"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life." ~ John 3:16 I lived with my parents while working on my undergraduate degree. When I moved into my own apartment after I finished college, it was the first time I was without my parents for more than ten days and I quickly became terribly homesick . It was January. The joy of Christmas was over and I had no friends in the city. My pare

"...I always pray with joy... being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 1:4,6 Twice in my adult life I've had anxiety and panic attacks knock my legs out from under me. The first time it happened as I was nearing menopause in 2022. My therapist credited the fluctuating hormones for kicking the panic up as high as it went, but I actually credit God for letting it get the better of

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." ~ Psalm 27:14 Patience has never been one of my strengths. When I've done the MBTI, or Myers Briggs assessment , I am an SJ, meaning I prefer Sensing and Judging. One characteristic of SJs is acting quickly to solve a problem - we see what's wrong, get initial data, and act quickly on solving the problem as the data indicates. An example of this can be needing to buy a car. The SJ type of person will feel th

Crying is a healthy way to release hard emotions like grief.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you." ~ Luke 11:9 Grief is unsettling, to say the least. As one of Dad's live-in caregivers, my days and nights were laid out according to his schedule, his needs. I knew exactly who I was at any given moment: his caregiver. I started a new job a week after Dad died. I thought it was a great opportunity and I would be happy there. It wasn't great and I wasn't happy.

"...'Pardon me, my lord, as surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life, he will be given over to the Lord.'..." ~ 1 Samuel 1: 26-28 Hannah is a woman of the Bible whom I admire greatly. She not only believed the Lord would answer her prayer, she also accepted the gift God gave in response as just that - a gift. She pra

Why do I even worry? Jesus has my back. I need only to lift up my concerns to him and do that which he directs me to do.