Female in Motion

Female in Motion needs a do-over! All that stuff I said last week, about choosing joy and how it's up to us how we handle hard times? Well, I need to take a huge dose of it this week. I'm hanging on by a thread, friends. Some days, the stormy seas of life feel a whole lot like a hurricane, and you're soaked to the skin inside your slicker and galoshes. Once a year, we get to make a fresh start. All the bad times, poor choices, heartaches...they're all washed away. No sense in feeling guilty and letting negative thoughts flood your boat. It's time to batten down the hatches and hang on to the solid Rock. I'm going to work on positive thoughts, plenty of rest and prayer, Bible study and counting my blessings. Here's the ones I'm thinking of first: I am not alone. God is enough. I don't have to be perfect. God is forgiving. I am abundantly blessed. God is gracious. The secret is not to try harder, but to lean on God even more than befor...

Keep climbing, friends! Your life circumstances can be great one minute and lousy the next. After getting an attagirl at work, your car breaks down on the way home.  Life pushes a lot of crazy stuff our way. Instead of reacting negatively, we can choose to live calm, not windblown and unruffled, not buffeted. Last week, as everyone was busy buying the last few Christmas gifts, The Hubster was checking into the local hospital. He has pneumonia, and since his chronic cancer condition depresses his immune system, it was serious. Admittedly, I was scared. I could have curled into a ball on the floor, but I had things to do. He needed me and I needed him. So I got in there and got things done, with God's help and grace. I had faith that God would see The Hubster through, and I knew the Lord would give me strength to support him. It's up to us, how we handle life's stormy seas. Next time you find yourself curled in a ball on the floor, say a quick prayer, dry your tears...

God has a mission for each of us. I believe we'll have things to do in Heaven. Maybe not jobs, per se, but meaningful work serving God, according to Revelation 22. Adam was busy in the Garden of Eden; he didn't just lay around fanning himself with palm fronds. Here on earth, we all have work to do, but what is our mission? I knew I wanted to make a difference; to be a help to others. I didn't know how or where or when, but God did. When I was done floundering around, God was ready to get down to business with me. I came to a place where I was no longer satisfied with my life. Wanting more, I cried out to God and showed Him I was willing to obey. It might be in the darkest jungle in Africa, but sometimes your mission field is your own neighborhood. Good news, it's never too late to start, and never to early, either. Just take one step. Start with a mission statement. Here's mine: My faith simply wraps itself  around everything I write  and I conside...

Are you a pitcher or a glass? Psalm 42:1-2 (KJV) As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?  I love words, and I'm not the only one. Writing is my niche; the gift God gave me. Encouragement is my area of expertise. It burns in my heart and head. Do you get that? What makes you get out of bed every morning? You have gifts, too. Mine was hard to uncover; or maybe I'm just thick. The Savior's plans were better and more fulfilling than any dream or idea I ever had. I gave up control, but received so much more. Can I be willing to serve, even when it's not convenient? I must be careful not to fall in love with the sound of my own voice, or words. Am I following after God's heart, or mine? Being mindful of their origin makes me even more grateful for the gift. Like the passage in I Samuel 13, I want to be a "(wo)man after God's...

Female in Motion and The Hubster have been married for 32 years. Marriage is made up of moments. The Hubster and I have many, beginning when we met in November 1980. I'd never met anyone quite like him: smart, worldly, kind. He was a man, and made me aspire to be a woman. He took me seriously; no one ever had before. It was different. The moments Steve spent talking with me late at night after we married, even when he had to be up at 5 a.m., are precious to me. They helped ignite my passion for a personal relationship with Jesus. Satan attacked hard at that time. We fought big; we loved big; we learned to relate. The moment Steve stopped the car when he saw a large white bird standing in the roadway, I knew the Hand of God was upon our lives. He gave him divine protection from the other speeding car that day, and many more since. The moment he stood on Main Street and blew kisses at me as I drove by, my heart melted. Steve has never been afraid to publicly show his ...