The Real Me

So I stepped outside this morning and nearly broke out in song “Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oh What a Beautiful Day” from the musical “Oklahoma” (actually my mind did break out in song and it’s been going round and round in my head ever since!). It rained last night for maybe the 3rd time in three months since we relocated to Central Texas, and it is soooo refreshing. There is a beautiful story about rain on the blog dated 1/25/08 by Angie Smith, wife of Todd from the Christian group Selah, and I’ve added a link to her blog on the side, as we seem to have a few things in common (am I worthy of comparing myself to such a wonderful lady?!?). The air was so fresh this morning, that even though the end of summer is yet a month a way, I could sense fall just around the corner. No deer though…they must have already gone back down to the creek for their morning nap (the deer are our closest neighbors; we see 12-15 deer every day, usually morning, mid-afternoon, and night).


What, you may ask, does all of this have to do with grief? Nothing. I’ve felt God’s gentle nudging to make this blog a bit more personal. You want the real me, not my “polished” stories. Plus, I’m using way too much paper—killing tons of trees—on all my journal entries. Time to take it online. God’s doing too many good things for me to keep to myself. Little things. But sometimes, those are the best!

I promise not to make this blog too much about the kiddos; I have a family website for that. Although I did pull out the “Santa is watching you” bit after an argument between the girls this morning at the breakfast table…I told you fall was in the air!

Rather, I’ll write about the view from the mountain tops, from the valleys, and life in between. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, realize that my stories are streamed from my blog. I hope you’ll forgive me if my entries seem a bit heavier (and lengthier) than the subject of what I might be making for dinner tonight (trust me, with the type of cook I am, dinner stories would never be interesting…actually, with the type of cook I am, dinner stories might be quite interesting—like the time I attempted to crumble up fresh bread for a recipe that called for “breadcrumbs.” If they mean cracker crumbs, why don’t they just say cracker crumbs?!? But I digress…).

And I’ll ask for prayer. I’ve begun working on the next book. I am overflowing with things I feel God wants me to share about Him. Each time I share A Place of Peace with someone, I want to say, “But there is more;” because there is…so much more to the story. I don’t usually make public these types of request because I think, “What if it never comes to fruition?" I’ll look like a fool, a phony, a fake, a flop for mentioning it. And the next book may never come to fruition. But, I feel led to ask for prayer, so I’m asking out of obedience. If it is God’s will, there will be a way.

I am taking a study about Experiencing God and it is already changing my life. We can each experience God every moment of our lives—in good times and in bad—if we just seek Him. It is so simple in theory, yet so incredibly challenging in practice. But even as I write, my husband left for me a short devotional to read, and it is a copy of something I read last night. The same article in a completely different book, by a completely different author, aimed at completely different audiences. Yet, God brought this story to me two times within a twelve hour period. What a humbling experience to realize that He is with you always.  Thank you, Lord, for making me smile.  I’d better go read the article again to make sure I get His point!