Gateways to Joy

M y mother is visiting for the weekend.  Like all mothers and grandmothers, she came with gifts.  Her gifts are the "life lessons" of gifts.  Her gifts don't fade or get old with time.  If received properly, in fact, my mom's gifts are a bit like fine wine: they get better with time. Usually I have to swish what she's given me around in my head a bit, savor it.  Pine.  It is only after much thought most often do I come to see the true treasures she continues to give me. Her gift to me today was a paper.  A paper that had been given to her at church.  She couldn't wait to share it with me.  After cleaning under children's bed, sweeping, washing, moving clothes from washing machine to dryer—I am now at a place where I can rest a minute. I remember the paper after seeing it resting on my pillow {I placed it there so I wouldn't forget to read it}. I start to read. Here are the words.  I hope you glean as much from th...

Hey y'all — I am so tired, I got up too late.  My daughter is in the kitchen making breakfast and I'm headed to the Home school store to get a few things I can't find.  I don't know about you, but whenever I go to the home school store, I find it so difficult to leave.  And I always end up spending way more money than what I intended. Don't you hate when you put something away so that you can find it when you need it, only to not be able to find it when you need it? So frustrating and it just reminds me of the frailties of humanity. How are y'all doing with finding the rhythm of your routine again?  I feel overwhelmed, but I'm not stressed by it because I have been living in the Word. Trying to stay so close to it in fact I sleep with it under my pillow. Silly I know. Anyway, there is a lot that I want to say, but I have a foggy head and people pulling at me from various directions, but I did want to say, "Hi" to you all :-) Today I wi...

Homeless!  Pawning clothing for money!  Talk about saving the best for last! Andy Andrews, the final person on our showcase and the only man is a New York Times Bestselling Author.  And to think he was rejected by publishing houses over 40 times in a three year span. Andy has a story, an inspiring message, one that you certainly want to hear. Please click on the video below {scroll down to hush the music} to learn more about this man of faith. **************************************************************************************** "God through the Holy Spirit interceding within us, uses everyday circumstances to touch the whole world with His saints." ~ Oswald Chambers It is my sincere hope that you are being touched by God through the writing of this blog, no matter what shore you reside on beloved one. xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook

Yesterday I read an alarming story.  The title was written in a way to be elusive.    Mother's tell!  Mother's tell their "deepest, darkest, secrets???" The secrets ... well they are probably not what you would think them to be. Nor will you be surprised, if you are a mother, by them.  These are not the revealing of secret fantasies.   In these tales mothers do not tell of their fantasies of  staring into space, dwelling on make believe stories of how their lives could have been better if they would have married Tom, Dick or Harry. No these stories are alarming, a cry for help.  Proof that everyone needs someone to lean on, to carry them when they become the weak and weary.  Sadly they were nothing knew to me. I am a mother of seven.  I home school my kids.  I've been known {as you all can testify to} to become frustrated.  Overwhelmed by it all. And I've learned that it's okay.   No longer do I try to hid...

Have you ever felt like you needed to get somewhere and be left alone? Not necessarily leave your house, but just be left alone. Not even left alone meaning total solitude, I mean left alone where maybe the T.V.'s are kept off and the radio isn't glaring and the kids are stilled—playing or doing something quietly.  Husband too. This is the sort of quietness that my soul longs for today. My depths need to be searched, scanned so that decisions can be made wisely and insightfully. He has told the heart on many occasions and reiterated it again this morning: set some boundaries. Boundaries are our life savers.  They are what stops the ocean waves from rushing in carrying us away. God has drawn lines in the sand.  He's set boundaries 'cause He knows their importance. Look at the expanse ... the horizon. Throughout our lives there are things that separate, bound us by various means for various reasons. Take our homes for instance, in our homes are roo...

P ain.  Many of us despise it—find it despicable and do our best to avoid it.  Have you ever stopped to think, to conclude  that pain is not your enemy, and very well could be your gift? I know it sounds crazy, but what does pain do, what is it for?  It alerts us to problems or potential problems.  It tells us to check out a situation, to dig deeper and go further.  If there is no pain, how would we know to seek out the care of a medical professional?  If there is no pain, what would make us draw nearer to God? My hope this morning is to encourage those of you who are experiencing pain now, and for those who will come to experience it in the future to remember, " There is always purpose beyond our pain."  I f you take nothing else away from this blog today please carry that with you close to your heart.  And even more so remember that this is particularly true of pain when you are a child of the Alm...