Songs of Summer

Psalm 27:14 (NIV)   Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. When I want something, I want it quickly.  It’s why I love Amazon Prime. I find what I want, make a few clicks, and it’s delivered to my front porch within a few days.    My husband thinks it’s too quick and easy and a look into our pantry could prove him right. But despite the veggie spiralizer and some other unused items cluttering our shelves, I love this amazing service. But waiting for the things we really long for often takes much longer,  like when we are praying for our circumstances to change.  Sometimes the waiting hurts and leaves us questioning why.   Exodus 23 is a reminder that God’s ways and timing are better than our own.  God told Israel he would help them take back the land he had promised by sending His great power before them to force their enemies away.  He explained that this would happen slowly because  it was nece...

I shouldn’t be getting ready for a first date when I am 38.   I should be settled down instead of getting ready to meet someone brand new. These are my thoughts as I walk around picking up this and that, and worrying what impression this place might be making. Then I hurry back to the mirror again to see if my outfit and hair look right.  I get as close to the mirror as I can searching for gray hairs, another sign that I am way too old for a first date.   Suddenly, it hits me that this guy doesn’t want to go on this date, but he was too nice to say so.  My coworker, who set us up, is a mom of one of his basketball players and he was probably just too nice to tell her no. I start to feel bad for the guy for having to go through with it. Now I see why he suggested our date for a Tuesday night.  He said his weekends were pretty busy, but I bet he didn’t want to waste a weekend night on a mercy date.   Should I let him off the hook by texting hi...

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (ESV) “My way, my way! Get outta my way! ” my toddler says as she squeezes her way behind me on the couch.   “Say excuse me,” I remind her. “‘’Scoo me,” she says as she continues to push her way through, and the limits of my patience. Being a mom to a toddler is harder than I remember. I’ve been through these years with my older kids, but I thought this time would be a breeze with the experience of being an older mom.  However, her temperament is a  little more turbulent than breezy. My husband and I aren’t sure what will work best for her.  I think she needs limits and consequences and discussed the possibility of time-outs.  He didn’t like my idea and backed up his thoughts with an article explaining how punishment can be harmful to toddlers.   His parenting...

I was 39 when my husband and I got married, but I still firmly believed in living “happily ever after”.  I thought marrying the right guy could make this happen, but it didn’t take long before I learned our marriage would be full of ups and downs.  Adjusting to each others habits and ways of doing life was hard and to add to that, my husband had to adjust to living with my two teenagers.   In our four years of married life, we have had great days mixed together with tough days.  We have had fun times when we feel silly and happy and other days when we’ve felt frustrated and annoyed with each other.  We have great talks and then times when neither of us can communicates what is bothering us. There have been days when he is concerned about low corn price while I am nagging him about remodeling the kitchen. Then I take it personally when he seems irritated or is in a bad mood.  It bothers me when he is quiet and withdrawn.  This has happened more as ...

“ The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:33 Do you ever make things harder than they need to be?  Way back when I was finishing college, my student teaching supervisor told me I do this.  She tried to soften her comment by adding that my teaching would become easier and more streamlined with time. There was no doubt leading a classroom was hard, but I couldn’t pinpoint how I was making it harder.  Thankfully, I did start to see some ways I did this and learned from my mistakes. For example,  I discovered it’s not a good idea to begin an art project to hang in the hallway on the afternoon of parent teacher conferences because of the stress and frustration it created when I tried! Unfortunately, I can make things harder on myself in other areas of my life too.  Because of this tendency, I am really appreciative when I look back and see how God has lined things up to make things work out for the be...

Romans 15:13 (CEB)-May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. You know how you start thinking about something and then see the topic everywhere?   Hope has been that recurring theme for me lately. It started a few weeks ago when I got a text while doing the dishes. I heard my phone ding, but I finished the dishes before I checked it.  The quiet afternoon allowed time to daydream and my mind wandered to what would be the best text I could hope for. When nothing came to my mind right away, I realized I don’t often live with hopeful expectation that something good could happen.  After washing a few more dishes, I came up with a few things I am hoping for in my life. Later on, I wrote down a few of these hopes.  I think hopes are often ideas that God has put in our hearts.   Martin Luther said, “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” The life I live n...