Through the Glass Dimly

As I've been studying the book of Luke for the past week, I feel like I've gotten to know the apostle Peter a bit better... especially in the last days he spent with Jesus before the Lord is arrested and crucified. There are so many stories of Peter in the gospels displaying extraordinary faith (think following Christ out to walk on the water), and his great commitment to following Christ anywhere and everywhere (he is in pretty much every story where Jesus goes with only a few followers). So it actually makes sense, in our humanity, that Peter has started thinking pretty highly of himself and his placement within the 12 closest followers of Jesus. During the Last Supper, an argument arises about who is thought of as "the greatest". Jesus has JUST finished telling them that one of them would betray Him to death, and that His body and blood would be broken and shed for THEM. With a deaf ear to what the Lord was actually telling them, they immediately begin question

When I wake up in the morning there are about 25 things running through my head. There are so many tasks to be accomplished. I have not mastered the art of mornings... As a wife, a mother, and a business owner... life is busy, and at any given time there are maybe one hundred things that I should or could be doing... I wake up and think about doing little girls hair, getting them dressed appropriately and adorably, feeding my family... what is for dinner tonight? Do I have a shoot today? Who do I need to email? Who am I meeting with today? Do I have childcare covered? Does my husband feel supported and cared for?? Did Ellie get her homework done? Have I prepared well enough to get my family through this day?? It's important to prioritize things... but so often we get our priorities catawampus, or even upside-down. We all do it. Check out this story from Luke. "Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And

"... the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28 "Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.'" Mark 9:35 I've been reading through the gospels lately... I started with Luke.. then went to Matthew, and when I finished Matthew I felt as if I had just finished a really amazing novel and was sad to see it come to an end... so I started reading Mark. One of the things that has truly struck me in these last few months of studying the gospels, is the necessity... well... really the mandate for which we are called to serve the body of Christ. Today the Lord was teaching me about what it means to truly honour and to serve our parents, which is another blog post all together... But today I want to write about what I've learned about our relationship with the church, our eternal family... And how to honour

“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located  will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing.   These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we  really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb  idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.  For they are not the thing itself; they   are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”  ―  C.S. Lewis ,  The Weight of Glory As humans we become obsessed with "What our life is supposed to look like". We imagine our lives will be beautiful and fragrant... and when it's not what we expected... we feel heart broken... or when it is more than what we could have hoped for... It's beauty becomes an idol... When our longings become self focused... the danger begins. When I was in u

How to lose 15 pounds in January without even hitting the gym! Reorganizing your life, and the containers you MUST HAVE! How to be a better you in 2016..... The list goes on and on and we are absolutely inundated with it. And you know what?! I tend to just nod in agreement and say, "Yes. I DO need a different body in 2016." Or "Yes. I DO need to reorganize my house." Or "Yes! I'm not good enough yet for 2016." I was at a New Year's Eve party last night and I was feeling a little defeated. I hadn't yet purchased that gym membership (we laugh at those people who have to buy gym memberships as soon as January hits... but I'm being totally serious here)... I left my kitchen a complete disaster in order to make a perfect appetizer to share with our friends... pots everywhere, dishes piling high in the sink... Crafts all over the kitchen table... toys all over the living room floor... And when I arrived at that party and slid through the do