Just A Mom from Ohio

How would you answer this application question that was recently asked in a women’s Bible study: “How attached are you to your reputation? To your stuff?” In high school I wrote a poem called “Strange Popularity” and that phrase is one that makes so much sense to me. I was known more than popular. I was hardly noticed and then I was being talked about. It was uncomfortable to go from being almost invisible to being so exposed.  God has reminded me in life that my reputation is not mine to manage. I have no problems being vulnerable to a point it might alarm people. As I keep re-writing this blog, I recognize that I never could really manage what was said of me or how my life was going to go. If it wasn’t an option then, it hardly seems worth hiding now. However, I also am aware that at times our story can be taken and used in ways that do not end up reflecting well upon God. At the end of the day, that is truly all that matters.  Miriam Webster Dictionary defines “exposed” as ...

Yesterday I finished reading the chapter titled, The Great Sadness, from the book The Shack by WM. Paul Young. And the tears flowed. There was so much overwhelming grief pouring out of my soul that I was confused about why I was even reading this book. But I know that reading this book was recommended not to make me sad but for me to grow. God does that sometimes too, doesn't he? Uses pain to help us grow. As I was wiping away the tears and blowing my nose and feeling too many feelings my temptation was to stop reading the book. But what would that really do? Then I would have been left with my feelings and had no resolution. I realize this book is technically fiction but the sadness is very real. There are lots of people that face these kinds of situations all the time, everyday, and it breaks my heart. I hate the idea of someone hurting, especially a child . So now what? Am I going to keep reading? Am I going to keep living when life feels really awful? Do I wake up each new...