No post today. Have a great weekend!
Wendy 🙂
Month: May 2023
Embracing the Journey
This past week has been extra busy for me. My hubby and I are moving back to my hometown to be closer to my parents. My last day at my job was last Friday and I will start a new job in June. We have been cleaning out our house of eighteen plus years which has been bittersweet. My kids grew up in this house and it’s filled with wonderful memories. It was such a blessing to have it when they both were sent home from college due to Covid. We all worked from home that spring and into summer and I’ll have to admit, I will always treasure the extra time I got to spend with them.
But, with two college graduates, our house now feels too big.
My hubby and I have known for some time that we would like to downsize and live more simply. I was flipping through one of my journals a couple of weeks ago and saw that on New Year’s Day 2020, I wrote about wanting to live more simply and have a big garden to help us live more independently.
Honestly, the entry filled me with tears of gratitude. I had forgotten all about the little seed that God had planted in my heart well before we had ever even heard of Covid. My desire grew more intensely during the pandemic, but that wasn’t where it was born. I had no idea what was coming, but God did and He was busy preparing.
I had no idea that the sleepy little rural town where we raised our kiddos would be overrun with growth due to the pandemic or that builders from out of town would aspire to build a house on every available strip of grass, but God knew. He knew about the extra traffic. He knew we would be ready for a slower pace and He prepared a way.
I had no idea that my hubby and I would both feel called to move and to start our next chapter in a new town, but God knew and He prepared both of our hearts.
It’s hard not to be a little nostalgic as I sort through old boxes filled with toys and my children’s art. I am so very thankful for God’s blessings on our story up until this point, but since He has called us somewhere else, my faith tells me that He is still working and writing new chapters for us. My job is to pray, trust, listen and follow His lead.
My Daddy has helped us plant the big garden I wrote about three years ago. We already have tiny tomatoes and squash. Daddy grew up farming and his skills are really appreciated now. God was preparing him too.
I pray for the new family who will live in this house. I pray that they will make beautiful memories and when I am tempted to look backwards instead of forwards, I pray that God will remind me that we are all travelers here and that as long as I am on this side of eternity, my story is still in progress and so is yours. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
Finding God in the Storm
Last week on our way back home from my parents’ house, I was following my hubby’s truck. I was a little amused at the route he decided to take that day because he usually chooses a different way. I got stopped at a light when we turned and slow car got between us. I’ll have to admit I was a little annoyed and on top of that, the sky above had turned ominously dark.
I completely lost sight of my husband, but I drove on, enjoying the music on the radio hoping the rain would hold out. When I reached the busy four way stop that we go through all of the time, my car suddenly lost all power and stopped. I tried to restart it, but to no avail. I grabbed my phone and called my hubby and told him what had happened.
As I waited for him to come back, a young man pulled up in a truck beside me and asked if I needed help. I told him my car had died and my husband was on the way. The first drops of rain began to fall when he asked if I wanted him to push me off of the road. I thanked him and put it in neutral. As he pushed, another man across the road asked if he could assist. When I was safely off of the road, I thanked him again and he was on his way.
It began to pour down rain at this point and a lady in a different car stopped and asked me if I needed any help. I thanked her and told her help was on the way.
My hubby arrived and we called a tow truck. He retrieved everything from my car and we went home.
While no one wants to have car trouble, the entire experience left me feeling God’s presence. As Christians, we know that we will have our fair share of storms and difficulties, but the Bible promises us that we never have to endure them alone. From the moment my car stopped, I was offered help, not from one person, but from three.
The car trouble allowed me to see the goodness that still resides in most people, even thought the media would have us believe differently these days. I will probably never know who the guy was that moved my car safely from the road, but I know who placed him there at that exact moment and I said a prayer of thanks for him that night.
Having car trouble in the rain reminded me that we truly never walk alone. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
The Desire to Be Known
We live in a society where everyone wants to be known. One quick scroll through social media and we find everything from people’s vacation photos to what they cooked last night for dinner. There’s certainly nothing wrong with sharing photos and milestones on social media; I love keeping up with the happenings of friends and family when I can’t see them in person.
Sometimes though, the sharing becomes a comparison game. We want the world to see and acknowledge our perfect spouses, houses, children and lives. There seems to be a deep need for recognition from people.
The Gospel of Matthew shows us another way.
In Matthew 28:1, the text says that, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”
How would we react today at being referred to as “the other Mary” in an important news story? Did the writer not know her last name, or did he just not care?
Was it because women didn’t matter much during that time?
While that could be the case, I don’t think it was.
Maybe omitting her last name was on purpose because her last name truly didn’t matter. The story was not about either of the women. It was about the Resurrected Christ.
In Matthew’s account, in ten short verses, these two women encountered angels, saw an empty tomb and then encountered a very much alive, Jesus. When they saw Him, “they clasped his feet and worshiped him.” Matthew 28:9b.
Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28:10
Why would Jesus choose to appear to women first if they had no worth?
The Gospel shows us repeatedly that Jesus valued women and that women freely and openly worshiped Him.
Perhaps that humility is why He chose to appear to them first. When they saw Him, they immediately worshiped Him.
These two women literally got to be the first. They were clearly both known by Him and I’ve no doubt that they are now spending eternity with Him.
I suppose we have all felt like the “other Mary” at one time or another. We all know Mary Magdalene’s story. We know nothing about the “other Mary,” but we should be encouraged because the truth is that Jesus knew everything about her.
Another truth is, He knows your name and your story too and in the end, that’s all that matters. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 😊