May 17
I stepped in poop the other day.
I was changing Elle and reached to drop the diaper in the Genie when plop. . . it dropped out of the diaper onto the floor. Holding her with one hand, I reached with a wipe and my floot slid. . .
right into the poop.
Right between my toes.
She had eaten corn the day before. . . (enough said).
I was holding poop in one hand. Standing in poop. Corn on my big toe. Trying to hold a poopy child to keep her from rolling off the changing table.
May 15
This evening I walked to the park with a 22-month-old.
We stopped and said hello to the grass. We checked out the purple flowers on the butterfly bush.
We sat tandem on the swings and sang “So high in the sky” as we pushed into the air.
What should have been a 15-minute walk took an hour and it was delightful.
In the rush-rush-can’t-stop cycle we spin on, slowing down seems impossible, doesn’t it?
We tell our kids, “Hurry up!” and bark at our loved ones to “Get a move on” as we buckle in the car on our way to the next stop.
May 14
What do I hope church will be?
A place where people come in and find renewed life.
A place of community.
A place where healing starts. Where ordinary people are sent out as missionaries. Where families are strengthened. Where we feed the poor.
A place that reaches out instead of closing in.
But most of all a place where they will know us by our love.
Sometimes I struggle with the love we fail to show.
The things we say that are political and not necessarily scriptural.
The times we say a loud amen to sins that we weigh as heavier than others.
The times we fail to see our own shortcomings as sin that is just as grievous, and covered in the same mercy.
What can we do about it?
We can only look at our own lives and ask God to do the work within us.
Start with me, Lord. Start with me.
May 11
If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome!
Because of our past, often the story that is shared is about the mom I used to have.
I loved writing My Mother’s Hands because those hands have become precious to me. They are the “rest of the story”.
Symbolic of what God can do.
I love my mother’s hands, her heart, and who she is. Who she has become.
May 10
May 09
Dear Suzie,
I have been using scripture to discipline my young daughter. When she messes up I share a verse that shows her how she went against God’s word. It sometimes seems to have the opposite effect of what I hoped.
Do you think this is a wise way to raise my daughter? S. L.
Dear friend,
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