A Life of Gratitude

A couple of weeks ago HopeCity shared part of my story via video during both services. The following day the video was shared on social media and has since been watched over 4,000 times. If you haven't seen it, here's the link: https://youtu.be/AD4lqQFSVCA It feels a little odd to know so many people have heard my story. At one time, not too long ago, I shuddered at the idea of even one person finding out. Now, somehow, I want to share my story. I want other people who have been covered in shame to be aware of the freedom that Christ has lavished on me.  Last night I went to the Red Carpet Premier of the movie UNPlanned. This is a movie that everyone needs to see. It is very graphic and hard to watch at times but it's powerful. No one who sees it can say they don't know the truth about abortion. No one can watch it and not be appalled by the 1 million abortions that happen every year in the United States. UNPlanned had a deep effect on me. I had never a

Last week a letter arrived in the mail that surprised me. With Bryan's recent job change, we've been getting lots of paperwork about new benefit information. I never expected one of those envelopes to contain a letter from a life insurance agency saying DENIED.  I laughed at the letter when it arrived but as the week went on, I couldn't stop thinking about it. What 36-year-old woman isn't eligible for life insurance?  Ankylosing Spondylitis is a rare autoimmune disorder that wreaks havoc on the body and is very, very serious but, it never crossed my mind that it would cause me to be considered unworthy of receiving life insurance.  Being told that your life isn't worth insuring will play games with your mind! It will cause questions to flood your mind. Some anger, depression, and fear come right along with those questions. This is one of those times where I have to choose to not to believe what the world says about me. Instead, I have to embrace wh

This fella really scared me last night. If you know Evan, you know he doesn't lay around much and never asks to go to the doctor. Yesterday, he did both. After eating dinner we went to cub scouts and while all the kids were playing on the playground, Evan was laying on the bench. His leader came to tell me that he wasn't feeling well and as soon as Evan saw me he asked if we could go home. Having one kid in cub scouts and another in boy scouts makes Monday nights tricky for us so Bryan came to get Evan and I stayed with Dylan at boy scouts. About 10 minutes later, Bryan called and said Evan was having an allergic reaction of some kind. His ears, eyes, nose, hands, and around his mouth were deep, dark red. He had hives all over his belly and arms. And it was getting worse right before Bryan's eyes. Bryan gave him Benadryl and I rushed home. I picked up Evan, and took him to the emergency room. He was scared and so was I but we prayed together and we knew many others

Do you believe that gratitude is a choice? Sometimes we feel gratitude swell up inside our hearts involuntarily but other times, if want to be a grateful person, we must choose to be. Choosing to be grateful means actively searching for things in our lives that we can be thankful for. Its easier said than done sometimes because life is just plain hard. So why not “fake it till you make it?” That seems ridiculous in some ways but honestly, choosing to be grateful, even when there doesn’t seem to be much worthy of thankfulness, is faking it to some degree. Seeking out those reasons to give thanks and then verbalizing those things will change things for us. As we continue to do so, gratitude will naturally become a part of our daily lives. Choosing to give thanks, finding reasons to be grateful, and sharing our grateful hearts with others will cause fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, worry, and hopelessness to flee. Those things will be replaced, at least for a moment, with joy, love, a

 This afternoon our oldest son crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts! This is a big accomplishment for someone 10 years old! Dylan began Cub Scouts in the first grade. If there was ever a cub scout that enjoyed being a scout, its Dylan! He has taken each assignment and each rank very seriously. I'm not kidding, this has been a big deal for him! He is super excited about becoming a Boy Scout. I can't wait to watch him work toward becoming an Eagle Scout, which is one of his personal goals. Dylan is so happy to have earned his arrow of light! Dylan made the arrow and created this special memento as a keepsake of his time in cub scouts. I'm so proud of this fella! Evan also earned this Wolf rank today! This group of boys has been together for 5 years! All scouts of Pack 16 that earn their arrow of light place their handprints on the teepee. When they earn their Eagle Scout, they come back and sign it again! Oh well.....another fa