Life After 23

So get this.  I'm reading in Deuteronomy for my devotional this morning, and I come across some food for thought that really has nothing to do with the devotional article's focus.  But there I am, with this cool new interpretation of Scripture that, honestly, I probably should have gotten before now. Anyway, the kicker for me this morning is Deut. 6:25, which says in the NLT, "For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us."  (For some context, Moses is addressing the nation of Israel with a final charge before he dies and the people enter the Promised Land.  More on that in the next post.)  Right off the bat, I think, "Oh, well this just describes the first part of the picture - the one where generations of Israelites (and a few converts) tried and failed miserably to earn salvation through works. This doesn't apply anymore."  After all, a good portion of Moses' entire charge is rules and regul...

There comes a time when each of us must say, "I can't do it alone."  Each of us, sooner or later.  We hold out our hands and say to someone, "Help me."  When that time comes, all we have left is our trust. ~ Perry Mason As you can tell from the quote above, I love Perry Mason.  I've been watching a lot of it recently.  Lying in bed tends to go by a lot faster trying to beat him to figuring out who the killer is. When I'm not watching Perry, I have a lot of time to think.  I have slowly been coming to terms with the fact that normal as I knew it - or wanted to know it - will never be.  This disease keeps progressing, and apparently fighting it on my own has contributed to that.  When that began to sink in, I realized that my very survival rests on my ability to ask for help. Perry got me thinking.  It's not just humbling to ask for help.  It's vulnerable.  Admitting you need help doesn't just hurt your pride; it thr...

For most of us, there comes a time in life where basic functions become celebrations.  Where abilities that were once take for granted are now mountains we must climb.  Where often modesty and personal dignity step aside in the face of necessity. These inevitable moments may arise after a surgery, when the recovering patient can finally use the restroom on his own instead of in a bedpan held by a nurse.  A new mother finds sweet satisfaction in the ability to shave her own legs after months of not seeing her own feet.  The simple words "yes" and "no," uttered from a stroke patient's mouth, brings victorious tears to everyone in the room. Whether it's relatively short-lived or stems from a long-term illness, these experiences force us to look at ourselves - and the people around us - differently.  Others often surprise us with their "true colors," as it were.  The gruffest person we know could become our most attentive friend.  Those we thought ...

If you knew it was the last time, Would you want to know? If you knew it was the last time Before you watched her go?

Growing up, I studied the Bible a lot.  I didn't study it every day of my literate childhood, but I definitely felt guilty about it when I got out of the habit.  I'd like to say that was because I loved the Lord a lot and wanted to hear from Him as much as I could, but that was a lie I told myself for most of my life.  I felt guilty about falling out of the habit of reading my Bible for the same reason that I studied so much Scripture: I was constantly searching for the correct formula to happiness and honor. I look back over the copy of the Bible I read the most during my teen and college years, and it is covered with notes I wrote in the margins.  One of my most studied passages was the one describing what the evangelical community has dubbed the Proverbs 31 Woman.  I, like so many other church-going women, have held this group of verses up as my golden standard for the woman I want to be.  And as evidenced by the various ball point pen chicken scrat...

I'm going to say something bold:  I want to be a disappointment.   I want to be a disappointment to the plans others had for me.  I want to be a disappointing world changer.   I want to be a disappointment to the voices of my past telling me I can't, I shouldn't, or I won't. Because I will.