Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

I’m a pretty big fan of the “Gospel according to Sheri”.  In other words, I often like to do things my own way, predict the ending I fancy and try to arrange every detail along the way.  I can count the number of times that has worked well on one hand; and they were probably just  happy accidents.  As our house is about to become empty and quiet again I was  questioning his plan when I happened upon this verse and it was a beautiful reminder that  he has a job and so do I.  His job is to manage the universe and each life he created  and my job is to let him do his job.  Seems pretty simple don’t you think?  

Many of us are at a parenting crossroad and social media is about to blow up with posts about taking kids off to college and staring Kindergarten or the last year of high school, this verse just rings in my mind and echoes in my heart.  It reminds me that our kids were designed to grow up not live in our basement until they were 30.  Our kids were meant to learn, grow, travel and live.  They are going to meet people and make friends; some will shape their character and some will test it.  They are going to make great decisions steeped in the love and wisdom we’ve slathered them with and they will most likely make some not so great decisions and those will be where the real learning takes place.  Independence is a great thing until we watch our kids creep away from us and use it!  I’ve always heard people talk about growing pains but I didn't expect parents to be the ones who suffered from them the most!

Our youngest child begins her last year in college and that makes me feel really old!  I’m really scratching my head wondering how that happened when I’m still celebrating my 29th birthday! The truth is, time races by whether we want it to or not and as parents, we want our kids to be happy and safe.  Sometimes we worry but  through the process of trusting, there comes great peace.  The other night as I was thinking about my college senior and my soon to be married son it made for a long night and in the middle of that long night, I grabbed a pencil and paper and these thoughts just tumbled out.  I’m sure they are from him because I would not be writing in a notebook at 2 in the morning just for my own  amusement.  I hope they just might come in handy no matter what new crossroad you find yourself at this day.

 *Your child is mine…I love them more than you and I will care for them today and every day after.
*I parted a sea, I can make sure your child has someone to play with at recess.
*I put a piece of me inside them, just ask me to help it shine through them.
*Being mine is far more important than being on the team or the homecoming float so help them keep their priorities straight.
*The more time you spend in worry, the less time you spend in trust.
*I always know what’s best…it isn’t always easiest but it’s best because best is getting to heaven and only I know that path for your child.
*My plans for them far exceed yours…let me do my work and just pray for your child to cooperate.
*Tell them you love them but make sure they know I love them even more.
*Truth trumps popularity every single time so demand honesty.
*You can’t pass the test unless you do the lessons…and some lessons are really hard…let them do the work, especially when the lesson is hard.
*Trust me, thank me; when things are easy and when they are hard; don’t worry, I’m a very reliable Father!
*Pray for them and pray with them, speak my name together and often.
*My love isn’t attached to being first, best, beautiful, popular or perfect so please don’t let your love be either.
*It’s not your job to constantly rescue and save your child, one particular Friday my Father watched me suffer through something really awful that turned out pretty awesome!  I knew he was there but he didn’t do it for me.
*Everything in life isn't easy...but everything isn't hard either; know that I'm there loving you through it all.
*If your child needs someone; I'll always get there first, teach them my call sign...JESUS COME!

A Seed To Plant: Write this verse on a post it and stick it somewhere you’ll see it when you worry then pick a couple things from the list that hit your heart or that might touch someone you know who is worried about a child and ask the Father to help you put it in motion.​

Blessings on your day and on your Children’s backpack wherever they may be taking it this fall!

Then I declared my sin to you; my guilt I did not hide. Psalm 32:5

I spent some time in my classroom the other day trying to unpack and get ready to start a new year.  After spending three hours there the best way to describe the way it looked as I turned off the light and walked out is “the cupboards threw up!” There were stacks of books, bulletin board fabric and border containers open and bulging out everywhere and piles of “things” on each available flat surface.  The chairs are all stacked in a tall pile and the computers are still draped in blue plastic bags with cords coiled into neat spools.  It looked so awful I’m not sure I want to go back!  It’s amazing how much faster and easier it is to pack it all up in June than it is to unpack it all in August!  It reminded me of a cartoon I saw recently that said, “I love vacation; it takes me 4 hours to pack and 4 weeks to unpack!”  It was a painful reality when I consider the task every teacher faces when it’s time to get the room ready to go for a new school year.

The reality of the piles and the mess will make it hard to go back in there on Monday but it just has to be done.  There is no magic spell or closet full of helpful elves that will sneak in under cover of darkness and get the job done so I’m just gonna have to buckle down and slug through it all.  I have to focus on the first morning I will walk in and see that shiny floor, curtains hung, bulletin boards finished and everything all in its place.  Eye on the prize kind of thinking I guess!  I suppose it’s all so uncomfortable because it causes us to tackle the undesirable and most of us would like to slink away from that any chance we can.  As I tripped over piles all afternoon I got to thinking about my bad habits and sinfulness.  I’d much rather avoid those than deal with them!  It’s pretty easy to take the bad stuff like my shortness of patience or my quick judgements and tuck them away like books in a closet but they need to be dealt with from time to time.  If I didn’t acknowledge the mess in my room and the stuff on the bottom shelf I wouldn’t really be ready for my best school year.  I suppose my eternal salvation requires the same attention.  I realized as I was dusting, sorting and organizing, it’s about more than supplies; it’s about my soul.  Every corner of my life needs some inspection, evaluation and action.  There are things I need more of and definitely things I need less of!  

When my room is ready I will waltz through the door with a light and cheerful heart but in order to get to that point I have to be willing to do the heavy lifting, the scrubbing and the sorting.  As I plopped down next to a pile of text books and school supplies I figured I’d better pay twice as much attention to cleaning up my soul and addressing the things that distance me from the Father.  Just like my classroom in June, it’s much easier to tuck it all away that pull it all out and deal with it!  I think I’ll take some time this week to treat my soul like I do my classroom in August…unpack it all, sort it and do what’s necessary to put it all in order!

A Seed To Plant: Pick a cupboard or closet this week to unpack and clean…after you finish with it, go through the same process with your soul!

Blessings on your day! 
​

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I’ve said it a hundred times; “Comparison is the thief of joy!”  But that doesn’t stop me from getting a little carried away sometimes.  As a parent, I find myself exceptionally quick to compare.  One of the really great parts of being a teacher is that I get to see families in action.  I am impressed constantly at the parenting I see happening in this community.  I’ve seen tough love, gigantic humor, incredible logic, deep faithfulness and inspiring mercy.  When I see a parent do something awesome I often say to myself, “Geeze, why didn’t I ever do that!”  I see parents who are more creative than I was, more patient than I was, more prayerful than I was and I often feel like I should send my kids a note of apology…especially the first one!   Knowing what I know now, there are lots of days I’d like to go back a couple of decades and start over because my kids deserved a  mom that was more fun, more carefree, and much less…well…nuts about things like picking up socks and brushing teeth and all the other stuff I thought was a big deal at the time.  

When the comparisons get me all flustered, I stop myself and realize I did the best I could and that the kids have a super great dad who balanced me out.  It’s about then that I also realize that the one thing I REALLY got right then (and now) is to pray for my kids dozens of times a day.  That makes me sigh in relief because despite my shortcomings as a mom, God’s really the one in charge!  Sometimes I still look back and hope I got more things right than screwy!  I hope I taught them enough lessons about truth, compassion, faith and kindness.  I think as parents we sometimes get lost in the fear of “did I do/ or am I doing enough.”  We second guess ourselves and we compare.  I think sometimes we hold ourselves to the most ridiculous, impossible standards.  We let Pinterest be our compass.  We think if we’re sitting still we’re wasting time  and we forget that they are his, not ours.  He made them perfect and no amount of glow in the dark slime, elite ball teams or private lessons in anything will ever top the perfection with which they were created, nor will I ever be able to top the love and protection the creator has for them.  Comparisons are not the work of the Father.  

As we prepare for the first of the three little Wohlferts to get married, I was feeling sentimental, old and inadequate.  I was making this list in my mind of all the things we didn’t do like go to Disney, let the kids play every sport they wanted or take trips that exposed them to culture, art and travel.  We went to Grandpas in Kansas, went camping and spent most of every summer raising livestock getting ready for the 4-H fair.  I got a little carried away thinking I hadn’t done enough when I came across this letter written by a foster child from Oklahoma.  It sort of put everything in perspective.  The child was asked to write about the things they wanted in a family.  Here is the response…

In my family I want  food and water.  Don’t hit on me.  A house with running  water and lights.  I want love.  Mom and Dad don’t fight.  I want no drugs.  Don’t kill my pets.  Help me with school.  Nice clean clothes.  No lice or bugs in the house.  Clean house and a clean bed with covers.  Don’t sell my toys.  To be treated fair.  Don’t get drunk.  TV in the house.  Let me keep my games and school stuff.  Nice shoes.  My own comb. Soap. Nice safe house with a heater.  A coat and a toothbrush. 

After I finished my big ole ugly cry, I thanked God for my parents, then I prayed for the astonishing number of kids who could have easily written that letter and then I realized that things like trips, fancy stuff and being the Pinterest Mother of the Year meant nothing.  Turns out I gave my kids more than I realized…they were prayed for, read to, loved, challenged and held responsible.  They had to work and sometimes entertain themselves and figure things out.  As I often do,  I had let things spin sideways in my mind and left God’s work out of the picture, taking on the weight of it all myself.  I suppose once again I got a lesson in trading comparison for gratitude!

A Seed To Plant:  Make a list of all the places you compare yourself to others.  Pray with that list for a couple of days and then tear it up and ask God to help you replace those comparisons with gratitude.  If you’re a parent, stop and say a prayer for each of your children right this minute and then go play; dinner can be late, laundry can pile up and dishes can be washed later…just go play for a few minutes!  If you’re not a parent, what can you do to help one and all of us need to stop and pray for families everywhere!​

Blessings on your day!

The page has turned to August which means I made my first trip to my classroom.  There are still a few weeks of vacation left but the eighth month on the calendar signals something in my heart to begin again.  It’s time to rediscover!  Rediscover which cupboard I shoved my stuff in, rediscover the excitement of a fresh start and rediscover my love for this work I’m called to do.  Todays guest blogger is one of the boys but there is an problem; I don’t know which one.  This post is the electronic equivalent of forgetting to put your name on your paper. There are a few in my inbox with no name and since I can’ t hold up the papers to see who belongs to each one, and since it’s electronic and I can’t tell by the handwriting, I’ll just have to say this guest blogger is an amazing, anonymous writer. His points about knowledge and discovery seem to be the perfect fit for the beginning of August.

If you forgive others trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14

Every time I entered the church while reading the book Rediscover Jesus, by Matthew Kelly,  I asked myself, “What does Rediscover Jesus mean?”  Since I finished the book I’ve been thinking about all I learned.  I realize that just like Matthew Kelly says, knowing about Jesus isn’t the same as truly knowing and loving Jesus. That part seems pretty important.

A great example is going to mass. Sometimes we don’t want to go to mass because we don’t truly know Jesus.  Sometimes we don’t want to do the right thing because it’s hard and because we don’t truly know Jesus.  I can learn stuff about Jesus but that’s not the same as learning to really know him.  Since he changes, depending on how much we need him and what we’re going through, we have to rediscover him again and again

I think the important thing I learned is that if you rediscover Jesus, your life will change for the better. You will grow as a catholic, and a disciple. Since then I’ve thought about the whole book I realized that if you rediscover Jesus, you forgive, you help, and you love others just as Jesus intended. Rediscovering Jesus is like knowing and acting…that’s harder but it sure changes you!

A seed to plant: Next time you enter the church, think to yourself “Do I really know Jesus or do I just know of him?”​

Blessings on your day!

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  Ephesians 6:11

This verse made me remember a plastic suit of armor the boys had when they were little.  One of the boys would wear the armor and the other would wear the Detroit Lions shoulder pads and football uniform and pretend to slay all the bad guys in the county.  They were invincible in those get ups.  They felt strong and brave and confident as they rode their bikes up and down the lane defending the land.  It didn’t matter to them that it was just cheap plastic, what they wore convinced them of something.

That memory and this verse made me think about what our wardrobe says about us.  It seems like a simple thing, get up, get dressed and go on with your day but when you think about it WHAT we put on can send a message.  We identify police officers, doctors and nurses by the clothes they wear and we automatically assume they will be helpful because of the way they are dressed.  We will approach a total stranger in a store to ask for help based on a simple plastic name tag pinned to their shirt.  We have the potential to trust, mistrust; judge and misjudge people every day based on what they wear.  Does that seem crazy to anybody else?

I guess the big questions are what does God’s armor look like and how often do I wear it?  Then it hit me, it’s not really about fabric at all.  The clothes we wear may reflect something about our style, profession or personality but they don’t necessarily tell the whole story.  I think the armor of God is something we put on from the inside. It can be pretty easy to look at someone’s clothes and assume a thing or two about them that may or may not be correct but the armor of God is unmistakable. Putting it on is intentional, never just a quick grab and go outfit.  The boys always needed my help putting on those get ups they used to wear and so it is with Gods armor; we need him to assist us.  If we intentionally ask God to protect us and defend us we have to be willing to let him.  Wearing his armor means we are protected and safe, but silly humans that we are, we think it means we are now prepared to charge into the world and defeat all the evils much like two little boys I remember in my back yard.  God is the defender and we are the defended; the armor of God doesn’t give us a job it gives us peace.  

God’s armor is not heavy or clumsy; it’s powerful and designed to fit perfectly.  I realized that if I woke up each morning and asked God to dress me in his armor I would be more confident and peaceful and content.  I realized I wouldn’t have to worry about harm or evil because nothing is stronger than God.  It doesn’t mean nothing bad will happen, it means God will protect me no matter what the circumstance.  If I puddled my way through each day without worry or distraction about all the things that might happen or could happen or shouldn’t happen I would have so much more time for great things!  I would have more time to pray, more time to help and WAY more time to love.  I think I’ll ask God to help me put on that armor right now and leave the defending to him while I get busy with trusting bigger and loving harder…talk about dress for success!

A Seed To Plant:  Stop right now and ask God to suit you in his armor and then give him a list of all the things you’d like to be defended from.  All that’s left is to trust and be protected.​

Blessings on your day!

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

I like to think I’m a strong, smart, independent woman.  I’m not afraid to work hard or get dirty and I’m definitely not a girlie girl, but the other day, ALL that came into question when I found myself standing on the safe side of the garage screen door calling the men in my life for help!  One of my summer jobs was to clean the garage and sort through the long rack of coats and barn clothes.  It was time to throw out the size 5T snow pants with more holes than swiss cheese and the pink fuzzy winter coat from 1999!  It was a yuck job but as I pulled in the garage the day after I finished, I felt pretty accomplished and pleased with the way things looked.  As I parked in the garage with a load of groceries, I was admiring my work when I noticed a pair of coveralls moving as they hung on the hook.  That was not supposed to happen.

I bravely sat behind the wheel of my Traverse and watched those coveralls sway from side to side thinking, this is not ok!  Then I came to my senses and logically concluded it was probably one of the new kittens that had wandered up from the barn and playfully crawled up the pants leg.  I got out and walked toward the pants expecting to help the cute little kitty out and send it back to the barn, but as I got closer I could see eyes peering out and then the hissing started.  Definitely not a kitten and that pointy snout and loud hiss sent me promptly into the house.  My next brave move was to throw shoes at the pants until whatever it was fell out and scampered out the door.  After throwing a dozen shoes and boots and nearly breaking the service door window with my awful aim, I heard and saw barn boots wobbling around and was convinced there was a small army of invaders just a few feet from my screen door while my ice cream was melting in the car…something drastic had to be done!  That’s when I called Dave!  He was doing hay in a field much too far away to come to my rescue so I called Jason who was working from home that day.  What transpired upon his helpful arrival involved a snow shovel, a trap made out of a bow target, an 8 ft table and a broom.  I’ll leave out the parts about all my jumping and screaming at the sight of the critters teeth and hissing  and just let you know one very angry woodchuck made it’s way from the coveralls and boots in my garage to the corn field across the road.  I wish I could report a brave and triumphant ending on my part but I can’t.  I screamed, jumped, and freaked out like it was a fire breathing dragon and completely depended on my handsome son to save me from my despair!  He was so sweet and helpful and didn’t even make fun of me; he just came and helped and went on his way.  

That silly woodchuck stuck in those coveralls made me realize how we sometimes approach the troubles and trials in our days.  Truth be told, it was a pretty young woodchuck, not an angry mamma woodchuck.  The whole thing could have been so much worse but I went from baby woodchuck to dragon in 60 seconds!  I let something little grow and multiply in my mind while my emotions just went zooming into action leaving reason and reality in the dust.  I got a little tangled up in the hissing and teeth bearing and lost sight of the fact that the problem probably weighed less than 10 pounds and his fear was probably much greater than mine.  In hindsight I overreacted comically!  Every time I’ve pulled in the garage since that day I look at those coveralls and wonder how many times I’ve gone straight to the dragon without stopping to pray and ask for perspective first.  I think about all the times I’ve made something so big in my mind when in reality it turned to be so much smaller and manageable than I pictured it.

Our struggles can sometimes leave us feeling overwhelmed if we’re afraid to ask for help.  Things can morph in our minds if we try to handle everything ourselves and bear the burdens on our own shoulders.  God loves us too much for that.  I really believe that’s part of the reason  he put more than one person on the earth so we could help each other and support each other and point and lead each other to him.  It’s ok to ask for help, it’s ok to get another perspective and it’s ok to talk down the dragons! We weren’t meant to go solo through this life, we need him and we need each other because you just never know what problems might just crawl up the leg of your coveralls!

A Seed To Plant:  Make a list of the trials and troubles that have caused you to become worried and anxious lately and ask yourself these questions; Who have I talked to about it? Who can help? Have I prayed for the Fathers perspective?​

Blessings on your day!

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about all the people knee deep in lousy stuff.  I have gotten many emails and texts in the past few weeks from people who need prayer to navigate their way through life.  There is sickness, distress, family and job difficulties and some of these requests are swirling really close to home.  I’m so happy they ask for prayer, and I’ve been praying my little tail off and absolutely; I trust, I believe and my faith is strong as a bolder but every now and again I just wanna say, “Hey, wait a dog-gone minute God, this is all too much!”  I’m sure that comment during prayer is followed by a  heavenly face-palm!  

The big question I’ve been hearing from those folks struggling is, “If God loves us, why does this lousy stuff happen?”  I would have to say that’s a completely fair question and I wish like heck I could type an answer to make it all better but here is the truth, A) God doesn’t MAKE bad stuff happen and he loves us even harder when it does and B) Sometimes there isn’t a simple answer to complicated things. With my heart a little heavy, I’ve spent some time prayin, and thinkin and here are some of the things that made me feel better.

There is a big difference in being involved and being in control.  God is completely involved in our lives and the more we pray and grow in our relationship with him, the more involved he will be.  Because of our free will, God does not control our lives.  Some of the distress I’ve been asked to pray for is the result of someone doing something lousy with their free will and leaving others to suffer in the wake of poor choices.  God cannot be in control of that but he can absolutely be involved in our lives as we navigate through it if we invite him to meet us there and lead us through. He won’t wave a magic wand and make it all disappear but he will give us the grace and the strength to endure the difficulties if we ask.

Bad stuff isn’t part of God’s plan.  He doesn’t give people cancer or trap children in a cave because his “master plan” indicated it’s time for it.  That is not how a loving Father operates.  If a dad decided to go for a walk with his son, and along the way the son stepped in a gopher hole and hurt his ankle that would be a lousy thing.  Lousy as it is, the dad didn’t make it happen.  He was absolutely there but he didn’t plan it or want it to happen; he wasn’t in control of it, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he instantly became involved.  He felt the hurt, he poured out compassion and comfort and he did everything possible to aid in his sons healing.  

If God controlled everything, we might think life would be easier and long gone would be fear, suffering and pain.  I suppose in some ways that makes sense but because of our sinful nature (thank you Adam, Eve and Satan) we want what we want and we aren’t always so good at  trusting and following the rules, let alone being completely controlled, so this idea has some holes. God doesn’t force his love or his perfect will on us, it’s up to us to choose to love, trust, surrender and follow him.   When we’re tempted to think God makes bad things happen it’s good to remember a few truths from scripture. Jesus heals the sick; he doesn’t bring about their illness. Often the healing isn’t physical but it is spiritual and the result of that healing can lead to our salvation. Jesus liberates the oppressed; he doesn’t prolong their oppression.  Jesus sets the prisoner free; he doesn’t imprison.  Jesus restores a broken creation; he doesn’t further cripple it through disease, suffering, and pain.

When I find myself feeling overwhelmed about the sadness or madness of a lousy situation, I have to reach for the three biggest truth of all. They’re stiff ones and sometimes they go down like vinegar but they are enormous truth spoken in even bigger love.  The first; every situation no matter how sad or tragic or difficult, is a situation where God can bring about a greater good.  The part that makes that really tough to wrap our heads and hearts around is sometimes we hurt too much to see the good and often the greater good is for someone else.  The second; Scripture says, there will be trouble and it is only through suffering we can fully come to Christ.  When I realize that, and stop to contemplate the suffering of both the Father and the Son; done for me…it really puts things in perspective.  Finally, heaven is the reward, not earth.  As humans, we cling to the familiar and fear the unknown.  If we could begin to unwrap even a tiny corner of the delight, glory and absolute magnificence of eternal life we would run from this world so fast we’d be nothing but a streak!   

The lousy stuff is never what we wish for and it’s never handed out as a punishment but there is love, healing, and even salvation  when we truly let the Father get involved and walk with us through the lousy.  The lousy stuff is where God shows his power, his compassion and his amazing ability to unite, support and draw people closer to each other and to heaven.

A Seed To Plant: Spend some time asking God to be involved in your struggles or the struggles of someone you love.  Trust him and then watch to see the way he works.​

Blessings on your day! 

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.  Mark 12:30

There are a few things that I’m ok with having just a part of.  I don’t mind mowing part of the lawn or washing part of the windows or eating part of the brussle sprouts, but there are some things I want all of!  Carrot cake, my favorite movie for the tenth time and baby giggles are just a few of those things I want ALL of!    As I read these words from St. Mark not long ago my mind seemed to get stuck on the word “all”.  Four times he said it; all, not part or some, but all.  After sitting with this verse for a bit I realized there was a lesson!

I think I’m often guilty of “how much will do” thinking.  I sometimes want to do things in a hurry with just enough effort to say I’ve finished but I can honestly say I don’t always go that extra mile with the stuff that’s not my favorite.  I can wash all the downstairs windows and rationalize skipping the upstairs windows because the boys aren’t living up there anymore so who will notice.  I can feel pretty good about sweeping  around the garage rugs instead of picking them all up, giving them a good shake and doing the job with full effort.  As I’ve been thinking about the word ALL, I’ve had to ask myself how many things do I just stay on the edges of without fully jumping all in.

Many times the past several days the Lord has gently drawn my attention to the things that I just puddle around the edges of.  I say I want to grow in my knowledge of Scripture but what have I really done to make that a reality?  I say I want to get healthy and loose weight but have I gone all in to make the necessary changes, or do I just want to do a few things and pout because the result isn’t what I’d like.  I can say I want to see others with eyes of mercy instead of eyes that judge but am I really prayerfully trying to make those changes?  I can say I want more time to read things that fill my soul with goodness but how many minutes a day do I waste scrolling through Twitter and Face Book?  I can say I want to do more acts of service and charity but what am I actually doing to serve?  If all my thoughts remain just thoughts, I’ll continue to skirt the change and hover on the edge.  I don’t think that’s the best plan!

Christ reveals himself to us in several ways and Scripture is one of them.  I think in this verse he had a lot to reveal to me.  I’ve spent the better part of two weeks thinking and praying about how   giving him my ALL connects to the silly things I can’t seem to get right here on earth.  Seriously, if I can’t go all in with the fruits and vegetables or with the off button on my computer how can I expect to ever be able to love him with ALL my heart, soul, mind and strength?  I got a little rattled just thinking about the consequence of living my faith on the edge instead of all in!  It was right at that moment of; “holy cow, I’m in big trouble”, that he made me realize the two are intimately connected.  Learning to go all in with things of earth is how we learn to go all in for him.  If I were to offer each of those tasks I’m on the edge of to him as an act of love, he will meet me where my strength ends and carry me through the tough parts with his mighty strength.  I need to trust that his power is more than enough and his grace is sufficient.  I have to ask him to meet me in those situations where I’m on the edge and ask him to walk with me and help me give my all…for HIM not for me!  Sounds simple doesn’t it!  I’m ready to get off the edge, go all in and make some things happen.  How about you?

A Seed To Plant:  Make a list of the things you’re on the edge of?  Lift those things up the the Father and ask him to help you go all in!​

Blessings on your day!

Good morning!  Just a quick little note to let all of you know I've gone camping!  I'm unplugged and downloaded for a few days but I'll be back next week with more joyful words!
​Blessings on your day!

Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are?  Matthew 6:26

The porch is open…summer may now begin!  The flowers, the chairs, the cozy rug; it’s all part of the little piece of heaven on the north facing side of the house.  My morning prayer chair will sit empty for the better part of the next 3 months and the kitchen island discussions will change because both of those important activities have been re-routed to the porch.  I love the view, the breeze, the peace and the beauty.   I love all of it ,but two of my favorite parts of the porch are the wind chimes that were a gift from great friends  when Dave’s dad died and the hummingbird feeder that both hang from a Shepherds hook in the flower bed at the end of the porch. 

One night last week Dave and I watched some cranes in the corn field across the road.  They were huge!  I watched in wonder as their giant necks bobbed across the rows and called back and forth to each other.  As big as they were  I would have expected them to be clumsy but they were quite  graceful.  Even though the group was separated by a couple of acres every so often they’d  call to each other as if to make sure their friends were still nearby.  It was quite a lovely show.

The other morning there was quite a wind and I laughed out loud as I watched a determined little bird try to get to a different tree.  It was flying against the wind and the little thing was flapping his wings madly trying to go and it was if he was just stuck in the same place, mid-air, flapping and going nowhere.  After a few seconds of flapping, he let up just a bit and the wind sent him tumbling beak over tail feather straight back to the tree he was trying to leave.  I felt kind of sorry for the little guy but it was pretty hilarious!

Today we sat and watched in awe as the hummingbirds danced and flitted between the feeder at the end of the  porch and the maple tree just a few feet away.  Hummingbirds are fascinating to me.  Some sound so loud and others are quiet as a whisper.  We watched as one flew to a bare branch in the tree and as it landed it was so soft and tiny the branch showed absolutely no movement when he landed.

I’m not really a bird watcher but seeing these three groups of feathered friends showed me a lesson or two.  My porch is a great place to learn so here’s what hit me as I rocked in my glider.

*Each was a bird, they could fly, they had a beak and feathers but yet I marveled at how different they looked.  The size, the color, the shape, the sound….all so very different and with birds you’d never expect it to be any other way so why do we expect it to be that way with people?  Why do we try so hard to be like others and fit in when we, like the birds I watched from my porch were specifically created to be different?  God didn’t make a mistake when he used such originality and creativity with those bird. I need to remember the same is true for humans.  The Hummingbird isn’t better because it’s tiny and the Crane isn’t better because it’s big and graceful.  Each is perfect in it’s design!

*That bird wildly flapping against the wind must look just like me when I try to do things my own  way and forget to follow the will of the Father.  I wonder if he giggles at me too when I wind up right back where I started!

*I laugh when I think what it would look like if the Crane would try to daintily sip from the Hummingbird feeder or if the Hummingbird would try to cry out loudly to the friends in the beans an acre over.  I think of the times I try to put myself in places and situations where God hasn’t  invited me and it doesn’t look anything like that Hummingbird silently and stealthily  landing on the tree branch.

Thank you God for using your beautiful creation to teach me a thing or two this first week on the porch.  I’m looking forward to more lessons! Oh, and thank you for the beautiful world that surrounds my porch!  The only thing that would make my porch better is company so if you’re on Pratt Road plan to stop for a visit!

A Seed To Plant:  What are you gazing at this summer and what is the Father trying to teach you?​

Blessings on your day!

In my distress I called to the Lord…Psalm 18:6

If our high school would have had a debate team, I would have been absolutely the last person picked to be on it!  I’m amazed at the way some people can eloquently deliberate a topic with conviction and finesse.  Still others can bark an opinion and slam you with a defense that leaves your head spinning.  I simply smell controversy or conflict and nearly trip over my own feet trying to get away from the conversation! We all have our own opinions and we all have the ability to make choices but that doesn’t mean we are obligated to yell them out.  As Christians, it’s up to us to make sure our opinions and choices are based on truth and rooted in Scripture and Church teaching.  Seems simple enough right?

As a society we don’t like to be told what to do. We aren’t so good with rules and regulations and I wonder if that is because there are so many voices yackin we can’t even hear the truth anymore. I’m not sure what happened to right and wrong; good and bad but we seem to live in a world full of clauses and sub-groups and exceptions.  Some days I think gray is the most popular color in America. A very wise man I know always used to say, “Just do the right thing and keep your mouth shut.”  Imagine what would happen if everyone was told to follow that advice for a day!  What would happen if everyone was told they couldn’t say one thing for a day unless it was based in truth and steeped in Scripture?  

A person could get pretty upset and discouraged with the state of affairs we seem to be in right now; but then that’s exactly what Satan wants.  He would be delighted to think he’s reduced us all to a society of bickering, selfish, self-centered, slandering, lying, cheating, stealing idiots.  He would be delighted to think we’ve forgotten our mission to seek the truth, live the truth and love the God who created us.  Well news flash…WE HAVEN’T!  I have come to realize a couple important truths of my own in the last couple days that seemed to yank me right out of my disappointment with our current state of affairs.  The first; when we get to heaven we won’t present a summary of our best earthly actions nor will we be judged in groups.  We are flying SOLO so it is our sole responsibility to make sure the choices we make and the opinions we base our actions on are in line with the will of the Father.  One thing that is not gray…following the will of the Father is often very hard!  He cares about our character not our comfort. The second; God is bigger than anything going on here on earth!  He’s mightier than any ruling, leader, mandate or current event.  He’s the one we should be aligning ourselves with, seeking protection from, gaining wisdom from and hanging on every word from.  In order to do that well; to really follow His lead; we need to spend time in conversation with him.  What would happen if the next time we see a post, or hear a news report that bubbles up our blood we stopped before reacting and spent a moment or two in prayer.  Before we spout off our opinion what if we asked the Holy Spirit to inspire our words to be truthful and steeped in Scripture?  God is bigger, richer, stronger and mightier than any of us combined but in order to see all of that clearly revealed to this hurting world, we have to live like we love him and become a world that prays first before anything else!

A Seed To Plant: Make a list of three “things”, “people”, or “groups” that seem to bother you most. Your task for the next week is to pray consistently for those three things.  In your prayer, ask God to guide your actions and reactions to those three things.​

Blessings on your day!

 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Have you ever noticed how many times things don’t go exactly as you think they will?  Today is one of those days.  In my plan, I was going to get up at 5 and get on a plane at 7 and be home from Houston by 3.  Then the texts started coming…delay after re-book after new city.  Instead of a quick trip home, I’m sitting in Philadelphia (because Houston to Philly to Grand Rapids makes perfect sense…right!) and should be in my driveway by 10 tonight.  Not the plan I had cooked up, but I decided early this morning it was going to be an “eyes wide open” kind of day.  I’m glad I made that choice because I saw a lot of cool stuff.

By 6:30 this morning I was already in a customer service line arranging my first re-book and I just watched the people in front of me in line.  I watched a young man who had a walker to balance his unsteady body as he tried to walk on his new prosthetic leg.  He was managing a huge suitcase and a walker and a wobbly body, just wanting to get home after a long medical stay in Houston.  He was quiet and patient as they got him re-situated and I was impressed with his strength and his smile in spite of his physical challenges.  He showed me perseverance and gratefulness.

The lady in line next to me at the counter was throwing a huge hissy fit because she was going to have to sit in Miami an extra two hours before she could get to  her ten day vacation in Aruba.  She was mad at the clerk, she was mad at her husband and when she said she was so mad she thought she was going to have a panic attack, I just touched her elbow and told her I’d say a prayer that her travel panic would calm.  She immediately softened and settled…God is so good.  I handed her a tissue to wipe her tears and she went on her way more calmly.  He showed me how he can soften, strengthen and bring peace when we ask.

Two hours later, I got in line again to re-book and standing in line in front of me was a toddler who had just had it.  As her daddy set her down to hand his paperwork to the ticket agent, his daughter went into a full out melt down.  She cried, rolled on the floor and sobbed.  Over and over she kept saying, “Daddy I want you to hold me!”  She was hot, hungry, tired and overwhelmed.  Once her daddy finished what he was doing, he picked her up and she was instantly calm and peaceful.   Although it would be more appropriate for me to pray than roll on the floor screaming for my Father to pick me up, he showed me that he’s what I need and when I call to him and trust that he hears me, he will bring me the same peace and comfort that toddler found in the arms of her daddy.

As I sat in busy airports all day I saw fancy people, frumpy people, happy people, shiny people and cranky people.  I saw people excited about going places and people disappointed about their destination.  I saw thousands of people, each with a different story but each with a common thread.  No two people looked the same or waited the same or interacted the same, yet, each and every one of them were created in the image and likeness of God.  Each one was made was fearfully and wonderfully made.  Today, he allowed me to sit and marvel at the wonder of his creation.  Thank you Father for letting me see how creative and wonderful your work is even when it wasn’t my planned activity for the day!

A Seed to plant:  Take some time this week just to watch people and marvel at the creativity of our Creator.​

Blessings on your day!

Who doesn’t love a great story about a boy and his dog!  Today’s post is about that and more.  It’s about friendship, faith and  disappointments.  Those are all a part of life and trusting God in the midst of them is a wise thing to do.  Todays guest blogger is wise beyond his years and speaks from the heart.  Kyle is an optimistic, strong, faithful young man who has one of those smiles that can light up a room.  He is writing about his dog in this post but Kyle knows this lesson on a much deeper level.  Kyle lost his mom after a courageous, inspiring, and grace filled battle with cancer when he was in the fourth grade.  He has shown us all what it truly looks like to be a faithful disciple who seeks the love and peace of God when trials and disappointments come.  

“You are looking for Jesus Of Nazareth… He is risen! He is not here.” MARK 16:6

I use to have two dogs. They were awesome! They would play with each other. They were great hunting dogs. They were a lot of things. People say all things come to an end. I don’t believe that. One of the dogs died and one ran away. Does that mean it was over? It doesn’t, because we got another dog and that  one was even more awesome!  Instead of having two dogs that were buddies;  WE were buddies. Whenever I did something wrong and felt bad I went straight to my dog. My dog never judged me and was always by my side. My dog was always there for me. 

What God is saying in this scripture verse is that if you lose something, something good will come.  Even better than my dog, God will just always be there no matter what.  If you do something wrong God will be there for you, if you feel bad, God will be there for you, if you need the best friend of all, God will be there for you.

 My dog and I are close but I have to ask myself, what should I do in your life to grow closer to God. You have to relate his presence to real life situations. You have to always think about what you can do to be a stronger disciple. 

A Seed To Plant:  Read a Scripture verse each day,  just one per day. Then all you have to do is try to relate. See what you can do to grow closer to God. Be the best disciple you can be. 

Thank you Kyle, you are amazing!​

Blessings on your day!

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone…1 Samuel 17:50

Hands down David and Goliath is an Old Testament favorite among the students every year.  I re-read it to some students for about the tenth time not long ago and the sling shot seemed to stay in my mind. (no pun intended)   It’s really a crazy story when you think about it.  What are the chances we could really inflict great bodily harm using a sling shot?  Since I can’t hit the refrigerator with a rubber band, you can probably breathe easy if I come toward you with a sling shot because odds are good my shot won’t be within 5 feet of my target! It was such an odd weapon of choice for David don’t you think?  I wonder what the giant must have thought as this very young soldier stood before him with it…did he find it insulting or funny or insanely ridiculous?  I wonder if it made him angry or if he just wanted to bust out laughing.

Lately I seem to be confronting the “giants” in my day with a sling shot!  Although David was able to conquer with it, I’m afraid I’m not so successful.  I seem to keep missing the target and I wonder what God must think  as he watches me wildly fling stones around and not really conquer the things that creep between us.  I’m sure on some occasions He must have a good laugh at me; I must look like a nut throwing sand at an approaching army.  I do believe I often miss the WHOLE point of the David and Goliath story.  It wasn’t about David and his sling shot at all…it was about the power of God working through an open, trusting and expectant heart.  David didn’t doubt, he just knew God would conquer. The truth is, David could have faced that enemy with a paper clip or a cotton ball and defeated him because it was the  power of God that did the work not the power of man.  I’m not so good at living that part of the story.  I still think with enough practice, my sling shot and I will get better…NOT!  It's not about the size of the battle or the weapon, it's the size of the faith and trust that determine the outcome.

Sometimes I add to the story.  I continue reading as if the words are really there and tell the story about how David did a big end zone dance joyfully proclaiming his greatness as a sling shot shooter.  Then he goes to King Saul and demands more pay and more fame and tells his story of greatness again and again. I can always count on at least two or three kids to realize I’m making that part up and that leads into a very important lesson in humility.  Perhaps in my own quest for greatness I forget who really needs to aim my sling shot and why.

So we’ve reached the part in the story where I need to make a choice.  Either I need another weapon to slay the sinful enemies and giants in my life or I need to let someone else aim my sling shot because I am a lousy shot!  Let me see...I think I’ll try a little harder to go with the second choice!

A Seed To Plant: Read the story of David and Goliath and then seriously contemplate the things you’re trying to slay with a sling shot and then figure out which ones you need to hand over to God’s precise aim.​

Blessings on your day!                                                           

May is busy; so todays post is an old story worth telling again.  I was at a wedding last weekend with some of the great friends I mention in this post and we laughed about this day…so here’s to a great story re-told!



“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Matthew 6:25

Have you ever noticed how something really terrific can come from a disaster?  Sunday, our second son graduated from high school and we hosted his open house that same day because my dad was here with us for the weekend.  Mexican was his menu choice and I had it planned down to the last detail plus a generous padding of “extra food” because nobody wants to be the party host who runs short on food. Well…it happened…I started to run low on food and my heart sank somewhere down into my shoes.

It would have been a disaster if it hadn’t been for the awesome crew of friends that flocked into my kitchen and saved the day.  We cooked some more…we emptied the fridge and a couple of them went home and brought back the contents of their own fridge and pantry. At one point some dads were chopping up  watermelon and they chased me out of my own kitchen telling me to leave and enjoy the guests.  They took over and amazed me with their friendship, generosity and helpfulness. What a blessing.

When I first started to realize the food was flying off the serving table so quickly I slipped into the office for a minute to pray.  The verse from Matthew's Gospel  came to mind and I said, “Jesus I trust you!”  I chose not to panic. I chose to believe if He could feed 5,000 He could feed a couple hundred and I chose to believe the words of t and not worry.  Within minutes the unsolicited help started filing into the kitchen.  God paints the dots on a ladybug and He provided me with friends who knew how to save the day…how lucky am I!  No detail is too large or too small for such a loving Father.

I’m still scratching my head at the events of the day, but mostly I’m thanking the Good Lord for the blessing of friends and the grace of generous hearts.  I will be the first to admit I am a MARTHA right to my core, so the day was a lesson in humility.  I was reminded to be more like MARY and enjoy the “better part”.  Sunday the “better part” was friendship and the surprising way God hears and answers when we trust.  The other part of the blessing that day was enjoying the wonderful people who came to help us celebrate Jason’s special day.  Martha here,  would have missed that if it hadn’t been for the friends who chased me out of the kitchen.

Today it doesn’t matter that I would have done exactly the same thing for any one of those friends…what mattered is that they did it for me and I’m grateful and blessed.  I’ve re-calculated my food list and I’m still baffled, but I finally wadded up the paper work and threw it in the trash because it doesn’t matter.  If everything would have worked out according to “my plan” I would have missed the beauty of “His plan”…and as usual…He’s a much better planner than me!  I thank God for those good friends.  As one of them said to me years ago, "You know someone is a good friend when they can walk into your kitchen and wash your dishes.”  I’m thrilled to report I had LOTS of those kind of good friends on Sunday.  May God smile sweetly on each of them!

A Seed To Plant: As you plod through this day, stop and ask God where this verse might fit.​

Blessings on your day!

Give thanks and remember!

Happy Memorial Day!  I'm hoping that most of the Monday morning readers are doing something lovely today.  It's so beautiful this weekend so I  hope you are enjoying sunshine and beautiful outdoor events and fun where you are too.

Todays post is short, simple and important.  Even though I'm not in school today, I am going to give you some homework.  It doesn't matter where you complete it, I just ask that you remember to do it this Memorial Day.  The assignment is to recall the reason we  enjoy this day.  Please spend some quiet time in prayer  remembering...

*Remember and pray for all those who gave their life for our country.  Are we honoring their sacrifice by defending the freedoms and privileges they gave their lives for?
* Remember those who make decisions about our military action.  Pray that God will grant them a spirit of peace, justice and mercy as they make decisions.
*Pray for peace; peace in our families, our country and our world. 
*Pray for our President and Congress.  It's easy to complain about them but how often do we remember to specifically pray that God will inspire, uplift and bless them?  

God Bless the USA...really!  Spend  some time thinking about and praying for that today, it's so much more than a slogan or a line from a song...today let it  be our heartfelt prayer!

Blessings on your day!

As adults, one of our primary objectives is to take care of our children and keep them safe.  As a parent and teacher there have been lots of moments spent pondering the “best way” to break bad news to kids.  We don’t want to see them struggle and suffer and we can sometimes look at them as fragile or unable to process hard lessons.  We often work to provide a buffer between bad news and the young ones we love.  Today I am going to share a post that speaks to the strength and wisdom of one of the young ones.  She writes with the wisdom of an old soul with a deep faith.

Todays post is by guest blogger Saige.  She is strong, confident, faithful and funny.  Saige is a natural born leader who quietly and gracefully leads others in the right direction.  She has navigated her way through some difficulties this year but she has allowed those trials to strengthen both her faith and courage.   
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the older things have passed away.   -Revelations 21:4

There was one specific part in Make Every Day Count, by Max Lucado, that talked about days of hospitals, sickness, and sorrow.  A failing report card.  Cemetery dirt still fresh.  I read that paragraph and i just felt connected right away.  I knew what all of those things felt like.  Like the part about the cemetery dirt.  A little while before Christmas, my grandma passed away and I was overwhelmed with sadness and grief.  But when I was at Christmas Eve Mass, and I was up in the choir loft singing, I felt a wave of calmness come over me and I just felt better.  I knew that God was helping me.  

About a month or so after my grandma died,  my grandpa, the one whose wife had just died, had a stroke.  My uncle took him to the hospital right away.  When I heard this, I was filled with sadness and worry all over again.  He still isn’t his old self, but i know that God will take care of him the rest of the way, and make him the best that my grandpa can be.

Whatever you’re struggling with, you need to remember that God will take care of it, and you don’t need to worry.  He will bring you peace when you need it and he will help you feel strong even when you don’t feel that way.

A seed to plant: If you are ever stuck in sadness, try to just go to church or listen to a religious song to help you to know that God is always with you.
Blessings on your day!
Thank you Saige...you're amazing!

Psalm 139 reminds us we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  In other words, we are perfect in the eye of our Creator.  That seems like a simple enough announcement but yet, we spend so many minute trying to be like, look like or in some way act like someone else. Today seems like the perfect day to take a look at ourselves through the Father’s eyes.  Lets take notice of who we’re trying to follow and say thank you for our gifts instead of wanting someone else's.  Todays guest blogger has the perfect post to get us started!

Todays post is brought to you by a genuine, huge hearted, young leader named Kash.  This impressive young man was instrumental in getting the whole book study started, and his leadership with this project truly made a difference in our classroom!

 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5

I really love football. My favorite player is Tom Brady because he is such a great quarterback. When we got this assignment and I was praying about what I was going to write about,  I saw this scripture verse, it all clicked together.  I realized I shouldn’t strive to be like a great athlete. Being like Tom Brady wan’t important; I thought instead, I should strive to be a great disciple. I am not saying you shouldn’t play sports, I am saying if you play sports you should always praise God and thank him for the gifts he gave you.

 We should strive to be like Jesus.  One way we can do this is go to mass.  Another thing we can do is go to confessions  so God can forgive us. After he forgives you praise him and thank him for taking your sins away.

God wants us to use the gifts he gave us.  Thank God for all of the gifts  you have and praise him.

  A Seed To Plant:  Some time  today make a list  of 5 gifts God has given you and be sure to tell him thank you!

Blessings on your day!​

Thank you Kash…you’re amazing!