Published on Christian Devotions on August 19, 2012.
My Barbie dolls were spread across the back porch, perched atop their shiny pink suitcase that also served as the stage for their latest fashion show. All of us were filthy, barefoot, and enjoying every moment of my fifth summer.
http://christiandevotions.us/2012/08/19/just-handle-it-janet-morris-grimes/
Published on Christiandevotions.us August 4, 2012
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8
“Repeat after me,” she stated in our weekly, first-grade ritual. “Robert rushed to the red wagon.”
I took in a deep breath. “Wobewt wushed to the wed wagon. How many times do I have to say this?” I accidentally said that last part aloud.
http://christiandevotions.us/2012/08/04/failure-versus-faking-it-janet-morris-grimes/
Inspire a Fire, July 16, 2012.
My prayer journals are filled with it.
My mind is too crowded with it.
My heart is weighed down by it.
My future is inhibited by it.
My hope is dimmed by it.
My life is tired of it.
My junk.
For one brief second every morning, I forget about it.
But then it chases me down and reminds me of the battles we have yet to fight.
Concerns. Unresolved issues. Questions without answers. Angst.
http://www.inspireafire.com/my-junk-vs-jesus/
Inspire a Fire, July 2, 2012.
“467 traffic fatalities on Tennessee roadways this year. Please don’t be next.”
The electric sign warned from above the interstate. The message itself was strong enough to swerve me into the next lane, nearby ditch, or one of the 18-wheelers that imprisoned me from each side. What rattled my cage the most was the way the number had changed since my last trip through.
I would assume that the Department of Safety monitors them and is responsible for updating the messages on the sign. The latest numbers.
http://www.inspireafire.com/statistics/
Inspire a Fire. June 4, 2012.
For me, Father’s Day has always been a reminder of what I never had. I lost my father to a car accident when I was a baby. Before I ever knew him. Before I really ever had him.
His absence led me to study other people’s Daddies. I watched them from a distance, taking note of all the traits I needed in a father.
And that is where God met me. In the midst of my little girl questions, He assured me that He would keep the promise made in Psalm 68:5 — “God is father to the fatherless.”
http://www.inspireafire.com/the-perfect-father/
Inspire a Fire, May 1, 2012
It’s been over ten years. That’s a circled-on-the-calendar date for those diagnosed with cancer. A true reason to celebrate. In anniversary terms, if five years is Silver, ten years is Golden.
I never invited the word ‘Cancer’ to join my vocabulary. I first recognized it as the enemy as a child, long before I was ready. Strong and powerful, shrewd and deceitful, it took too many of my loved ones, just as I was getting to know them. I hated it.
http://www.inspireafire.com/embracing-the-crookedness/
Inspire a Fire article from April 2, 2012.
Our relationship would never be the same. I was sure of it.
Somewhere, at that foot of that cross, it hit me. Finally.
The earth shook beneath me, blasting me higher, deeper, and closer; a place where I grasped it for the very first time.
I had come to worship, to honor Jesus with a few minutes of my time, a task honorably placed at the top of every good Christian’s ‘to-do’ list, especially during the week of Easter.
So, how did I spend my entire life completely missing the point?
http://www.inspireafire.com/jesus-can-i-hold-you/
Inspire a Fire, March 19, 2012.
She edges closer to the door, activating the checklist in my mind.
“Here, take the GPS. And your cell phone charger.” I pile both items onto her schoolbooks. She opens the door with the only empty finger she has left.
“I only have $20. Take that with you, but keep it hidden. And make sure you have your debit card. And don’t wait too late to get gas.”
http://www.inspireafire.com/turning-over-the-keys/
Published on Inspire a Fire, February 20, 2012
At first, I thought it was just my little secret.
As a first-time mother, still basically a child myself, I gazed into the eyes of my newborn daughter. Resting on my raised knees, her hand literally wrapped around my finger, she strained to open her eyes against the force of the bright lights above. She squirmed with determination until her eyes locked in on mine, which told me all that I needed to know.
http://www.inspireafire.com/imperfect-parenting/
Published December 11, 2011.
http://www.myshoesmystory.com/2011/12/a-mothers-love-breathing-through-the-night-.html
Abbandoned: Seeking God, as Abba, When you Feel Abandoned
