February

February has been a whirlwind!  It's hard to believe that in a few short days it will be March.

I haven't blogged this month so this an overview of what I have been up to.

• My mom is back home and recovering after a two week stay in the hospital. She is getting stronger everyday. 

•  My sister flew home from oversees to help my mom during her recovery.  My big sis and her husband currently teach at an international school in Kazakhstan (a country in Central Asia).  It was great to spend time with her. She got to see the kids play ball and go to their school Valentines parties.  These are things she misses during her visits home during the summer months. My daughter is counting down the weeks until her return.

• Winter blizzard in Oklahoma = days off work and school.  Loved the extra time home with my family.  It was difficult to get back into the swing of things and back to reality when the snow melted. 

• I have slowly began training for the OKC marathon coming up in May. Let me emphasize SLOWLY.  I really need to get it into gear!

• Basketball!  All of my kids played basketball this year.  They had fun. I had fun (and yelled a lot from the stands). We also managed to throw in a OU woman's basketball game and NBA Thunder game

• I attended the funeral of my uncle.  The service was a great tribute to his life.  He was a humble and quiet man that loved his family dearly.

As this month comes to a close I pray that you have been blessed in every situation you have encountered.  As for me, I have been reminded in good times and in sorrow, God is faithful.

Just For Fun

This video is too funny not to share!

Gotta Love GloZell.

Hospital Ramblings

My mom has been in the hospital for the past week.  We are now officially on day 8.  She had a sudden onset of Pancreatitis which by all reports is extremely painful.  If I never realized my mom's strength before, I certainly do now.  I have not seen her shed a tear. Although I have shed my fair share this past week.

It's tough to have a parent in the hospital. Suddenly I am in the role of caretaker rather than always being taken care of by my mom.  (Yes I am a little spoiled.  After all, I am the youngest child :)

The hospital is definitely a place that helps you put things into perspective.  So although I am much sleep deprived, I have been doing some thinking.

The need to rearrange schedules and make adjustments requires all the busy things that fill my days to take a back seat to reality.  So the question rises - are all those busy things necessary?  Am I filling my days with what is important?  Some things that seemed important a week ago now are not so pressing.  I think that reality does that to us sometime.  It shakes up our world and makes us remember what is important and helps us realize what we need to let go of.

Are there things in your life that you need to let go of? Is the busyness of day to day life interfering with what is important? Sometimes we have to discard the unnecessary to successfully live the life God has called us to.

Hebrews 12:1 - New Living Translation
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Choosing to See

I am reading the book Choosing To See by MaryBeth Chapman.  MaryBeth is the wife of singer Steven Curtis Chapman. Their family suffered a terrible loss in May 2008 when their five year old daughter was killed after being struck by a car that her son was driving.

The book not only chronicles the loss of their child but the life journey of MaryBeth.  I am not yet done with the book but wanted to share a portion that really hit home with me.

"People need to know that Christian leaders, singers, preachers, writers, whoever, are as cracked and broken as he next person. Maybe more so. Hopefully they are in positions of leadership, though, because they are serious about following Christ, and so people can see that real success in the kingdom of God is not about being strong and looking good and knowing all the right answers. It is about continually yielding oneself to Jesus and determining to take purposeful little steps of obedience, and the ragged reality that it's all about God and His grace at work in us."

For more information on this book or MaryBeth Chapman check out her website  

http://marybethchapman.com/

Keep Breathing

I have a tendency to feel overwhelmed.


It can hit me anytime of the day - as I wake up, as I am going through my day, or even as my head hits the pillow at night.  "How am I going to manage?" It can seem as if I am drowning in a pile of "To Do's" and I can feel myself being pulled beneath the current.  


Sometimes it is the small things - laundry, the house, the kids' schedules, church commitments.  Sometimes it can be the heavy things - loss, depression, illness, conflict.


I can't tell you how many times I have been tempted to pull the covers over my head and pretend that everything is ok.  If only that would work . . .  But let's be realistic. I have to keep going. So I slowly pull the covers from over my head and face the day for what it is. But I am not without Hope.


I have learned that I can trust God in all things (even when my emotions get the best of me) I may not know the answer but He does.  I can trust him. I just have to keep breathing - keep trusting - and keeping crawling out from beneath the covers to embrace the day. 


The amazing thing is that when my emotions come in line with God's Word and His perspective I no longer feel overwhelmed. Instead of drowning, I can float along with the current and enjoy the view along the way.


There is a compelling song by Kerri Roberts that speaks to this very struggle. "Keep Breathing" 


Listen and be encouraged.

Start a Blog?

To blog or not to blog, that has been the question.

Really it's a little deeper than that.  My goal is simply not to blog for the sake of blogging, but rather to have a place for real conversations about my life and my role as a pastor's wife.

One of the struggles for pastor's wives is having a friend to turn to when things get rough or when we just need to vent.  We often wonder who is safe to talk to and who can handle it? Friendships can be hard to come by.

So the question wasn't really, "Do I want to blog?" but "Can my blog help other women in ministry?"

So here is my invitation for friendship. I would love to have you visit or follow this blog. I pray it can be a place for encouragement, friendship and understanding. 

I plan to offer a real life look at daily struggles and accomplishments for women in ministry. It may not always be pretty, but I promise it will be honest.  I hope you follow along!