Small

Small hands, small feet.

Big heart, big hugs.

I love being a grandparent.  What a gift!  And babies in the family are just so fun!  Sweet little hands.  Precious little cheeks.  Lots of kisses.  Lots of smiles.  

I pray that our little ones grow to know and trust the Lord.  That each one would know just how absolutely remarkable it is to be loved by One so Big.  I pray that each one is able to feel secure and safe and that, no matter what, she (or he) will never be alone.

This big world can really hurt one so small.  I pray for protection and forgiveness and grace.

Lord, thank You for the little ones in our family.

Write

I write from the heart.  

Whatever it speaks, I say.

Sometimes it's good.

Sometimes it's bad.

It's almost always honest.

It's almost always part of a process.

It's seldom malicious.

It's been known to be foolish.

It's been known to cause pain.

I write to encourage.

I write to bring hope and healing.

I write to uncover the truth.

When the Lord is working in my heart and mind, it's important for me to put it into words, and to reflect back.

I seldom reflect as I should.

I'm grateful for the courage to write.  And the words.

Not For You

They have "a yoke on you that you were never meant to wear..."

What's sad is that I'm the one who put it on.  I picked it up, I put it on and I wore it.  It's not their fault - it's mine.

Jesus said, "Take My yoke and learn from Me..." (Matthew 11:29).

That heavy collar that a pair of oxen wear to plow a field - as beasts of burden?

That awkward wooden beam that's balanced across the neck and shoulders to help carry two heavy buckets of water?

"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light," He says (11:30).

Jesus must have meant something else.

When the expectations of others are beyond my comprehension...

When I'm worried more about what "they" think than about what I know to be true...

That is a heavy, awkward burden.  Not meant for me.

Truth is a yoke coupled by One who is stronger and is willing to walk with me through what's hard.

That's the yoke Jesus was talking about.

As my husband spoke words of life over me ("a yoke you were never meant to wear"), the pain I'd felt in my neck and shoulders for the past several days began to dissipate.  As he prayed over me, he lifted the yoke I had been wearing off my shoulders, making way for Jesus to come alongside me and to minister to me in a way I'd never quite grasped before.  That was a great gift.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." ~(Eph. 5:25-27)

Thank you, Babe...  I love you.