Wednesday Woman Archives
MAY 2009
Dirt-...Something has to die, be buried in a dark place, given appropriate time, then up comes new life. From death comes life...
Sailing- ...I've surely been doused with tumultuous salty seawater, but I did not sink. You kept me on course...
Soul Food-...there is a hunger deep in my heart for spiritual nourishment. I need food that not only satisfies, but also sustains...
june 2009
School's Out- ...lately I've noticed a change in the children. Their steps seem a bit lighter and their smiles run from ear to ear...
Laughter- I want to laugh today. I want to have a laughing fit with You. One of those hold your side, lose your breath, tears roll down the cheeks, and flounder on the floor kind of fits. Childlike laughter...
Arms- My little pre-schooler heard a sudden clap of thunder and scrambled into my arms. Once she realized she was safe she climbed down and began to play again. The storm outside continued to intensify...
This Day- What a soothing, reassuring message this is to me. My times are in Your hands. Before I was ever born You saw every day of my life. You have already walked this day ahead of me and there is not one thing in this day that will take You by surprise. So why do I get so worried and harried?...
july 2009
Freedoms- Thank You for giving us this great country to call home. I love this land. Having lived much of my life up and down the East Coast, I have gained a great appreciation for the rich early American history that area affords. I could get lost in time walking down the cobblestone streets of Williamsburg, meandering through gardens...
Heat- It is hot. Texas plus July equals heat. Tempers fry, babies cry, dogs pant, plants droop, and we all wait in expectation for blessed rain and cooler temperatures. My husband teasingly tells me that I am heat intolerant, maybe so. The heat just seems...
Joy - Thank You dear God for joy. There are days that I awaken and joy greets me like the morning sun. Those mornings when birds are chirping, the sun is softly shimmering and my heart leaps...
Money - This has been an expensive year for me. Had many unforeseen turns that were very costly and they still seem to keep coming. Sometimes it is disheartening going from one financial hurdle to the next with not much of a pause in between. Father, You know that these have come not...
Enemy - Being swayed by a tendency that has actually netted me trouble at various times, I guess I could be labeled a ‘people pleaser.’ As such I don’t like to think I have enemies. I don’t want to contemplate that there are those who seek my destruction, but...
august 2009
Cranky - This is one of those days where everyone I run in to is writing in different colored ink. Why can’t they just use the standard black or blue that is required? What is so hard about that? But noooo…, just about everyone I have met today has used red ink, green ink, or purple ink to write and scribble on my life...
Cracked Foundations- I have a crack in my foundation. How long has it been there? I don’t know, but it threatens the structure of my home and causes me concern. To the casual observer nothing appears amiss but to one with a watchful eye the problem is easily identifiable and action must be taken...
Reluctant Servant - I am learning that there is much more to this servant thing than I originally thought. I remember so many years ago at a youth Bible conference surrendering my life in service to You. I cringed at the thought of sitting in a jungle hut in the heart of Africa...
september 2009
Morning - O Lord, You are magnificent, marvelous, mighty and beyond description of human words! Your glory sparkled this morning as I lifted my eyes to the heavens. Stepping out into the dark predawn morning I could not help but look up and behold the beauty of the work of Your hands. The stars You sprinkled across the horizon gleamed with brilliance...
Acknowledge - How patient You are with the way I pray. Thank You. Many of my prayers are like orders placed at a fast-food window. I drive up, squawk something into the box, move forward to the pick-up window, receive my order and speed off. Yes, that describes my prayer life at times...
Bookstore - Sometimes life can just be overwhelming. I have been in such a harried form that recently going into a Christian bookstore almost left me in a state of panic. I am in need of answers to some difficult questions and guidance for a rough journey ahead. Advice can be a dime a dozen. Some of it is very good and God-centered and some of it needing to be tossed...
Sick - My mind keeps wandering to the bedside of two people. My prayers echo those of my sisters from long ago, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” One is so sick we’ve been told that he will probably be with you before this day is over. The other is suffering from a failing heart but still maintains a beautiful gentle spirit from her hospital bed. I kneel before you on their behalf and I thank you...
Beautiful - She sits in gym class, eyes cast down and hair falling forward. Wishing she could be like ‘them’ but knowing that her hand-me-down tennis shoes and shorts embroidered with another’s name will be her future. Forever living in someone else’s clothes but wishing she could live in someone else’s body. Chips and sodas add pounds to her misery, layering one hurt upon another. And He says, “You are beautiful to me.”...
october 2009
Medicine - Thank You for Your healing word. You send it forth from Your holy lips to my heart. Help me take it in. To open up my mouth, breathe and swallow Your prescription for me. Let it go down deep, seeping into the very marrow of my bones. Heal me. Heal my wounds of long ago and the fresh injuries of today. Your word is medicine to me. Sometimes it goes down sweet...
Throne - Awesome, Powerful, Almighty, Everlasting God:
How do I approach Your throne? You who sit surrounded by an emerald rainbow so magnificent, my far-flung imagination cannot even begin to capture the image. Lightning and peals of thunder exploding in seismic quakes, colors I’ve yet to discover radiating with indescribable brilliance flowing from Your majestic throne...
Legacy - I praise You and thank You for the myriad of people You have brought along my path who have shown me Jesus. You blessed me with a godly grandmother who held to the faith. What I remember of her was her steadfastness and I remember the twinkle in her eyes when she mentioned Your name...
Choices - As my eyes open this morning in my still darkened bedroom, I am presented with choices. Your outstretched hand offers life and the world’s close-fisted hand offers curses. It would seem obvious that I would be a fool not to choose Your hand of life...
november 2009
Porch Light - Last weekend You taught me another life lesson. I went on a weekend ‘get-away’ but then I began to wonder just what it was that I was getting away from. Did I simply need a break or was I running from something? There was just this nagging deep in my bones that would not leave me alone. Couldn’t laugh it away, although I tried...
Veterans - This is the day we honor veterans and rightly we should. There is a generation that is dying away and they carry with them the battle scars and heroic stars of something so few of us will ever know. They have known what it is to look fear in the eye and fight til the bloody end for freedom...
Symphony - Life can be a symphony and if it is then you are the Maestro. You arrange us and give us the music to play. You tell us when to come in and when to fade out. All the pieces are written and composed by your hand. Sometimes I have to sit next to a cello and the melancholic notes almost take me under. Then you sit me next...
Thanksgiving - Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving holiday. We will take off from work, eat food, watch football, plan to shop, laugh, maybe take a nap or read and call it a day. But that is not thanksgiving at all. Oh we say ‘God bless this and God bless that and thank you for our food’ but that is so far removed from what true thanksgiving is about...
december 2009
Busy - Whew! Halfway through a marathon week! Much accomplished and so much still left to do. Rushing to finish end of year deadlines, attending the 'need-to' and 'want-to' celebrations, and business travel still ahead before the weekend begins leaves few spare moments...
Newborn - Today is Christmas. Oh I know it is only December 9th but in the darkness of this pre-dawn morning my heart crept into a distant stable and I saw a newborn King. No one had to tell me to ‘shhh’… there was just an overwhelming hush eclipsing my soul as I approached His manger throne of sticks, stone, and straw. There was no loud, celebratory music
...
Voice - What was it like when your Son drew in that first gulp of air into newborn lungs? Did all of heaven explode with applause and songs? The Word of heaven had been silent for nine months. No voice or sound from the Lord as He lay hidden within the body of a woman. I wonder what His last words were before He laid aside all glory and splendor and humbled Himself into a human embryo...
Anticipation - The cards have been sent, the gifts wrapped, the food bought and now we wait. Little children can hardly stand the anticipation. They jump up and down with eyes big as saucers as they long for the moment when they will open presents. There is delight in the poised, hopeful, anticipation of the fulfillment of something longed for...
Ballerina - We’ve come to the end of another year. Looking back I see a dance floor that has had the varnish worn off in places and the dust barely touched in other spots. So what has it been all about? Maybe I am becoming your ballerina. I have reached on my tiptoes for more of Jesus. Lifted my arms high in the air and strained for all I could get...
January 2010
Comfort - Sorrow can come so suddenly and knock our feet right out from under us. It came this morning like an earthquake shaking us out of our warm, cozy beds of satiety. A friend, teacher, mentor, husband, father, grandpa is gone before we can rub the sleep from our eyes. We are startled, bewildered, empty, aching. We are not ready to let go...
Letter - A letter from Christ… I never imagined that I might be a letter from Him. That is a jaw dropping thought to me. What kind of letter have I been? There were many times that this letter probably looked more like a bill to my family, friends and church; “You owe me” for serving...
Nuts - I have an oak tree on my front lawn and You have shown me a thing or two with that tree. My oak tree didn’t suddenly appear. It started out as an acorn attached to a branch. Somewhere and sometime ago, a wind caused that little acorn to fall to the ground. No longer was it hanging with its buddies. It had fallen from its perch and now lay all alone on the cold ground. It wanted to be back on the limb, but that meant the impending possibility of becoming squirrel food and You had much bigger plans for this little nut....
Thirst - I can feel the intense, deliberate, almost guttural cry of the Psalmist as he cries out to You. How I love the truth that since You are my God I can do the same because I belong to You. This morning I awoke to a longing for more. More of Jesus...
February 2010
Cinderella - I love it! Right there in the middle of scripture is a Cinderella story if ever I saw one! And the best part is that Walt Disney did not write it, you did. This is not a once-upon-a-time, make-believe fairytale in a magic kingdom with a fairy godmother. Rather it is about God who is my Father, a real Prince of Peace and a true kingdom...
Valentine - On this Valentine’s Day I am struck by the timeliness of this scripture. In this present day I know may lives that have been devastated and ruined by the hater of our souls who will do anything to keep us from believing your love. Our enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy and he is a pro, after all he has been at it for a long time. But you dear Jesus, come to give us life – abundant life...
Closet - Last week I walked into my closet, looked at my handiwork of new shelves and drawers and admired my homemade ingenuity. Organized. Everything in place, clutter gone, I had mastered the closet! But dear Lord, you and I both know about the secret motive behind that mission. There is more to the story than tidiness and neatness. The ultimate player in this scenario was a heart that stood with hands on hips and said, “I will be the boss!”...
Vision - Be thou my vision. I heard that song this morning and it has been rolling around in my head all day. When I was very young my eyes crossed and I remember having to wear a patch over the strong eye to try and strengthen my weak eye. I hated wearing that patch. It was hard for me to see and I did not like being teased by other children. Every chance I got I removed it so I am not sure if it did much to help my vision...
March 2010
Cross - How can I ever begin to really comprehend the horror and magnificence of the cross? The excruciating, heart-breaking agony that my Lord felt in the Garden went unnoticed by me as I slept along with the disciples. I too, have wildly run into the darkness fearful of association with Him. The spit that dripped from our Savior’s face contained my sin DNA. ...
Redeemed - New day, new hope, new life – Spring! This is the time of year that
we celebrate our redemption. I always want to know more about what You
did for me on the cross. I have read books and watched movies that try to
depict the costly transaction You made for me. But this year You gave me
a front row seat to a real life redemption story....
Easter Dress - This past week I went shopping for an Easter dress and discovered
I already had one. It was bought and paid for about 2000 years ago.
Jesus purchased my Easter dress while His own clothes were being torn
and gambled over....
He is - I am sitting here imagining what it must have been like for Mary as the lifeless body of Jesus was lowered from the cross. Surely her face was streaked with tears and His blood. Grief cuts deep crevices in the face and heart. I wonder what went through her mind between the throbbing pulses of an overloaded heart. She holds a bloody, limp body and thinks back to a day when she held a tiny, wiggling baby. “What went wrong?...
Courtroom - I sat in a courtroom awhile back as an observer. Of course I had a
personal vested interest in being there but I also learned a lot about the
judicial system of our land. I watched as one after another defendant
approached the judge with lawyers by their side and the district attorneys
fumbling through piles and piles of paperwork. I saw...
April 2010
Spring - I love spring! There is something so hopeful about this time of year. The freshness of just-opened buds and blooms bring energy and expectation to weary souls. Life pulsates from all directions. Your creativity is beyond the scope of any reasoning. I can read science books on how clouds form and the reflections and refractions that give color to the skies, I can read about chlorophyll giving plant life their hues, and I can read medical journals on the growth and development of tiny embryos but none of these answer the question of ‘why?’ How does not tell me why...
Nightwatch - Sometimes I fall into bed so exhausted I don’t remember hitting the pillow much less anything else. Other times I lie away for hours tossing and turning, looking at the clock, tossing and turning and growing more frustrated by the minute. Then there are times I crawl into bed and just want to wallow in the security of Your love...
Stillborn - I come to You to celebrate the life of this precious baby girl; a gift
from You that did not stay long enough. How my heart longs to hold her, to
know her, to watch her grow. But Father how tender Your heart is toward
me. For You have reminded me that the very first face she saw was Your
very own....
May 2010
New Babies - My heart quietly gives thanks to You. I would shout but a whisper
of a whimper is all that will come out. All of the sound is bottled up in my
throat like a cork. That is what extreme awe does to me. Just leaves me
speechless....
Frog Wine - The blaring radio alarm jolted me from a deep sleep. Slapping the annoying electronic device wildly in the dark while trying to work free from the entanglement of bedding must have looked like an octopus escaping a fishing net. Finally, quietness was restored and I snuggled back for a few more winks before starting my day...
Graduate - Wise old King Solomon said there was a time for everything and now
a time for release has come. To release the child who has held our hearts
and hands for these past 18 years. What a privilege to have watched you
grow! Who can fathom when a newborn is first held what he will become?...
JUN 2010
Clinging - I enjoy reading books and listening to talk radio, well of the spiritual
kind that is. Throughout the day, usually commuting somewhere, I get a
chance to hear many different authors and speakers. I often gather
tremendous insight and then find myself the very next hour or channel
rolling my eyeballs at some outlandish stuff filling the airwaves...
Oil Slick - I am sickened by the oil slick that is threatening my sweet home Alabama. I see images coming via the news of the globs of contamination washing up on shores with miles more still to come. The eastern gulf coast is home to some of the whitest, most beautiful beaches in the world and at times the white sand is almost blinding as the southern sun reflects off of it...
Fear of the Lord - You taught us that true wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. That is
something I don’t hear a lot about these days. Not many want to talk about
fearing the Lord with absolute awe encased in highest respect and honor. Nope.
We want to talk about You being our best friend and buddy. In our casualness
we saddle up next to You like neighbor Joe and hand Gou a glass of tea and say
“how’s it going Lord?”...
Authentic - You taught me something marvelous from a handbag. Recently I was
offered something that looked too good to be true. And it was. I had an
opportunity to buy a very expensive designer handbag for a fraction of the regular
cost. At first I was very excited about this treasure find...
July 2010
Construction - Yesterday You gave me another illustration of Your ways. Road construction has dominated this metroplex and seems like every day there is a new detour to take. It causes me to pay attention when I head out to work bleary-eyed in the early mornings. I watch the orange and white barrels guide a string of headlights into new directions....
Tell It! - Those ancient words spoken by the prophet Isaiah and then fulfilled
by our Lord Jesus Christ continue in a fashion of sort through me and
countless other pilgrims throughout the ages. Your Spirit is on me and in
fact within me. Powerful thought – powerful truth!...
Mountains - Thank you for a wonderful time away. You restored my soul and I praise
You. I am amazed at the diversity of this land that we call America. The plains
seem to stretch forever. The winds blow at will with nothing to slow them down
and I wonder if there are any life forms over the next horizon....
