Life in His Hand

On New Year's Eve morning I was volunteering at my church's community services, when an acquaintance I knew from several years back, decided to share with us his one resolution for the New Year. He said it was something "Oprah's friend" had said. It was that 'people should believe people when they FIRST tell them who they are.' I thought that was profound. How many years did I spend in denial? How many years did I spend trying to change someone who simply was who he was? He was not someone I needed to have in my life, but I kept clinging to the hope that MY dream could somehow be salvaged. I wanted to be married and have a happy family. I didn't want to be a divorced, single mother. So for a long time, I chose to overlook things I shouldn't have. I chose to think that there was a chance that things could get better, all the while knowing deep down inside-that they wouldn't. I chose to spend my energies trying to force someone to fit into MY ...

Happy New Year! I am wondering what you'd like to accomplish this year. I know one of the major things I want to do is really declutter my house and get more organized. I want a house I can keep clean easily which means everything needs a home. Well, in a small house with too much stuff, that means...something's gotta go! I actually started the process last week. I rearranged my tiny living room, which I didn't think was possible, and found that the new arrangement "forced" me to get rid of a bookshelf and table and the room looks a lot neater. I just need to work on the "entryway"--if you can call it that :) It's just a space behind the front door. The horrible problem I am having is my bedroom! Things are a mess and this is where the cutting will really need to happen as well as the need for creativity. All of my things (even Christmas stuff) are basically stored in my small room, so this will be a challenge for me, but worth doing because whe...

Every New Year, I pray for a word that sort of describes and sets the tone for the upcoming year. Last year's word was- "step."   God impresses them on my mind. You can click on "step" in my labels to read about what all happened with that word this year. Last year was very hard, as I was approaching the New Year. I was under tremendous pressure at home. I knew my husband and I needed to get a divorce. I just didn't know how the kids and I would make it. So there was a lot of fear surrounding that. During that year (2011), God had provided things for us (teaching me to trust Him) when there simply was no money, including moving us to this smaller, cheaper house-where the kids and I could have a chance to afford to live on our own, when the time came. I knew the time would come, when I found out we were moving here, because He had announced it to me a month ahead of time. Soon, I need to share the story of the sparrow and the little blue house. Another st...

I'm really excited about this upcoming New Year. Well every year I start feeling this way, to a certain extent. It seems that maybe one would feel this on their birthday. This anticipation and new hope for another year. To see how it unfolds and what it holds. For some reason, for me, it's all reserved for the New Year. Strange, but I think this is one of my favorite holidays. I like to reflect over the past year and dream of the upcoming one and pray. Several years back I used to name the new year...this will be the year of renewal, etc. Last year I came up with one word to describe it...'trust'. And it hasn't been the easiest year for me. A lot of struggles in my life. But I've felt God's closeness and comfort through the hard times and confusion. And it has not all been difficult, God has given me so many wonderful experiences as well. He's stretching and growing me in so many ways. He's given me people to help and opportunities to minister to o...