Two of my four children hold black belts in karate.  I can attest that they didn’t achieve those overnight.  Countless hours – multiple times a week – were spent in dojos.  The routine of practicing form exercises and hand-to-hand strategies were sharpened and perfected each week as they trained.  Several times a year, we would…

It was a beautiful, sunny, chilly day that beckoned me to take a walk outside.  I answered the call by putting on my puffy jacket and lacing up my walking shoes.  The moment I stepped outside, I could see my breath every time I exhaled.  Ahhhhhh, perfect! Instead of walking on the pavement, I opted…

I got my first personal computer in 1994.  It was a large, mechanical “block” that sat on the kitchen table of my apartment.  Connecting to the internet, at that time, meant “dial-up” (for those of you who might not understand that term, may I suggest a Google search?).  One of my favorite things about this…

I am a checklist kind of girl – so much so that I will write things on my list that have already been accomplished just so I CAN check them off!  Needless to say, I was amazed when I first began learning about Jesus to discover that He was never swept up with a checklist!  …

When my incredible husband and I married in 2003, I really thought I was a super-Christian that had this wife thing in the bag!  I’d been walking with Jesus long enough (I thought) to be able to foster a Norman Rockwell meets Thomas Kincaid kind of environment. I envisioned a blissful marriage, a perfectly accessorized…

My mother was an exceptionally gifted crafter.  She could sew, quilt, and decorate cakes so beautifully and professionally that, as a child and even now, I’ve wondered how she created such incredible works of art. When I was in high school, she handmade all of my prom dresses, baked every cake I ate, and spent…