A Life of Gratitude

Every Friday morning I take my kids to my mom's house so I can spend the day at the Not Forgotten Ministries' office. Allison typically packs a couple of bags of toys to bring along. This morning, as we were driving, there was a consistent murmuring from one of the toys in her bag. As a mom of four, I have learned to tune out most of the toy noises, so I barely noticed the sound creeping from the bag. Several minutes into the drive Allison said, "Mom, just ignore Olaf. He doesn't know when to be quiet." I laughed and agreed with her; but her comment drew my attention to what Olaf was saying. Mostly he repeats the same couple of phrases like, "Hi! You look beautiful," and something about a cute unicorn. There's also some incomprehensible gibberish, as well as various giggles. While we waited at a a drive-thru for coffee, I looked over at Olaf. It felt as if that goofy stuffed animal was looking straight at me. Then he said, "You're stronger ...

I've never cared much about gardening but for some reason, since we moved into our new home, I've really enjoyed working in the yard. God has been using the plants and weeds to teach me so many things. This weekend as I was looking at one of our rose bushes, I kept thinking about how beautiful it had been a month ago, and I was sadden by how ugly, messy, and unkempt it looked now. I also noticed how many old dead flowers were hanging on it.  As I looked at all those old fading petals and brown buds, I heard God say, "Dead things are heavy." I thought about that for a moment and then decided to trim away the old dead stuff.  Some of the buds still had color, so from a distance they were masquerading as healthy roses. Others were brown and dried up but remained attached to the branch. Some of the branches had no buds at all but were laying on the ground because the dead buds around it were too heavy. There had been other plants near the rose bush that had been unabl...

As I was reading the Bible today, I came across Isaiah 48:18, which says,  " If only you had paid attention to My commands.  Then your peace would have been like a river, a nd your righteousness like the waves of the sea."  I could help but wonder, what does God mean by peace like a river? So I started asking myself, what are the characteristics of a river? What words do not describe a river?  Rivers are a flowing body of water, usually with a quick moving, loud current. They can be wide and deep at times but also have places that are shallow and easy to walk through. Rivers lead somewhere, typically to a larger body of water, like an ocean or lake. Creeks, streams, and tributaries continuously flow into rivers. Rivers often contain waterfalls and are full of life including many species of fish, crocidiles, turtles, ducks, otters, etc. Rivers are vibrant and even exciting, at times. I think when most people consider God's peace, they probably envision something more ...

Does gratitude ever leak from your eyes and roll down your cheeks? It happened to me yesterday. It was Mother's Day, which is wonderful for so many reasons but also causes a bit of a sting for me, as it does for so many others. I have two children in Heaven, one that I miscarried in 2007 and one that I aborted in 1999. My heart aches at the thought of never being able to celebrate special days with my babies in Heaven. At church we sang "God, I look to You." The first verse of that song says, "Give me vision to see things like You do." As I sang those words, the Holy Spirit gave me the most precious vision. He showed me my babies, peeking through the clouds. It was as if they were getting as close as they could to me, even though I couldn't see them. It's hard to explain the emotions that filled my heart and mind but it was something I couldn't contain. The tears streamed down my cheeks continuously. I wasn't sad. I was so full of gratitude for t...

 Yesterday I was overwhelmed by all the things running through my mind. As I prayed about it all, I felt the Lord say, "Put it on paper." So, I did. I don't usually share my drawings because it's something I've only recently started doing and I'm not confident in my abilities yet. However, I felt led to share this one because as I looked at it, I thought about all the other mothers out there that might relate. Each of the words written on that paper are things I thought about or dealt with yesterday. Some of the things are minor while others are huge. I was able to mark some of them off of my to-do list while I didn't get to others. Some of it was planning for what needs to be done and some of it was worrying over constant struggles. Regardless, all of this stuff, and probably more that I forgot about, was swirling through my mind during the hours I was awake.  When I took a good look at the chaotic collage of stuff I deal with on a day-to-day basis I thou...

On Monday I flew to Mississippi to meet a group of women with whom I share something in common with. I've only met one of them in person previously but because of the healing we've all recieved after abortion, God connected all of us in such a beautiful way. After spending Monday evening praying and worshipping, we marched together to the Pink House in Jacksonville, Mississippi on Tuesday morning. This is the nickname for Jacksonville's Women's Health Organization, which is the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. This is also the clinic that started the Dobbs v. Jackson case that could potentially bring an end to Roe v. Wade. It's our prayer that a decision regarding this case will be announced in the next couple of months. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the Pink House will be shut down. God has been giving me, and others, a vision of an army of post-abortive women rising up, to expose the truth about abortion and help women find healing and/or make a choice they wo...

I walked into the Infusion Center this morning, just like I do every 6-8 weeks for infusion therapy, when I noticed a beautiful Willow Tree figurine on the receptionist's desk. This particular "angel" stood out to me because I recently purchased the same one as a gift for several dear friends. It represents "Bringing a triumpant spirit, inspiration, and courage." I pointed out the figurine to the receptionst and asked, "That one is a symbol for courage, correct?" She looked at me and said, "Yes, it is, and I desperately need courage today." As soon as our eyes met, I felt God say, "Pray for her." She began telling me that her father-in-law just passed away last week, her mother has been battling stage 4 cancer, and her step-dad was just diagnosed with cancer as well. I asked if I could pray for her and with tears in her eyes she accepted my offer. As I prayed, she wept.  She thanked me repeatedly for praying and then said, "Tod...