what's in your temple?

I've seen several posts on Facebook from friends - and I've been experiencing it here, too...

The enemy is selling his lies in the temples of our hearts - and we are buying them.
It's time to invite Jesus to upturn those tables and send Satan packing.
There isn't room for both.

Ask Him to expose the lies and katargeo them. Their familiarity makes them comfortable and dangerous. There is a mole in the kingdom of our souls - and it is us. Jesus is not King - He's an ornament we look at to feel better.
Enough is enough.
Join me?

unwrapping the now

I love my home!
I especially love my little corner of it - we call it The Studio. I always wanted one of those!
This week I'm sharing that space with one of my closest friends. She's here from out-of-state and we're busy as elves sewing our hearts out for Christmas. Christmas carols play, a pine-scented candle burns in the corner, and a pot of soup simmers on the stove. Life is good. :o)

 The reality is we don't know how long we'll have this house. The seller told a big lie that cost us lots of money we didn't have. At first, the Hunk and I were tempted to hold back... why pour ourselves into something we can't keep? Why get too attached? But God whispered to our hearts, encouraging us to embrace the now.
  
It's the perfect get-together place, with it's HUMONGOUS back yard and view of the stars. The outside looks sort of abandoned. And the inside still has boxes to unpack and lots of fixing-up we'd like to do.  


But we're not waiting for it to be "perfect" to enjoy it. To invite friends over for s'mores around the fire. To have Sunday dinners and game nights and sewing marathons.

We don't want to look back and regret not enjoying this wonderful space. Today it belongs to us. So we're unwrapping the gift that is now. Because that's all we're really ever promised. 

Join me the month of December for Tuesdays Unwrapped... a place for joyful hearts to unwrap the gift that is now.

unwrapping rest

The curve balls of life continue to come at me full speed. An already challenging task became almost impossible as the physical hindered the mental and skewed the emotional. At the start of the week I was in panic mode,  knowing what still needed to be done without enough time to do it. 
And I hit my wall. You know, the brick one that leaves you bloody because you keep charging into it thinking this time it will move. Out of sheer exhaustion, I decided to let it go. I quit. I even posted it on Facebook, which makes it official. (Right?)

Then something happened. The mental act of "quitting" gave me the freedom to relax. To allow things to be what they are. To allow God to worry about the details while I rest a little. I didn't quit and walk away. Instead I was able to face the task from a different direction. (I believe someone smart named Antoine said that...)
The circumstance hasn't changed. There will still be consequences to face and I'll worry about those when they present themselves. In the meantime, I'm still plugging away, and accomplishing a lot more from a place of rest.


"Are you tired? Worn out?... Come to me... Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."  Matthew 11:28, The Message

Join me the month of December for Tuesdays Unwrapped... a place for busy hearts to unwrap the peace of His rest.

tuesday's child

After a long day at school I was ready to get home to a fire pit, two lawn chairs and my favorite Man. After sitting in bumper-to-bumper tunnel traffic (at 9:30 PM!) I couldn't change clothes fast enough. The sky was bedazzled with stars. We talked about never getting tired of staring at them and how good God is to put them there for us to see. We sipped hot chocolate and talked in whispers. The Man was tempted to talk about serious stuff, but I reminded him tomorrow is another day. We talked about grace and facing whatever comes with courage, knowing in Him we are never alone. We watched flames lick at the logs and listened to it crackle as fall breezes chilled our faces. And we wished we had a fireplace indoors so we could fall asleep without moving anywhere. Sleep came easily, preparing the way for a happy start this Tuesday morning.

Decompression time is so very important to our spirits, yet I don't stop to do it often enough. Experiencing a month of grace has me renewing my efforts to breathe deeply and enjoy the daily stuff I'm tempted to whiz through, even tunnel traffic. Most especially I want to enjoy the people around me even more and ignore the things that continuously try to undermine peace. It's hard. But at the end of the day I want my memories to be of the rich things, the humorous things, the blessings, the sights and sounds of living abundantly.

This grace-filled moment brought to you by Tuesday's Unwrapped, a weekly reminder to enjoy the magic that is life.

camouflage

Ahhh! There's a crisp breeze coming through the windows, the birds are singing, the aroma of soup stock simmering on the stove wafts through the house.... It's total camouflage for the craziness about to begin!

It's also my quiet morning moment when all is right with my world. It's what makes coming home worth coming home. The smells, the sounds, the promise of safety away from 'out there' and the opportunity to refocus on the truly important.

After all, isn't the purpose of camouflage to cover and protect? ;o)

This quiet moment brought to you by Tuesday's Unwrapped, a delightful way to unwrap the magic that is life!