And the winner is…
Julie Keegan. Congratulations!
Thanks for all your great comments and e-mails. I feel like I just made 2,506 new friends. I hope you come back soon.
When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. ~ Catherine Ponder
This week on Christian MomlogicThe community is growing. We started a book club (we are reading Steven Baldwin’s The Life
and Death of Gabriel Phillips) and our healthy living group is connecting, making goals, and hopefully living healthier. But best of all strong women at every stage of faith are becoming a community of friends. Are you interested in joining? I’d love for you to check it out. It’s free.
It’s like Facebook, but for women (whether you are a parent or not).
The Road Less Traveled: Forgiveness (Giveaway)If you came over today from the Proverbs 31 devotion, welcome! I hope it’s not the first time you visit, or the last. I’m always excited to make a new friend.
The other day I was talking with two friends about forgiveness. All three of us have dealt with this issue. One friend’s dad was an alcoholic. The other was sexually molested as a girl.
These close friends and I have moved on from the past, leaving those memories behind to pursue life and all that God has for each of us. We are writers and speakers. We teach on healing and wholeness. We have solid marriages. Families that are close and loving. Faith that transcends the events of the past.
But as we talked, I realized that forgiveness was still an issue, just in a different way.
“It’s the small stuff that gets me,” one friend said. “I’ve forgiven my past. I can forgive the big things. But someone can do something little and it makes me angry, and I don’t want to let it go.”
My other friend concurred, sharing a story about how she lost her temper with her family just that last week.
My conversation with my friends made me think about my own life. I consider myself a forgiver. I believe that I see the best in others. I’ve let go of the past, and I know the benefits. And yet, the truth is that we all struggle with this issue at times. (more…)
Longing for Communion
Last night I attended a Watch Service at my church. For some reason I’ve looked forward to it all week. Pastor shared a short sermon on anticipating change in the New Year, but I can’t tell you the specifics. Candles were lit. The lights were dim. The church was more full than I anticipated.
We had communion. All beautiful, but still not what I longed for, not knowing how to put words behind it.
And then it was over. Pastor asked any of us who desired to come to the altar and pray. As I knelt, there it was. What I was missing. What I had longed for all week.
Him.
Something inside of me longed to begin the New Year in His presence. Quiet. Gentle. Soft.
Powerful. Filling. Overflowing.
Sufficient.
I get so busy sometimes that that part of who I am gets put aside. I pray. I read the Bible. I minister. I am mom. I am Suzie. I blog. I write. I speak. I clean. I pay bills. I write some more…
But at the core of me, I am His. And that part of me was teetering on empty.
I was longing for communion. More than a cracker and a thimble of juice. I needed to sense His presence and rest in the reality of a Heavenly Father.
Thank you, Lord, that I can reach for you and find you.
Happy New Year to all of you. I appreciate you — more than you know.
Suz
Dear body…
You’ve been a little out of control this past year. I’ve been eating healthy for the most part, exercising inconsistently, but still exercising and yet you continue to pick up weight.
I don’t know if you know this, but it’s important for me to be healthy and active. I have a bucket list that I am hacking away at and being overweight isn’t on it. Traveling to China is, and so is working with teens around the world and nation to impact others. One day having a grandbaby to play with is on there, and so is hiking and swimming and rafting.
So, you’re going down. Literally. I stepped on the scales this morning and they said I’m heavier than I’ve ever been.
Dear body, that’s not nice so I’m going to have to whittle away at you. I’ve been nice to you for years — feeding you chicken and broccoli, almonds, apples and low-sugar peanut butter, light this, low-fat that, baked sweet potatoes and Lean Cuisines. But since you ignored that and somehow stored a few extra LBs, I’m going to have to pull out the big guns.
I’m going to actually exercise instead of just talk about it.
Yeah, you heard me.
Walking isn’t the only thing that you’ll do every day. You’ll also Wii box every morning. You’ll lift weights at the Fitness center. After all, it’s only 4 miles away. You have no excuse.
It hurts, you say? You like sleeping in, you shout!
Too bad. Because you have 14 extra lbs that are keeping you from wearing clothes that don’t pinch you or hang around the muffin top you are always sucking in.
Dear body, the ride is over. You really are
going
down…
That’s What Friends DoI wrote this story several years ago and it’s one of most circulated stories on the ‘net. The story is true and I just found it again last week on another blog, so I thought I’d share it with you today on my blog. ♥
That’s What Friends Do
T. Suzanne Eller (originally published in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul)
Jack* tossed the papers on my desk — his eyebrows knit into a straight line as he glared at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He jabbed a finger at the proposal. “Next time you want to change anything, ask me first,” he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing in anger.
How dare he treat me like that, I thought. I had changed one long sentence, and corrected grammar — something I thought I was paid to do.
It’s not that I hadn’t been warned. The other women, who had served in my place before me, called him names I couldn’t repeat. One co-worker took me aside the first day. “He’s personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm,” she whispered. (more…)
Dear Friend,
Suzie, This is the question I have been struggling with lately and I thought maybe you could help. The phrase… God so loved the world he gave his only son. Now as I reflect on it. I think… didn’t God really take his own son back. Jesus died and rose into heaven. God is in heaven. Aren’t they together now? If so, then how can ite be said God gave his son. He really took him back. Heidi
This week at Christian Momlogic
A cyber-free day
In exactly five minutes I will turn off the computer. I am surrounded by real life people and things to do. Melissa is in for a few days and wants to help me finish shopping (she knows I still have one more gift to buy for her — input!). I have cookies and Rice Krispie treats to make and Banana Nut bread to bake and gift baskets to fill.
I’ve already finished my blogs for today. I checked off my to-do list. The remaining items can wait until Monday (or maybe Saturday a.m.). My e-mail in-box is down to 21 with only 6 of them marked with a bright red flag.
Funny thing, but the world of the Internet can suck you in and keep you tied to a keyboard. Whether work, ministry, or game after game of Freecell, the world can pass you by while you live in cyberspace. It’s the downside. I’m not talking about work or necessary communication, but the addiction that can happen as you Twitter your life away while real life is waiting.
Today I will laugh with my daughter. I will enjoy the warming weather (yay!) and maybe even go by and say hello to a friend while I’m in T-Town. I will eat lunch at a real restaurant and I will wear clothes without the NSU university logo on the front.
Hey, did you know that Christmas is coming? Five more days, people. I pray that God wraps His arms around you as He reminds you of His love for humanity, and specifically for you today.
A little bird told me…
When I had what we suspect is a TIA last Sunday night, I needed and wanted prayer. So I sent a quick message to five or six Christian Momlogic friends.
Or so I thought. (more…)
T. Suzanne Eller
Believing that God redeems our life stories, Proverbs 31 Speaker, T. Suzanne Eller, teaches you how to give every chapter of your life to a relevant and life-changing Savior.
