Female in Motion

John 3:30 is my focus verse/phrase for 2019. Not sure yet what form(s) this concept may take. God has placed these words repeatedly in my mind. I will do my best to obey. Thank you, Lord!

I saw something tonight, I just have to share with you. Picture this, the McDonald's drive-thru. It was very crowded, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast. On my way to Wal-Mart for more gift wrap and bows, I stopped for some McNuggets. Up early, with many hours of cleaning and prepping under my belt, I was tired and not feeling very festive at all. Admittedly, I thought how I just wanted the next 24 hours to be over. As I said, not very festive. And then it happened. I saw a young worker exit the employee door and walk out to the far end of the restaurant parking lot. He took two large boxes out a vehicle, picked up one, and struggled to push the other with his leg and foot. There was a large, fancy SUV behind me in line. It contained one of those young, very well-dressed man with a fancy stereo and haircut to match. I watched this gentleman leave his car and step quickly toward the employee with the boxes. He picked up the one on the ground without a word and walked ba...

The holidays are tough enough to get through. Do what you can. Give yourself some grace. Take a deep, slow breath. Spend time in solitary prayer. You can't be everything to everyone, so just be kind to yourself and others. People may be going through something we know nothing about. Forgive all. Especially yourself.

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured."--Mark Twain Last week, as they laid former President George H.W. Bush to rest, his dear friend, former Senator Alan Simpson, gave the eulogy. The gentleman from Wyoming told of something #41 told him once. "He never hated anyone," Sen. Simpson said of President Bush. "He knew what his mother and my mother always knew: Hatred corrodes the container it's carried in." My own experience with bitterness reveals that it pins you in place. No forward progress or growth is possible as long as the unfinished business of anger lingers in your life. Further, I've discovered that when I practice the hard work of forgiveness, it allows me to move my focus where it belongs--serving God and helping people. The gift of forgiveness doesn't benefit the one who wronged you, but rather the gift is for you. Believe me, you want this gift....

Photo courtesy of Twelve Timbers Matthew 6:34 (KJV) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. When the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years, God provided food for them. Manna fell from heaven each night and in the morning, the people gathered just enough for that day. If they tried to save some, it spoiled. The lesson taught to them by their Heavenly Father was to trust Him for all their needs and to focus on one day at a time. This daily blessing was completely from God--no other. It was freely given to all; they just had to accept it. Manna is a picture of the grace that God rains down on us each day. We simply have to pick up what we need, and it will suffice. Worry, if left unchecked, will ruin your today and tomorrow, too. Don't borrow tomorrow's troubles--stay in the day. *** Notable Quote: "It's easy to look at the things of this wor...