourself? The truth is, sometimes "thank you" isn't enough. But perhaps that's because what we're really grateful for is something bigger than the people themselves. We are grateful that God placed them in our lives in the first place. Every card, every hug, every meal, every text message, every prayer, every pers...

 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:7 The last two weeks have shown me this verse in a way I never fully understood before. Grief is heavy. It shows up in quiet moments, in songs, in empty chairs, in routines that suddenly feel different. But even in the sorrow, God has been so faithful to remind me that I am not carrying this alone. I have seen the hands and feet of Jesus through family and friends who have rallied around us. Through prayers, messages, hugs, food, phone calls, and simply people showing up when we needed them most. Sometimes comfort comes through words, and sometimes it comes through someone just sitting beside you reminding you that you are loved. And somehow, even in the sadness, God keeps giving me little moments that make me smile. A memory of Mom will suddenly pop into my mind. A phrase she used to say. A song she loved. A funny story someone shares at just the right t...

 Good morning! Happy Saturday! This has been quite a week for me, lots of ups and downs, lots of work to get done, both at the office and at home and reality, it really was just a normal week with different circumstances. Funny enough, the same as always. I had to do an evaluation on one of our staff this week and it led me to wonder about what God's evaluation of me would be. One of the first things we do in evaluation is show the employee the job description as that is what you are being evaluated on, so I got to thinking, "What would God's job description look like?" I was drawn to two passages, a verse in Micah and a passage in Matthew. I am one of those "whole Bible" people who believes that both Old and New Testaments are relevant to our lives. I believe God would not have given us the Old Testament if He wasn't planning on us learning from it. So, without further ado, here we go: Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the L...

 We made it to another Saturday! We have had a busy week but I am thankful today for a slower weekend.  I still have plenty to do, and I even brought work home because I am going to be gone quite a bit next week for other things so I want to stay caught up, but the fact that I slept in until 5 is just a sign of a laid back day. And it is raining, so no long walks today, I am really feeling a good stretch workout coming on today. I worked my legs really hard yesterday and I am feeling it today so that is probably perfect.  Today I want to talk about something none of us like--rejection. We have all been there in probably every area of our lives; relationships, work, our walk with the Lord. We have all had times that we thought we were doing exactly what God wanted, or we had prayed about something and we felt like God was leading us into the next chapter of our lives only to have it all fall through. We think we are not only talking the talk, but walking the walk and boom,...

 Well, this week has not been what I expected at all. I had decided last week after my little "I don't want to do this anymore" meltdown that I would take a week off. Truth is, it has been a miserable week and I don't feel like I was myself at all. I was tired and bloaty, and had sugar issues, and it was just, well, bad. I fell asleep almost every evening on the couch, couldn't sleep well of a night, I even fell asleep one day at lunch. And I seriously feel so fat and bloaty that I am surprised my clothes will go on at all. Everything down to my double chin feels heavier. This was a failed experiment right down to the fact that I woke up at 2 and couldn't sleep, fought it for an hour and finally got up. So, it is 3:19 and here I am. I am literally aching to go for a walk and when 5 AM comes, I plan to be out that door. As much as I hate how I am feeling, I am glad that I am really missing my life. So, I thought I would do a Bible Study on the reset.  This week...