Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.  It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.  Proverbs 3:5-8 Just the other morning, I woke up with the phrase “in all your ways acknowledge Him” running through my brain.  I thought about it while I brushed my teeth.  It repeated in my head as I used my face scrub.  Since it wasn’t leaving, I figured it was something that I needed to give…

Cooking has long been a passion of mine.  I suppose it started with me helping my great-grandmother in the kitchen.  Although, I really don’t know how much help I was.  She didn’t use measuring cups, but she’d let me throw in the flour when she was making biscuits.  All the ingredients were mixed by hand.  No fancy mixer.  And her biscuits were always delicious. My grandmother inherited her mother’s savvy in the kitchen.  I have always looked forward to meals cooked by her.  She was patient with me and answered my questions.  I always had a ton of them.  I wanted to bottle her methods.  She also inherited her mother’s…

I have mentioned before that I don’t always make the best decisions.  I can be rash.  When a thought pops into my head, I’ll just do it.  No time to ask for others opinions or get wise counsel.  I run.  I leap.  And sometimes I fall.  Notice, I didn’t say my thought came from the Lord.  I don’t spend time with God to see if that’s His will for my life.  I just move. The thought of wise counsel and having a great support team came to me while I’m reading through Job.  Yes, Job and I are still going through it together.  He’s sitting around with his friends, and…

But when I looked for good, evil came to me; and when I waited for light, then came darkness. Job 30:26 Pray for me ya’ll.  Nothing’s wrong.  I’m just reading the book of Job.  Some of you may remember that I created a list of 37 things that I wanted to accomplish in my 37th year of life.  Number 22 was read through the entire Bible.  I found a devotional on YouVerse that lets you read the Bible in chronological order.  It intrigued me, so I started the plan.  And now I’m stuck in Job. Stuck is a nice way of putting it.  I have heard the story of Job…

Nineteen years have passed since I walked across the stage at high school graduation.  It was a big deal to me.  My family came from all around to celebrate the day with me.  My church family arrived in the stands with a big sign.  They cheered me on and made the day even more special.  At the end of the ceremony, we all gathered in a big circle and tossed our caps.  Let me be honest.  I threw mine just a little and then caught it.  The night marked the ending of my public school education and the beginning of instruction taught by the school of life.  The class of…

Mother’s Day has arrived!  I’ve shared before that a village raised me.  I didn’t just magically become the person that I am today.  This is the perfect opportunity to salute the women that have molded and guided me. It should come as no surprise that Bible Study Mama is first on my list.  She carried me for nine long months.  She nurtured me and guided me through my teen years.  God bless her!  Recently, I’ve discovered that she gives a great massage.  I couldn’t let her go if I wanted to.  Especially now that I know she was holding back her special gifts. You might know this already, but my…

On Wednesday, Netflix dropped the documentary “Becoming” which follows Michelle Obama as she travels on her book tour for her personal memoir.  I own the book.  I bought it as soon as it was released.  I started reading it and then got busy with life.  I never finished it. The documentary was beautiful.  Watching her story unfold was really fascinating.  She was honest and relatable.  She didn’t hold back.  She spoke her truth and encouraged others to do the same.  In many of her encounters with others, she emphasized that their personal stories had value.  We are all continually in the process of becoming.  I’m soft these days.  I cried.…

Quarantine Day (?) began like many others.  (I can’t tell you what day it was because they all blend together at this point.)  I got up.  Showered. Brushed my teeth.  And commenced my daily TV binge.  As the day wore on, I decided that I needed to get outside for fresh air.  Bible Study Mama and I hit one of our favorite trails that is nestled in the woods. We were discussing the latest episode of “Before the 90 Days” (a TV show on TLC).  In the distance, I saw a family of three approaching.  I moved off the trail to walk in the leaves.  The trail is small, and…

Since life has been a little hectic/scary/frustrating, I have been very intentional about finding the small, sweet things in life that put a smile on my face.  Today, I’m sharing some of my favorite things.  The idea popped in my head while I was walking today.  The weather has been pleasant for the most part throughout this quarantine.  My walks usually happen earlier in the day, but today the walk happened closer to four in the afternoon.  I was sweating and exhausted and ready to quit.  Flopping on the couch gave me the opportunity to appreciate one of my MOST favorite things.  Air conditioning!  God bless the person who followed…

The days are blending together for me.  Since I’m inside and/or at home for 98% of my life now, keeping track of the days has not been as important.  I woke up from a sound sleep on Friday morning in a bit of a panic.  I just knew that it was Sunday, and I was unprepared AND late for Sunday School.  A whole hot mess.  Then I decided to extend myself a little grace. The thought of grace didn’t randomly pop into my head.  Last week, Jonathan McReynolds dropped an amazing album, People.  The last song on the album is entitled “Grace,” and I’ve been playing it on a loop…