He was a mistake from the very beginning. Brought about by a wrong wind… A mistake, but he didn’t start out bad. He started out innocent, but different. Nobody starts out evil. He was just like all the other Whos in Whoville…he just looked a little different. An eight-year-old with a beard. An outcast. Nobody liked him. They couldn’t handle his differences. So he lived up to their expectations… …they expected him to be a freak. A weirdo. A loser.... Read more
Lilli held her freebie coloring book and box of 5 crayons she had gotten yesterday from the grocery store. “Do you want to color with me?” she asked. Of course I did. She opened to a double page that had not yet been colored. “This side is mine, this side is yours, Mommy.” Lilli shook the crayons from the box. There were only three. She chose the red, I chose orange, and we began coloring our respective sides. “It doesn’t... Read more
We bailed. The only place to go? Back to her parent’s house. We stayed 2 weeks until the pastor of the church we attended agreed for us to stay in the church basement if Mom would help clean the building. More hours to her week, but it meant safety. She took it. Months and several fights later, a divorce was finalized. Mom graduated from nurses training, now an RN. We were six, five and and almost four. As our new... Read more
To really understand my story, you need to know a little of Mom’s. Mom is the second of four kids: two girls, two boys. Her biological mother died of cancer when she was four, her sister was six, her brothers two and newborn. My grandfather, devastated to have the love of his life die and leave him with four young kids, freaked out. He sent the three youngest to live with their grandparents, four hours away and kept Mom’s sister... Read more
Continued from yesterday…. My fear was becoming a reality. My heart was in my throat. John 8:3-5 NCV says “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They forced her to stand before the people. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband. The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this….”” “I... Read more
This is a living story. Every time I tell this story, a new chapter is added. I will start with the first time I told it… Chapter 2 God Isn’t Finished (With Chapter 1 tucked inside.) My church was growing like crazy because the area around us was growing like crazy. Our new members were mostly church transfers who moved into one of the surrounding new subdivisions. While there is nothing wrong with that, our church was alive and real... Read more
I was raised in Bradenton, Florida, just south of Tampa and moved to Alabaster in 2002 to attend Birmingham Metro Master’s Commission (where Steve and I met). Steve and I have been married for 4 years. Growing up, I lived with my Mom and Dad and my sister Heather, who is 3 years older than me. Heather and I were good kids, always involved in extra curricular activities. When I was 14 years old my parents separated. My Dad worked... Read more
My Dad is a carpenter. A handy man. Mr. Fix-it. He really can do anything. If it’s broken, my Dad will figure out how to mend it. When Lindsey and I started planning to convert the home office into Baby Benjamin’s room, one of the first things we mentioned was new flooring. The flooring that we had was “hand-me-down” flooring from my parents. They got new flooring in their home and when Lindsey and I bought this house, as broke... Read more
Galatians 2:19-21 “What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man…It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me…Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing... Read more
As an infant, before we even realize what is going on, we are exposed to our first opportunity to trust our caregivers. Parents, grandparents, childcare providers, etc. We trust them for our clothing, food, shelter, love, and all-around nurture. Caregivers may not always do a perfect job, which can chip away bits of our trust at a time, if we allow it. As we continue to grow, as a toddler and school-aged child, we are given opportunities to trust (often... Read more
Grace is Messy
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In