Let Love Guide

Today, I celebrate the miracle of marriage with my main-man, Scott. Our love story is a miracle and mirrors so vividly the story of Ruth. I'm currently leading a women's small group study on Ruth and journeying through her story has caused my heart to ponder and remember the story God wrote behind the scenes of my brokenness. A story only He could write. I praise God for His character, which never changes. Despite our whims and mortal flailing {and failing} God remains FOR us. This is us. Sixteen years ago, I was in the midst of a broken marriage. I was a single mother of a newly three-year-old little boy. God had shown His favor and led me to a job that gave provision {and He provided SO many miracles during that time}. He was a true husband, provider and father to myself and my son. In the very midst of all this chaos and mess, my mother spoke a prayer - a tiny mustard-seed prayer - that grew out of her heart, into God's heart, and into my story. My desire was to r...

A prayerful heart and an obedient heart will learn, very slowly and not without sorrow, to stake everything on God Himself. This quote is basically my life. It stirs in me something I've held in my heart for a long time. My entire life I have learned, slowly and with a LOT of sorrow, to make God my sufficiency. And in these past four months God has shown mercy, grace and miracles that directly points back to HIM and His incredible strength, love and GLORY. This is a story only God could write and it humbles me to be seen, known, molded and loved by Him. Scott and I have struggled with medical debt for 14 years. We married debt-free and planned to live an honest, generous, debt-free life. However, God had another journey for our family. Between a high-risk pregnancy, our boys surgeries to make their feet and legs strong, leg braces, ovarian cancer and subsequent cat scans, medicine and endless doctors appointments, we just never got ahead. The debt grew, compounded. It was ...

Our son, Noah, graduated from high school two weeks ago and Saturday/Sunday we moved him into his college dorm. On Sunday, as we drove to college, navigating through {crazy} Atlanta traffic, Noah in the back seat, I reminisced on the day we drove him home from the hospital, nearly 18 years to the day. The day we brought him home he was so small and fragile - 7 lb., 9 oz. of sweetness. It seemed all the cars on the road were a threat, even though we lived in a small town and even took side roads, where the max speed was 30 mph. Noah was our treasure, our pride and joy, and we wanted to protect him every day of his life. From the moment he entered the world he took my breath away. I was instantly in love. That first night I couldn't sleep. I stayed up all night, giddy like Christmas morning, marveling over his tiny fingers and toes, those cheeks and lips. {so delicious!} I whispered over and over my love for him. Being a mother is the greatest joy in my life. And today, on his ...

"Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion" ..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” - C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I'm married to a Clark Griswold-type man. His father and grandfather TRULY taught him everything he knows "about exterior illumination." Every year his collection of lights grows, and grows, and grows. I joke with visitors if they stand still for too long he'll wrap them in lights. Light covers every tree, door post, fence post and window of our home at Christmas {and it's BEAUTIFUL!} My Sparky does it right! ♥ And yet, despite the beauty of Christmas, JOY can be hard to find - which is proof what Christmas is all about is true: we need a Savior. And the same gr...

Our oldest son, Noah, is a Senior in High School. I remember holding him on his third day of life, singing this lullaby And I'll love you forever, forever my baby you'll be And I'll love you forever. Forever and ever my baby you'll be. Sweet, right? {but then, the 2nd verse ...} I want you to know, wherever you go, should life find us miles apart. I'll always care and always be there, 'cause Mama's love lives in the heart. Wait, WHAT? Someday this baby, whom I love with ALL I am, is going to LEAVE? I immediately started bawling and my mother, who was in town helping us adjust to parenthood, began crying, as well, saying,  "That's what happens. You love your child so much and then they grow up and leave." It was a scene, to say the least. I remember laughing through tears, telling Mom she couldn't cry and breakdown - she was supposed to be the strong one in the midst of my postpartum craziness. I thought, for a moment, we might n...

His sovereign rule lasts and lasts, H is kingdom never declines and falls. Life on this earth doesn’t add up to much,  but God’s heavenly army keeps everything going. No one can interrupt His work,  no one can call His rule into question. Daniel 4:35 {MSG} I work at a church and at our Tuesday meeting our worship leader, Ric, shared a devotion based on this scripture. His observation - we are accounted as nothing, and yet, created in God's image. How can these two ideas be reconciled? In his devotion, he offered as we grow in God's image - as we lean into HIS image - we grow in His compassion, love and grace. By allowing our self to diminish - God becomes greater. There's a higher calling to this life - and it involves maturity, seeking, prayer, growth and worship. The beauty of our God is that He gave us free will {which is also the super hard part of this life}. Every step of our growth in God requires making the right choice. There can be no true worship unle...

My husband, Scott, and I are leading a new marriage study by Francis Chan that is literally rocking me to my core {it's SO GOOD!!!} You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity is a marriage study, but it begins with an examination of your relationship with God. I've read the first chapter at least three times, trying to soak in all the truth. "... the best is yet to come. I'm sure of it. Even now, I am working to make sure my family is set up for the future. When most people make that statement, they are talking about financial security for their last few years on earth. When I say it, I'm referring to the millions of years that come after that ... I have imagined what it will be like when Lisa comes face to face with God. The Bible guarantees that will actually happen. One day, my wife will stand before the Creator and Judge of all things. What a staggering moment that will be! I can't imagine any of us being ready for the shock of that day, yet Scr...