Psalm 62:6  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. Back in the spring, Dan and I joined a gym and we love it!  We are empty nesters now so the gym has been our connect, the place we go together in the afternoon. While I have worked out for many years now, I have never taken strength training very seriously.  I enjoy cardio but have always stayed away from the weight section of the gym.  Weight are scary for me.  They are just too heavy! But this year, in this new place, I have taken on the weights and I love it!  I wake up in the mornings with good pain in muscles I didn’t know I had in my arms, quads and abs. The other day we were doing bicep curls at the gym and I was feeling pretty good.  I had been using the same size weights for a …

  One of the first gifts my husband gave me was a suitcase.  I remember unwrapping it, not knowing what it would be, even though the shape and size should have given it away.  He is a pilot, so I suppose a new suitcase is a gift that a pilot’s-wife-to-be should have expected! While it really was a nice suitcase, I immediately thought it must be my ‘carry-on bag’.  It must be what I will put a few extra things in while the majority of my luggage is packed in a larger bag, checked to its final destination and traveling in the cargo compartment of the plane. This bag was nice, brand new shiny wheels, a cool pull up handle…but it was just so small.  The few times I had traveled prior to this, I had always used a bigger suitcase, one that was able to hold whatever I might need. 

I am laughing as I board a plane today.  When my husband purchases our airline tickets, he always chooses the exact same seats every time we travel, without fail.  I don’t have to look at my ticket when I board a plane or give it to the flight attendant.  I can tell her where my seat is located!  Dan books it the same, every trip, every airline, every time…faithfully! So, I am currently seated in my ‘assigned seat’.  My seat belt is buckled, my carry-on luggage is stowed, and I am on my way home now from a truly amazing adventure in Africa.  

Busy!  I feel like this past month has been crazy busy which led to a whole lot of hurrying around on my part.  I have hurried from one event to the next, from one store to the next and at home, I have hurried from one chore to the next.   Sometimes hurrying can get us into trouble!  As I hurried to get the dishwasher emptied the other day, mysteriously, one of those bowls that are advertised as ‘unbreakable’ came flying out of my hand and crashed to the floor!  What had been advertised as unbreakable shattered into a thousand pieces.  Of course I didn’t have any SHOES on,

Tucked away in the back corner of my closet hides a hangar and hanging from this forgotten hangar there are belts!  There are wide belts and narrow belts, black belts, brown belts and belts that are both black and brown!  There are metallic belts and multi colored belts, stretchy belts and not so stretchy belts.  There are belts that looked good in the 90’s, belts that are in style now, and everything in between! Each belt was useful at one time.  Through the years, each belt was purchased for and matched a specific outfit.  As time went on and outfits no longer fit or worked, the clothes were given away, but somehow the hidden belts always stayed behind!   

The city where the sun is always shining …that is Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!  People don’t go to Cabo wondering if it will rain.  It rarely rains.  Cabo is known for its climate.  While it is hot, hot, hot, the weather is also dry.  Located in the desert at the tip of the Baja, it is known for its sunny days, beautiful beaches and amazing guacamole!   Storms rarely hit Cabo San Lucas.  They just never happen… On September 17, 2014 what ‘never happens’ became a reality.   Hurricane Odile, a category 3 hurricane, hit Cabo hard.  The center of the storm went right over Cabo leaving behind damage and destruction the city had never before known.  The airport was destroyed, roads and bridges were torn up, buildings were taken down, people’s homes were demolished. The storm they thought would never happen had come, and it had taken them down. Much of Cabo has been rebuilt, restored.  Only a few buildings remain …

Being married to a pilot comes with a lot of travel perks.  We travel often and I spend a lot of time in airplanes.  My favorite part of being in an airplane honestly is the uninterrupted time I get to do what I want to do!  I pack an extra bag with books, notebooks and my computer and I use every flight we take to prepare.   I like to be prepared! On a recent trip home from the Middle East, I was blessed with 13 hours to prepare!  Bible Study was coming up and I used every minute of that 13 hour plane ride to dive into what was being taught…all so I could be prepared.  When we landed at Kennedy, an unexpected phone call came.  Our home was being robbed and there was nothing we could do to stop it.  At the very same hour that I was digging into the Word of God, doing the thing He had …

Cutout letters, colorful borders, and a laminating machine were some of my favorite school supplies during the years I taught fifth grade. The day after school ended each June, my mind went immediately to the next September. I was all about decorating my classroom. Each year had to top the year before!   There had to be a theme, the bulletin boards had to coordinate, basically it had to be a wow! Every year, the headmaster of our school chose a Bible verse to be the school verse for the year.   One particular year the chosen verses were Deuteronomy 6:4-5: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. I love those verses!  Jesus goes on in the New Testament to say that is the first and greatest commandment.

My husband loves to count! He counts everything…how many steps he takes in a day, how many flights he takes in a year, how many people are in attendance at special events. When we are on vacation, he even counts the individual palm fronds that make up the palapa…that is seriously too much work for vacation!  Because he counts all of the time, I count nothing! I have been very content to hear his final number rather than take the time to count the things I see around me. Until now. At the beginning of this year, I felt prompted to count how many Ladies Bible Studies we have had since the group started 6 years ago.

Chosen…we all want to be chosen. Who doesn’t remember the days of elementary gym class? I hear the word chosen and that is where my mind goes. I remember sitting on the sideline as two team captains stood in front of us. One by one, names were called. Students were chosen. The fastest, strongest students were chosen first. When they heard their name, they jumped up from their place, threw their hands up in the air and said ‘Yes!’ loud enough for everyone to hear. It was clear that being chosen felt good! On and on the choosing went until only the unchosen were left on the sideline. That was me. There was no jumping up, no hands raised, no loud response. Being last on the sideline did not get the same response as being chosen for a team! Being unchosen goes beyond the elementary gym. Many of us can identify because in the world, only a few qualify as …