a planted life | learning to love
Me and my momma My mom tells great stories. She always has. On a recent visit I asked her to retell the versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk and the Three Little Pigs she told us as kids. She said she couldn’t because, just like her biscuit or buttermilk pancake... Continue Reading →
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com As a Christian parent, my greatest desire is for my children to trust and follow Jesus. I want good things for them, but the world is full of frightening possibilities that threaten my kids' faith and future. Maybe like me, you find yourself overwhelmed with concern for your kids... Continue Reading →
I'm entering a new phase of parenting. I don't know what it's called. But I recently saw a video on a Facebook group for women over 40 that I think may have named it for me. The subtitle of the video from a radio show called Jonsey & Amanda read, "Being the mother of a... Continue Reading →
There's a story in Genesis that grabs me. Abraham and Sarah used their servant Hagar in their unbelief to get for themselves the child God promised. But when Sarah finally gave birth to the son God had promised, they sent Hagar and her son Ismael away into the desert. In Genesis 21:8-21, the story goes... Continue Reading →
Honestly, I don't want to send them. I want to hide them in a bubble of safety and happiness. But I have no such magic powers. I do have the King of heaven's attention though. He hears me. I know he does. And he promises to not abandon me or my kids. So, in this... Continue Reading →
Yesterday at church my pastor taught through the story in Genesis where Jacob wrestles with "a man." Toward the end of the sermon he referred to the passage in Genesis 32: 9-12 where Jacob prays. And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your... Continue Reading →
Tonight after a day of high school classes for my sons, and a day of work as a nurse in acute rehab I wanted to veg out, and so did they. I had homework (only one calss left for my BSN!), they had finished theirs. By the time I finished my required essay, I was... Continue Reading →
This is the second week of high school for my two fast-becoming-men sons. I dropped them off feeling that familiar threat, "They're never going to believe you Sheila. They're never going to love Jesus." That voice of accusation, lies and hopelessness that likes to try and tempt me to give up. Whatever that means. But... Continue Reading →
It's the first day of school around here. My 6'3" firstborn walked out the door to start his sophomore year, hands in jean pockets, looking at his boots, one ear bud in, one draped over the other ear, baseball cap and t-shirt sporting his athletic cowboy look. My 5'10" freckle-faced, fair-skinned and just-as-sensitive-in-heart son walked... Continue Reading →
I saw a black bear cub today. I caught a brown Trout. I went to New Mexico and back into Arizona on a fire road through a spot on the map called Blue, Arizona. I saw the white Blue Cowbells in the meadows next to the stream that is the Blue river. I saw bull... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Faithfulness 