Blessings and Peace,
Sara

As a mother, I often worry about my children.  My boys are 3 and 5; very active, very curious, very “creative”.  Some days I feel like I’m doing an okay job as a parent.  And then, there are the other days.  Lately, my 3 year old has been testing the limits of acceptability with his behavior.  Determined and defiant he must always do anything in the most difficult and challenging way possible following the path he has made rather than the path my husband and I would lay down for him.  The disciplinary measures that worked well with our 5 year old don’t even cause my 3 year old to bat an eye.  We often joke that he will be lucky if we let him make it to age 4.  I know that God has made him strong and willful for a reason and that his determination will serve him well for some task in the future, but right now, it just makes me crazy!!  PLEASE Moms, tell me I’m not the only one!!!

I wonder, as I sit here telling my 3 year old to leave the new puppy alone for the umpteenth time this morning, if God himself doesn’t have days where he just wants to throw his hands up with his stubbornly disobedient and rebellious children.  And why doesn’t he?  He’s the creator and source of all life.  He could just wipe us all out and start over again.  Likewise, I could place my 3 year old out on the lawn with a sign that says, “Free to a good home.”  Believe me, I’ve been sorely tempted!!  But the truth is, for all of his challenging behavior, for all of his orneriness and “wildness”, I love the little imp more than myself.  Because just as he is about to drive me over the edge he does something sweet and wonderful and beautiful that reminds me what a precious gift I have been given.

And, believe it or not, God thinks that you and I are his precious gifts as well.  He created us and loves us and wants us to love him.  He doesn’t care how much money we make or how together we have it or how many times we screw things up or how many messes he has to clean up.  He just loves us and longs for us and wants to bless our lives.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

I was drawn to my husband the first time I saw him.  Really, it’s the truth.  I don’t know what it was, but I remember meeting him my first few days at seminary and thinking, “There’s a guy I want to get to know better.”  I was 26 years old when I met Chris and had never had a real “boyfriend”.  Trust me, it wasn’t for lack of trying!!  But I had finally come to the conclusion that God was protecting my heart for someone special and when I first saw Chris my heart was drawn his way.

Of course, he had no clue.  I suppose a “normal” girl would have actually talked to him and initiated some sort of friendly relationship.  I, being a big chicken, chose the more subtle approach of “friendly stalking.”  Our apartment complex was in the shape of a horseshoe, with Chris’ apartment directly across the lawn from mine.  He always had his shades open, so I used my powers of observation and quickly learned his schedule.  I enlisted the help of friends who had classes with him to strike up conversations and get to know him better on my behalf.  I would walk those friends to and from classes to “bump into him”.  I threw parties and invited him over but could never work up the nerve to actually talk to him.  This went on for several months.  Finally, somehow, we started talking.  A week before Valentine’s Day we decided to go see a movie together.  We followed the movie with some drinks and he walked me back to the entrance of my building before sprinting off to the warmth of his own apartment.  The next week, Valentine’s Day, we made plans to go to an old movie theater in Wrigleyville to watch Casablanca with another couple.  A double-date.  Except, only 1/2 of the other couple made it to the show.  Our double date had turned into a girls night out.  And thus began the three month long saga of “Are we actually dating, or are we just friends?”

Finally, in May, after three months of hanging out and being good buds, Chris took the initiative and threw his arm around me during a movie.  From that moment on, we were a couple.  Seven months later, on Christmas Eve, Chris proposed.  Eight months after that we were married.  It’s been seven years since we said “I do”.  We have moved three times and brought two rowdy boys into this world.  Our marriage, as any other, has had its share of ups and downs.  But even in the down moments, I think about the way my heart was drawn to Chris that day nine years ago and I know that God was saving my heart for him.  And I thank God for that gift every day.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Posting about love today @ Seeds of Faith.  It’s an old post, but it still rings true for me.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Last week I was driving through the town where I was raised.  I took a detour and drove by my childhood home.  It is remarkable how much it looks the same, even down to the screen door.  I found myself wanting to pull over and walk inside.  In my mind, I saw myself pulling open the aluminum screen door and entering back into the world of my childhood; my personal Eden.  There would be the gold carpet on which I laid and colored pictures while listening to the cling of pots and pans in the kitchen and the distant voices of the announcers on the t.v. in the family room where my father watched football.  There would be our dining room chairs which my sister and I so often pulled into the living room and draped with blankets to make a tent.  And my room would still be painted a vivid pink, my bed adorned with quilts my grandmothers and great grandmothers had made; my personal sanctuary from the rest of the world.

And yet, the reality is that if I did indeed re-enter my childhood home I would find all of those things to be gone.  The carpet would be replaced with hardwood, the table would be that of someone else and my room would most certainly have not retained it’s Pepto Bismal state.

It’s hard for me to accept the truth that life is in constant change.  And it’s hard for me to understand at times that change is a vital and necessary part of our existence.  If I had my way, things would always remain at the moment of my deepest contentment.  My oldest would always stay 5 and not leave for kindergarten next year.  My youngest would always shower me with hugs and kisses and say 100 times a day, “Mommy, I wuv you.”  But if change never happened, we would never grow.  God, who never changes, uses change in our lives to move us closer to him.  I love this quote from author Mary Redding,  

“The road by which we travel toward God’s future for us is rarely a straight one.  Twists and turns, detours and rest stops are natural parts of the journey.” (Upper Room, Jan/Feb 2012)

In order to get to the places God wants us to be we have to be willing to change and grow.  More importantly, we have to accept and even embrace the changes life brings to us.  Sometimes those changes can be incredibly painful and seem impossibly unfair.  But we have this promise from God, that in ALL THINGS God works for the GOOD of those who love him!! (Romans 8:28)  I’m including a video of one of my favorite songs, Susan Ashton’s “You Move Me”. 

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

This video was created by a man named Jefferson Bethke and is entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”.  In only 2 weeks this clip has received over 17 MILLION hits!!  You might not agree with everything he has to say, but there’s something here that resonates with many.  I think his point is valid.  I’d love to know what you think.  Linking up with Michelle today at Graceful.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

My husband has been doing a message series entitled I Believe in God But….  This past Sunday the focus was on the feeling of not being good enough for God.  As human beings, we all have a past.  We all have moments in our lives we are not proud of, things we have done that have pulled us away from God rather than drawing us nearer.  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  If God were human he would be sorely disappointed.  And yet we know that God is not human.  God created all things and is above all things.  All nations and principalities will one day bow down to him.  He sits enthroned on High.  Nothing can shake his foundations.  And, nothing can take away his great love for us.

Jesus Christ himself is interceding on our behalf to God the Father!!  It is the reason he came into this world–the reason he suffered and died–the reason he rose from the dead.  God LOVES us!!  God WANTS us!!  God REDEEMS us, including our “pasts”.  God doesn’t care who we were, he cares about who we will become in him.  He has a plan for our future that he is focused on.  Jesus wiped our pasts away; they have been flung into the depths of the sea.  God doesn’t dwell on them, why should we?


This is a great video from Tony Campolo addressing this very issue.  He gives a great analogy of what happens to our “past”.  I’m linking up with Michelle at Graceful today!

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Today I’m excited to introduce you to my new friend, Heather.  Heather is a wife, mother to a beautiful 6 year old girl and a 6 year cancer survivor.  Heather’s remarkable journey and faith serve as a reminder to me that you can never take life for granted, that each day is a gift, and that being a victor means never giving up–even when all the odds are stacked against you.  I’ve asked Heather to share her story here.  I am also putting up a link to Heather’s blog so that you might continue to be inspired by her testimony.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

My entire life, I’ve been an optimist. In my opinion, as long as you are alive the glass is half full. It is this personality trait that has often inspired others to tell me that I see the world through rose colored glasses. I’ve never disagreed. At the age of 36, I was having the best year of my life. It was 2005 and it was the 21st of November; almost Thanksgiving. That was the year the holiday’s had an even deeper meaning for me than they had in the past; I was a first time mommy to a brand new baby girl who was only three and a half months old.

Yesterday, in worship, I was reminded once again of the central role gratitude plays in our walk of faith.  A wonderful, vibrant, faith-filled woman of our congregation gave the message and spoke of her father’s terminal illness and subsequent passing.  Through all of the devastation of the illness and the grief in his passing, she never gave up her faith, but rather, used her faith to see her through this most difficult time.  She prayed for God’s strength, for his comfort, for his presence and received all of those gifts and more.  It wasn’t easy, and she acknowledged that it was a long time before she felt real joy again, but even in the midst of despair she felt God’s presence with her.

In the 4th chapter of the book of Philippians Paul writes:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (4-7)

Whenever tragedy strikes our lives, when the road seems to be all uphill and we just want a flat stretch of land to run it is tempting to turn our hearts away from God.  How can we be grateful for lives that are at times so full of pain and suffering and anxiety and the unknown?  How can we be grateful when our hearts are broken, when our spirits are shattered, when our souls are downcast within us?

Something that struck me in our speaker’s story yesterday was a conversation she recalled with her father in which her father, shortly after his diagnosis, pondered the question that is so paramount when tragedy strikes: “Dear God, why me?”  In looking over his life and all that he had experienced, all the joy he had received, his response was not why me but, “Why not me?”  If we think we, as Christians, will live pain-free lives of holy bliss then we have not done much reading of the gospel.  Jesus himself said we would suffer.  We are not immune to the tragedies of life.

And yet, there is another promise to remember; the promise of peace.  Jesus tells us that bad things will happen, yet he also tells us (through Paul) that the Spirit will bring us peace in our times of darkness. We have David’s exhortation in the 23rd Psalm that, “even when I walk through the darkness of death, God will be with me.”  God will not abandon his people.  And that is precisely what we have to be thankful for.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara