Some Joy To Spare

mess·yˈmesē/ adjective 1.untidy or dirty. 2.(of a situation) confused and difficult to deal with. A friend of mine from church and I are working on a study together. Having both felt overwhelmed by the demands of being a wife, motherhood, ministry and professional obligations, we are working our way through Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life . Just as the name implies, it is a fantastic guide as we attempt to find time to sit at the feet of Jesus while still successfully managing our personal and professional lives. While stressing the importance of finding time to slow down and rest, the author does a masterful job of not neglecting our need to also have a heart for service. To further illustrate this point she draws our attention to John 13:1-17, wherein Jesus models servanthood in its purest form as he washed his disciples' feet and exhorts them to metaphorically do the same. The message is clear: we are t

The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino. - Joe Fox, You've Got Mail You've Got Mail, the 1998 classic rom -com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan is, perhaps, my favorite movie. One of my dear friends likes to give me grief claiming I say this about nearly every movie, and she has a point. I love movies. A lot. But, You've Got Mail holds a special place in my heart and, if it's not my favorite, it definitely makes my top three of all time. The quote above is from an email Tom's character, Joe, sends to Kathleen, brilliantly portrayed by Meg Ryan. As a person who struggles to make decisi

When I was a young wife and mom with two littles under the age of three I was still trying to figure out how to be a homemaker.  I grew up with the images of June Cleaver and Laura Petrie as my standards and my role models. Now, I know some women might look at these icons of 1950s and 1960s suburban Americana and feel less-than or see them serve as nagging reminders that not only did they fail to measure-up, indeed they fell far short of the lofty ideals of what a homemaker and wife should aspire to be. But, not me. Perhaps it is the romantic in me or my Pollyanna nature, but I saw, and still see, these women as lovely embodiments of all that is possible and yes, desirable, when it comes to fulfilling my role as keeper of my home. None of my household chores felt like mundane enslavement. Certainly, Erik never demanded that I stay home or keep the house and raise our girls in a certain manner. Never did I feel as though I had to have my husband’s laundry cleaned, pressed and re

In my head, I have an ongoing book project. Perhaps someday I will actually put pen to paper and scribe the thing, but for now, I just keep a mental list of chapters that will be included. I have chapters like Chocolate: Because You Can't Break-Up With Your Kids,  and How I Got Off the Crazy Train and Fed My Kids Frozen Waffles.  Or, how about I Love Jesus But I Really Like Old School Rap and Math Sucks & Junior High Is Legal Torture: Things I Was Told Were Untrue When I Was 12 That Turned Out To Be 100% Correct. Knowing I keep this brain file, the other day the hubs quipped, "I have a chapter for your book: Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Baking Bread ." I giggled and chalked it up to nothing more than his acknowledgment of our mutual affection of carbs and fat, i.e. bread and butter. I affectionately told him I would add it to the list. But then the idea started to marinate a bit and I realized he was spot on. He usually is, by the way. So, as I was mak

Got your attention? Thought I might. If you know me at all, or heck, even a little, you know every year I fall in love all over again with fall. I mean head over heels, pie-eyed, head in the clouds autumn adoration. Additionally, you've probably heard many people at our church, Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV), explain we love Halloween because it is the one day a year our neighbors actually come knock on our doors and want to hang out. It's an awesome opportunity! So, if this is my favorite season, and I've been pinning fall decor and Halloween recipes galore, and I welcome the chance to get to know my new neighbors, why in the heck would I turn off my lights, lock my door, forgo handing out candy and pretend like I'm not home? Well, in short, I won't actually be home. I'll be on my way to Barranquilla, Colombia. I am excited to announce that Erik and I will be heading to Colombia with a wonderful group of Missionaries from our church to not only