Female in Motion

It's Halloween and that means the kids are going door-to-door collecting their Snickers bars. I'm not much into dressing up, but I do like to stay home and pass out candy. When I was growing up, I trick-or-treated for hours, filling up a paper grocery sack full before heading home and bartering for chocolate with my little brother, the candy vacuum. I was afraid of a lot of things back then: the dark corner of our basement, roller coasters and monsters. Our church youth group would make a trip to Wichita every October to go through at least one haunted house. I don't know why I spent my babysitting money to let people scare the stuffing out of me. It's pretty tricky to run with your head down the whole way through a haunted house, but I managed to pull it off every year. One thing I know for sure...fear is a thief. It robs me of space in my mind and peace in my heart. Panic is paralyzing, keeping me from moving forward in life's journey. A close relationship with Go...

When some people find out I am a Christ-follower, they like to challenge me, paint me into a corner, spiritually speaking, to try and shake my faith. A little girl asked me why God took her brother. A rich man said he didn't need anything and an old man said his life was too dirty to clean up. I don't have all the answers, or even some of them. God does. 1. My God is big enough to overcome your god. Who you gonna serve? Money? Fame? Power? Nothing on earth is bigger than God. When all that other stuff goes away and it's just you, alone in your room at night, God is there...whispering to your heart. He loves you and wants you, even with no makeup! 2. My God is big enough to answer your unbelief. His specialty is answering the really tough questions, like "why am I here?" and "why do You let bad things happen?" Think God is something silly that weak people hang on to when they're in trouble? Try sitting in that foxhole by yourself. When the bombs of ...

"Turn to page number 769 in the new hymnal," said the song leader last Sunday. The members of our congregation collectively grabbed the book and thumbed through. The visitors, however, looked bewildered. "Which one's the new one?" "The red one." "Uh...they're both red." And so they are. Since receiving the new hymnals last year, we still refer to the old ones on the odd occasion. For people who attend our church regularly, we know how to tell the song books apart. Okay, the women have it a little easier. The old hymnals were more of a "burgundy," while the new ones are more "coral." Guys don't do subtle shades. There are a lot of songs in the new hymnals. We enjoy trying them all out. Kind of like when I accepted Christ as my Savior. I became a new person. Everything in my life was renewed and I began to live for Him. There's nothing wrong with the old song books. They were comfortable, like your old life. Mayb...

Mission statements. It's something that most businesses and serious endeavors spend time crafting. They consult focus groups and form search committees, looking for the perfect words. Hyundai: "New thinking. New possibilities." Bank of America: "Helping set opportunity in motion." Bayer Pharmaceuticals: "Science for a better life." All. So. Serious. And then there's me. I'm anything but serious. What am I doing thinking about crafting a mission statement? I want you all to know how very serious I take this whole blog thing. Something inside of me is urging to get out. And I'm not talking about anything from "Alien," that scary movie. Really, I just want to be clear about what I'm doing here. You'll notice that the banner at the top of my blog reads: "This blog contains the rantings of a middle-aged crazy lady, sharing her imperfect life to show others God's perfect love." That's the beginning of my though...

The Psalms are peppered with this little five-letter word: selah. What does it mean? That's a good question. Bible scholars have varied opinions. Some say it means "silence." Others think "stop" or "pause." Most agree that it is a Hebrew word, used at the end of a sentence. The skeptics call it "a nonsensical word." I prefer to see it as a song, a liturgical direction, meaning "to lift your voice." No surprise here...I'm a choir nerd. Did my first solo in third grade, starred in musicals in junior high, sang my way through high school and college. When you spend three to five hours every day in music, that's your reference point. When individual voices in a choir are joined together, truly knit tight, it's a spiritual thing. Sounds cheesy, but I want to be in heaven's choir. I watch "The Sing Off" on NBC this fall. It's on Monday nights, so I listen to it as I write my blog. An a capella singing competi...