Real Life Reflections

Have you ever wanted to quit - maybe your job or your parenthood? Your family? Your spouse? Maybe even your life? Yeah. Me too. As a matter of fact, I've been feeling that way quite a bit lately - about my job anyway. Without going into the nitty-gritty details, the past two years have just about pushed me over the edge. I've had to force my square brain into a round hole. I've had to learn to think like a particular computer program rather than an accountant. I've never professed to be fond of computer programs. I prefer to do most of my thinking on my own. I like to problem-solve just not the kind of problem solving that has to be funneled through only one question "how does this program think?" I'd rather use my brain to actually work through the problem itself, but that's just me. And that's my problem. I'm not the boss, and I don't get to choose the type of problems I work on. I can accept my job as it is and plow through, train my squ...

My husband and I had dinner the other night with some dear friends. Our conversation didn't exactly meander to the topic of God. It was more like it burst into it with both guns blazing, although now, I can't stop my thoughts from meandering back to one simple phrase that our friend said: Christ in me . Several years ago I went through a season of reading the works of some Christian mystics, desert fathers and mothers as they are sometimes called because they separated themselves from their culture and lived in the desert to more effectively spend time with God without the distractions of city life. I read quite a bit of Jeanne Guyon. She obviously loved God deeply, and I learned a lot from her writings, but there was one phrase that she couldn't seem to emphasize enough, and it always bothered me - look within yourself to find God (sounds a little new-agey, doesn't it?) Honestly, the thought has been repulsive to me. It's so contrary to our modern Christian thoug...

Aaahhh . . .  Memorial Day. The official start of summer: a three-day weekend, picnics, pools, family, and friends.We spent ours with our family in Tennessee at our son and daughter-in-law's: six adults, two dogs, and a baby. Guess who ruled the weekend? Don't get me wrong, she's not bossy. She's just, as my daughter likes to say, particular. Cuter than a koala but particular. She likes to eat at certain times. She likes to sleep at certain times, and she really likes her mommy. She's past the infant sleep-anywhere-through-anything stage and into the one long morning nap, one long afternoon nap, and to bed by 7:00 stage. I remember my own kids on that schedule. It's great for getting stuff done around the house but not so great for going anywhere. By the time you get them changed and fed and changed again after each sleep session, there's barely enough time to drive somewhere much less do anything once you get there. So other than a couple of meals out and...