Operation: Asa Joy

 This week has definitely not gone the way I envisioned. I had plans to go out and write every day. Carl was planning to work from home on Monday and Wednesday and go in on Tuesday. Thursday and Friday are holidays so he was off anyway.  It was going to be a relaxing week getting ready for things to get back to normal next week. God had different plans though. Esther tested positive for COVID on Monday most likely from being exposed working at Chick Fil A from a customer or a co worker who came to work having symptoms.  At first I was angry. I could not understand why anyone would come to work with COVID symptoms and expose all their co workers and all the customers that drive through every day. I cried tears after having to call my mother and father telling them that with all the precautions we had taken that they had been exposed. I cried hearing my daughter call all her friends and tell them that she had exposed them. I was frustrated and upset and could not understand...

 What a year! I look back over my prayer and goals for 2020 and can honestly say that I NEVER expected this year to go the way it did.  At the end of 2019 I was coming off the amazing high of directing A Weaving of Grace. I poured my heart into that production and was ready to do the same with my next show, Anything But Normal. I was so excited. And then March came. I remember watching Tirzah act in the Gingerbread Man knowing that my show was next and being so excited and ready.  Then the world shut down.  Instead of directing my show, I had to suffer the loss of it being cancelled. And then watching every other show be cancelled for the season. My days were filled with trying to figure out Zoom meetings and explaining to my children why we couldn't go out to restaurants or coffee shops. I had to watch as finding masks became an every day thing. I had to watch a child almost end up in the hospital with an asthma attack because of the masks he was now required to wea...

 I remember it like it was a few months ago... Oh, wait... it was. William called me on the phone from his bedroom. It was a Sunday and Carl and I were out running errands. He told me that he felt bad. I was like, "What kind of bad?" He responded with the dreaded words in our country today. "I have a fever and a headache. I am coughing and just feel awful." I sighed and told him that we would be right home. We flew home and indeed he had a fever but his main complaint was that he was having a hard time breathing. It set off a whirlwind of activity for the next day. Carl called his work to let them know and so did Esther and Nathan. All three places of employment said not to come in to work.  We drove down to the Army base with William to be seen and tested. Esther had come to us on Sunday too and informed us that she thought she had poison ivy. She is highly allergic and it goes systemic. She does not even have to physical touch it. If she touches a shirt with the o...

 In 2020 I have been reading through Paul Tripp's New Morning Mercies . I have enjoyed it thoroughly. This morning I read,  "On your very worst day and on your very best day, you are blessed with pleasures that come right from the hand of God. That tells you that you don't get these pleasures because you've earned them, but because He is a God of grace. He graces you with good things because He is good, not because you are." It was interesting because this morning I got up a little earlier than I normally do. I went into the kitchen to start making coffee when Esther, my 17 year old daughter, flew into the kitchen in a panic. She works at Chick-Fil-A and she has a shift this morning. Apparently her alarms did not go off this morning and she woke up 15 minutes before her shift was to start. She has a 20-25 minute commute to work. She jumped out of bed and got dressed and ran out to her car. She did hug me before she flew out the door only to find her car covered in...

February 27, 2020 This picture. It is a snapshot into my life right now. It brings me joy. The wall calendar – We bought a four-month calendar last year. A one month one did not work for us. We have 3 children with jobs now, one child taking Ninja classes, and 5 kids in theater classes. I am directing and volunteering at STP. We needed a way to see the bigger picture. It has changed the way we run the house. The rule is – if it is not on the calendar then Carl and I are not tracking it. It lets the older kids own their own schedules. My vinyl Psalm 46:10 sticker – We bought this when we first moved into the house. It is my mother’s favorite verse. It reminds me to pray for my family. It also reminds be to be still. God loves my family more than I ever could. He is working in our lives drawing us closer to Him each day even when that day seems chaotic. My ocean picture – One of my favorite places to be in the whole world is the ocean. There is something abou...

O, thou Father of my life, Thou King of my life, Wound my heart that it may be healed; Break it that thine own hand may make it whole. This phrase just struck me this morning when I read it in Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions . I caused me to think back to the times in my life when I learned the most about God and my relationship with Christ. The times when I grew the most all came out of my heart being wounded in some way or another. Brokenness. I learned so much when I went to England and things did not turn out the way they were supposed to. I was hurt emotionally and spiritually. It took a long time to get over the bitterness that arose from that experience. God worked in my life and I came out the other side of that trial closer to Him than ever before. I learned so much when I went through a time of wondering why God had not brought anyone into my life when it seemed like all the other girls my age were getting married...

I learned a new word today. I read a lot so when I find a word that is not familiar to me, I always am curious as to what it means. I normally find words like this in old books that I am reading, or books reprinted from ages ago. Today was a word that I have never heard of. I found it in the book I am reading through, Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions . Now you can understand why I say old. “Magnify to me thy glory by being magnified in me and make me redolent of the they fragrance.” The word redolent caught my eye. I did not know what it meant, so I looked it up. Redolent 1.        Having a pleasant odor; fragrant 2.        Odorous or smelling (usually followed by of) 3.        Suggestive; reminiscent (usually followed by of) I went and did a search for redolent in the Bible. I found one reference that was found in the Message. Now, I don’...

I am continually amazed at the goodness of God. How much he truly loves us. How much he cares for us. How he provides for a need before we even know we need it. Oh, my heart cries out with praises to Him. Every parent who has raised their children into adulthood will understand where I have been these past few weeks. I have three children who are over 18 now and two teenagers. I also have one who officially enters the teen years next October. It seems weird to even write that. These past few weeks I have been dealing with some very tough issues concerning my older children. The kind of issues that require 3-hour conversations at midnight. The kind of conversations where my children are asking hard questions about life and their faith. Wonderful conversations but ones that drain you mentally and physically. I have been storming the gates of heaven for my children so much lately. I praise the Lord that my children are coming to me and talking. We poured so much into them when they...

Lulled into Danger– January 8, 2020 My heart is heavy this morning. I have been constantly bringing my children before the Lord. I am burdened for one child who is struggling with a particular sin that seems to have grabbed him and will not let go. I am broken for this child who is floundering and seems lost. As I draw closer to God the more the things of this world seem to lose their appeal to me. I discover more and more things that I need to remove from my own life that have creeped in slowly over time because I was not on my guard. Things that may seem good but are harmful because they take my focus off God. I see this in the eyes of my children. I know that I cannot make my children follow after Christ but what example have I set for them? I want to see my children fervently follow after Christ. I want them to be spending more time with Christ than on their devices or watching TV. I asked a child last night if he could find his Bible and he did not have an answe...

Keeping God's Name Holy – January 7, 2020 Today I read the passage in Matthew where the Lord’s Prayer is recorded. I have been reading the New Living Translation for a while now and I love how it phrases some of the very familiar passage. Our Father in heaven,     may your name be kept holy. 10  May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth,     as it is in heaven. 11  Give us today the food we need, 12  and forgive us our sins,     as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13  And don’t let us yield to temptation,     but rescue us from the evil one. I love the phrase “may your name be kept holy.” What an amazing thing to pray every day. In a world where the name of God is often spoken of with hatred or in jest, this is my cry. I want God’s name to always be holy. How flippantly do we use God’s name? I find myself in moments of carelessness using ...

January 6, 2020 This year I have decided to really focus on making sure that I meet with Christ every single day. Two words have been on my mind lately. Abide and Eucharisteo. Abundance was my word for last year, but I did not do much with it. The Lord put other things on my heart for me to focus on. He chose me to be the vessel to write two plays for Spiritual Twist Productions, a local Christian theater group. One play was about Corrie ten Boom and the other is about the Beatitudes. I spent much of the spring and summer digging dip into history and scripture to make sure that what I wrote on the pages was glorifying to God. The first show closed the first week of December and I am still in awe at how God worked in that production. A Weaving of Grace went further and reached people in ways that I could never have imagined.   I don’t believe that God is done with that play but for now my focus has shifted to the next play, Anything But Normal . I am trying to wr...