My Grown Up Christmas Wish

New Format

2011-08-04T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Come one, come all to the unveiling of a new format! God has been working on me to be more disciplined in my writing. In order to accomplish this, I am actually creating a plan. Shocking, I know, but I am willing to try. I would love ideas from you on topics that you would find inspiring. I'll also be sharing thoughts as God opens my eyes to them. The schedule is planned to

Coming Down from the Mountaintop

2011-07-26T08:46:00.000-04:00

Image via WikipediaI arrive home, my mind still swirling somewhere between Thursday night dinner and Sunday morning worship. My thoughts collide as they race from one memory to the next. The entire memory is shrouded by a Holy Cloud. I struggle to breathe. The pressure in my lungs so powerful that I wonder if perhaps there is something more physical going on. I know that I have met the challenge

She Speaks 2011

2011-07-25T15:12:00.000-04:00

How do I begin to describe the experience of the past three days. At times it seems it would take weeks to delve into all the nuances and beauty that I discovered and had poured upon me, but I know that it would not mean to you what it did to me. So what can I share that will impassion you? I want to start today with just a little overview with questions from one of my fellow She Speaks sisters

Learning to Listen

2011-07-24T04:32:00.009-04:00

Three days ago I stood in my bedroom preparing to pack for She Speaks. I looked around my room and prayed that I would remember everything that I needed to take. My eyes fell on a book that I had picked up a few weeks ago because I had been hearing all these great things about it. I had set it aside to prepare for the conference, committing to start reading it after I got back home. I suddenly

From the Mouth of Friends

2011-07-09T03:11:00.000-04:00

Image by Mental Health Humor via FlickrI've been struggling for a few days to post what my heart is telling me. I find that I have so many words and raw emotions that I am not able to whittle down what I really want to say. Tonight, as I was reading some of my friends' writings, I came to Debbie's blog at "Live... from Ninevah" and realized that she had captured everything that I was feeling.

She Speaks 2011

2011-06-27T01:29:00.000-04:00

With age comes knowledge, and with knowledge responsibility. I recall hearing those words as a child, although I cannot remember the source. But I am realizing that I am definitely increasing in age, somewhat in knowledge; therefore, I know the responsibility must follow. For those who have known me very long, the title of this post combined with the above paragraph is probably quite confusing.

Light It Up Blue

2011-02-14T22:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is just another in the long list of areas that God is allowing us to grow and learn about this year. Please join us in spreading awareness for a condition that affects multiple people in our family. Light it Up Blue and The Empire State Building are working together to bring awareness to National Autism Day on April 1, 2011. Will you be one who will stand with us?

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T01:48:00.022-05:00

Image via WikipediaThere are so many different ways to share love. So often we think of love as romantic, fluffy, ooey-gooey, courtship. But love is also about a deep commitment to the well-being of another. This is something that we have been working on in our family over the past few months. Today, I want to share another expression of love with you. This year, Greg & I have made a

Names & Voices

2011-02-13T00:13:00.002-05:00

A great victory, a deep valley. An amazing revelation, an attack the shreds to the very core. A moment on the mountaintop, a slippery trip into a ravine. Can you relate to this? Victory, followed by exhaustion and seeming defeat. Power, chased by weakness. This is where I have been for the past two weeks. At each point that God would provide a great victory, The Evil One would throw a trap in

Simplicity: Casting Your Care

2011-02-03T03:13:00.000-05:00

Are you familiar with the passage in James that talks about casting your care on God? I have often stumbled on this passage trying to understand it. As a Martha Do-It-All, I find that it is a constant struggle for me. I had always understood it to be a one-time event, and then it was done. Isaiah 40:31 talks about waiting on the Lord and not being weary. The tempter has often oppressed me with

Promises & Plans

2011-01-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

For weeks, I've been working on posting about what has been going on over the past few months, but I am still not at the point of posting, so I wanted to at least check in and say hello. I found a great website that I'm going to try to follow along with every week. It is called Life's Blessons. She posts her To Do List each week. So, here goes the list for the week .... {spoiler alert, the

The Promises Continue

2011-01-25T21:19:00.003-05:00

About a week after God began pouring out His blessings, we were in the Bahamas for vacation. It was a much-needed break from everything going on at home, and by the end of the week, I was already dreading coming back home. We had chosen to stay on Grand Bahama Island instead of Nassau so that we could have some peace and quite. The weather had been dreary and cloudy most of the week, and we

One Month Ago

2011-01-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

Image via WikipediaThe date was December 21, 2010. It sticks in my mind for a number of reasons. Minor reason first, I love numbers, and dates with the same numbers in the same order are fabulous; and dates with reciprocals are even more cool, so 12/21/2010 is a beautiful day. But the real reason that I recall the day is that 37 years earlier on this date, I gave my heart to Christ. I have never

Grinning Gingah: Jacob Nov 07 2010

2010-11-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

Grinning Gingah: Jacob Nov 07 2010: "Click here to view this photo book larger"Enjoy a year in review for Jacob's 4th Birthday.

Simplicity: A Choice

2010-05-31T07:15:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered why it is that God does not make us do the things that we should do, especially when it is a good thing and we keep asking Him to do it? Okay, so what am I talking about? For many years, I've begged God to get me up early in the morning so that I could study His Word. I wanted to be a "good Christian girl." In my limited understanding, I thought that if you got up earlier

Comfort One Another

2010-05-12T11:32:00.002-04:00

We are living in a day and age where lots of people feel helpless and hopeless. Many of them–even Christians–are saying, “I can’t take anymore!”We hear of cancer, AIDS, unusual diseases. Wars and talk about war. We can hardly pick up a newspaper or listen to the evening news without hearing about crime. We wonder if there will be any money available when we retire or become unable to

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

2010-05-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

This letter was written for people with Fibromyalgia to share today, Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. Thank you for reading it, and feel free to ask me any questions you might have. An open letter to anyone who has a fibromyalgia patient in his or her life. By Karen Lee Richards If you are reading this, someone close to you lives with and suffers from fibromyalgia (FM). Since FM is invisible,

Partnering in Haiti

2010-04-30T15:10:00.000-04:00

Do you subscribe by e-mail? Have you looked at the blog lately? I have a couple of links to some things that are wonderful to partner with. The one that I want to focus on today is the link on the top right. I was hoping that it would show up with a few more details, but since it didn't, I want to make sure that you know about it. Inga at www.3seams.com is partnering with women in Haiti to help

David, a Man After God’s Own Heart

2010-04-12T21:00:00.005-04:00

God hears the prayers of His people—even when we haven’t lived for Him as we should have.God blesses repentance…and a broken, contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18 says, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”Several years before King Saul died, the prophet Samuel had anointed David to be Israel’s next king. Why would God tell Samuel to anoint

Simplicity: Finishing What I Started

2010-04-04T13:33:00.000-04:00

As I have studied the account of the days leading up to Easter, the phrase that has stuck with me is when Christ said, "It is finished." For me this is such an amazing statement. He had a plan, he stuck to the plan, and He completed the plan. Such simplicity, and yet what an immense impact. Today is Easter Sunday, and I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about the meaning of this

Being Quiet

2010-03-23T04:55:00.000-04:00

Once again, it has been quiet on the website homefront. ;-) As most of you know, I've been given the opportunity to deal with some significant health issues since the end of last year. It was a journey that I did not want to take, but the path has been worth it more than I can begin to describe. Early in the year, I realized that eating anything would severely test my gall bladder, and living on

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-03-22T17:50:00.001-04:00

Okay, once every decade I actually celebrate my birthday, and this is the one. :-) This month I turned 40. I have heard so many people talk about turning 29 again or 39 again, but I have been excited to hit 40. With each passing decade, life has gotten sweeter and sweeter. I truly believe that my 40's are going to be the best yet, and I have been looking forward to them. The biggest honor for me

Letting Go

2010-03-16T04:00:00.000-04:00

Can you think back to a time when storms seemed to rage in every area of your life? For me, it has been this year. I supposed that is to be expected since I put out such a call for simplicity this year. It seems that at every turn, I am having to intentionally choose simplicity because everything around me wants to be complicated. My health, my family, my work, even my friends all seem

Palms-Up Living

2010-03-08T00:01:00.002-05:00

Somewhere along the way, I read about "Palms-Up Living," and it really touched my heart. I asked myself if I have turned my palms (and my heart) upward and committed everything to my Lord...or if I have been holding back some things and trying to handle things my way.May our Lord minister to your heart as you consider a Palms-Up life.P lace your palms up before God.A llow God to take what He

God Lives Under the Bed

2010-02-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

I receive lots of “Forward” emails. Every now and then, one seems to “jump out at me.” This “forward” about “Kevin” is one of them…and I wanted to share it with you. I don’t know Kevin or his brother…or if “Kevin” is his real name. That really doesn’t matter; it’s the “message” that touched my heart. I truly believe we all can learn valuable lessons from those “less fortunate” (actually, those