What Girls Get Wrong

Some days are a breeze. Others are hard. Like today. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now ("Yeah yeah, Christy, join the club." I know, you all have a lot going on, too). And honestly, sometimes I get drained from it all. Like today. I came home late from work with a bad headache and a bunch of things to get done, only to have some unexpected things pop up. My to-do-list won't be finished today. Days like this, when seemingly nothing goes my way (I admit, hyperbole, but hey, that's what it feels like), I can feel like a failure. Like somehow I messed up this whole life thing (yep, cue drama queen). On those days, and honestly every day, there's a list of things that I need to remember:  1. God loves me. " But God demonstrates His own love toward us,  in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  ~ Romans 5:8 NKJV Isn't it amazing, that our God loved us so much, He was willing to die for us? And He pa...

Let's talk about someone you've probably heard a lot about. Peter, the apostle, the guy who was ready to chop off an ear for Christ (sorry, van Gogh, guess you didn't think of it first), and then a few hours later was swearing he'd never heard of the Man. Pastors preach a lot about Peter. There's a lot of life lessons we all get to learn from Peter's failures. I feel like he has the greatest number of embarrassing stories told about him in the Bible. Then again, he didn't kill anyone or sleep with anybody who wasn't his wife, so maybe he doesn't quite have that position all by himself. But we hear a lot about him. We hear a lot about his lack of faith. Like that time Jesus walked on the water, and when He came aside their boat, the disciples were all afraid. Then Peter, gathering courage, asks to be allowed to come to Jesus on the water. Jesus lets him come, but Peter sees the waves... We know the rest of the story. His heart quakes wi...

Today found me very not in the Christmas spirit. Usually, I'm a last minute shopper. There's two reasons for this. First, I usually forget I have shopping to do until a few days before (don't ask me how, I don't know why I can remember random stuff like how many tablespoons equal a cup* but I forget all about getting presents for Christmas). Second, I spend a long time actually picking out what to give someone. Needless to say, this combination means I'm usually grabbing gifts two days before Christmas. This year, though, I finished my shopping a week ago Monday. I went to the mall yesterday, but it was just to hang out with a friend (and there was one more thing I was thinking about getting for my mom). All I had to do was wait for the rest of the presents to arrive in the mail... Until today. All of my gifts came by Monday except one. I wasn't too worried, because that one said it'd be delivered by today. Sure, it'd be a bit of an inconvienie...

" Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them."  ~ Hebrews 13:7-9 NKJV   I recently watched a documentary about three people who escaped from cults. Yeah, I can be a nerd, but that's another story. These people, a young man and two women, had horrible things done to them, all in the name of "truth." They were abused, raped, convinced to mistreat their family members, persuaded to abandon their families... All because of a horrible lie. Today, we’re too quick to trust. You’ve probably seen and heard the liars on T.V., those men and women who convince people that Jesus is some sort of magic genie rea...

Sometimes, you feel as if you've got nothing more to give. I stared at the screen for a good ten minutes, trying to figure out something, anything to write about. Sometimes it's easy to write something. Sometimes I get an idea that practically writes itself. And sometimes I have to drag the idea out, inch by painful inch. All-in-all, it's not easy a good chunk of the time. A lot of things aren't easy. Being a Christian isn't easy. Taking a stand for what God has taught you, taking a stand against what you know in your heart and from God's Holy Word is wrong, is not easy. Serving God with your all by completing your assignments or grading papers when you rather go eat chocolate chip cookies and watch reruns of Once Upon a Time is not easy. And sometimes (at least I do), we feel completely drained from it. Like we can't go on. Like we have no idea what comes next. What step we should take...what project needs to be finished...how to finish...

It's almost Thanksgiving here in the U.S.A., and while I don't want to do some cheesy post to tie in with it (I think giving thanks is something we should talk about all year long), I did just want to say that I'm thankful for all of you. I'm thankful that you take the time to read my musings. I'm thankful that you ask questions. I'm thankful when you point out something you disagree with (let's face it, I'm no where near perfect). Some of you I know personally. Some of you I don't know very well. Some of you are my closest friends. Some of you I've never met. But if we had a few minutes, where we could sit and talk together, before we left, there's a few things I'd want you to know. That I pray you realize through the craziness of the season ahead of us, and all year long. So as we rush into Thanksgiving, and into Christmas, please...remember... You are a beautiful woman. Your worth isn't in what you wear. What you lo...

" The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?" ~ Psalm 27:1 NKJV  It's easy to fear. Satan likes to tell us that God doesn't care, or that He doesn't know what He is doing, or that He's not able to help us. But, if God is our salvation, if He is our strength, who do we have to fear?  We know God is all-powerful , all-knowing , everywhere at once , loving , gracious , merciful , righteous , just , willing and desiring to cleanse us and heal us and make us more like Christ... Do you know anyone or anything that can compete with that? I don't. So if nothing and no one can hold a candle to our loving Father and Holy Savior, who is there for us to fear? Nothing. No one.