 I have a routine (feel free to judge me, I'm okay with that.) I shop on Amazon and then return the things that don’t work at the Kohl's Amazon return center. While I'm there I check the clearance section, then I cross the street, drop off any donations I have at Goodwill and do a quick walk through. On my phone there is a running list of things I'm looking for at Goodwill and I wait patiently (sometimes months) for them to arrive. I also have my eye on a few things at Kohl's, waiting for them to go on sale or to make it to the clearance section when I can use some of that great Kohl's cash and coupons I have stored up. One of the items on my Kohl's list is a beautiful artificial tree. I have looked at it for over 6 months, stalking it to the point that one Kohl's attendant thought I was up to no good. After she saw my love of this tree she told me it should go on sale soon. Well, it didn’t. I continued to check on it. Then all of the sudden it was gone. I was so sad. In the meantime, I would check Goodwill to see if someone had donated one, but no luck there either. On my last Kohl's walk through, I saw it! They moved it to a new and obscure location. There it was, my tree and it was 20% off and I had an additional 20% off coupon. This was the day I had been waiting for. The tree was $199 marked down to $159 but with my extra coupon it would now be $127. I was ready to go and then…. I thought about my budget. The fact that things have been a little tight and we have some big added expenses caused my husband and I to tightening our belts on the non essentials. So, I was now in a bit of a pickle. My wants vs. my needs. Urgh! I conversed with God saying “But God you know how long I have waited for this. This is the exception, right?” I looked at a smaller tree, not exactly the one I wanted, trying to rationalize my less expensive wants over what was needed. I found myself sadly walking away. I knew I made the right choice for our situation at the time, but it wasn't fun. I did ask God for one little thing. “God, you know how much I wanted that tree and how long I have waited. Could you just give me a little God wink and honor this choice I made and make this tree appear in Goodwill when I cross the street right now?” Please hear my heart, I’m not saying our actions deserve rewards from God. It was simply the prayer of my disappointed heart at the moment. I went to Goodwill, dropped off my donations, checked the half price color tag of the day to see if anything on my list matched. I began casually strolling the aisles seeing if I could catch any deals on things we needed. By this time, I had actually forgotten the conversation I had with the Lord, just 10 minutes earlier. So when I saw MY TREE right there, I stopped and said “wait, what.. God?” I instantly remembered that little prayer of my heart, not actually expecting the Lord to even care, but there it was . There HE WAS. I looked at this tree (that wasn't even half off) and paid full price for it! Yeah, you heard me! I paid the full $8 for it. Granted, it wasn’t as healthy and leafy as the Kohl's version, which is why I'm hiding half of it behind a chair. My "Goodwill, God Wink" Tree had a few miles on it, needed to be dusted off and cleaned up, but to me this tree was a reminder that I really needed in the season I'm in. The comfort of knowing God still sees me, still cares and wants to remind me that He will handle the things in my life that are out of my control was the perfect gift. I needed a God wink and I needed it this day. Each time I look at my “Charlie Brown” tree that's missing several branches and leaves, I will remember that God is near, He hears and He really does care. If He cares about a silly tree, how much more does he care about the things that truly matter. He cares, He sees, He loves. 
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Please welcome guest blogger, Melanie Moscicki, as she shares a post that originally appeared on her site "From Faith, With Love"
God the Potter… I’m nearing the end of wrapping up my Mending Your Soul class, though I am well aware the real work is just beginning in me. It’s been a long emotional journey, but is not without the reward of comfort and endurance that can only come from Him. For someone who has spent countless years fighting to stand strong WITHOUT God, laying all the brokeness and shortcoming out at His feet has been mortifying, humbling, and healing all in the same breath. May the words of my heart give hope to those still trapped in the prison that is your past. The Potter ~A Poem by Melanie Moscicki Mending the Soul 2014 Another year, a million tears, so many times she’s tried To fix the broken little girl, she buried deep inside. He says to her, “Come follow me, I’ll make you new again” but the walls she built are far too strong to ever let Him in. She hears the sounds of laughter, of joy she’s never known Could it be? A girl like SHE should live on LOVE-alone? So many scars from trusting cracks from being dropped, cast aside as nothing but an empty, broken pot. But He says He’s a potter… The best there ever was, and He says I’m HIS daughter… and His work has just begun. Isaiah 64:8 says “Yet you LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hand.” I pray that each of us can grasp this truth in the depths of our soul. We are not finished friend, we are each works in progress by the creator of ALL that IS and that ever WAS, the God of miracles, the God of redemption, the God that makes ALL THINGS new. ~ From Faith, With Love, Melanie ***Physical, sexual, verbal, spiritual, or neglectful- abuse deadens the emotions, slays the self-worth, cripples the mind, even destroys the body. Mending The Soul is a Biblically grounded and psychologically informed first-of-its-kind comprehensive approach to understanding and treating every form of abuse. You can find out more about the program and where to get plugged in HERE. Video about Mending The Soul
 I love starting my day off early. You know, at the trailhead around 5:30 am, head-lamp strapped on and dog in tow (or dog towing me.) My Charlie-girl loves hiking, jumping up rocks and watching the sunrise with me. This past Monday was no exception. After our trek up the mountain and down, back around the base, and then up and down again, we returned to our car to find the passenger window smashed in, glass all over the seat and the glove compartment open with the contents throw on the floor of the car. I stood at my car, staring in disbelief and said to Charlie-girl "Well, this sucks!" I then noticed that the car next to me had also been broken into and the thought of this other vehicle being violated caused my heart to ache more than the reality of my own loss. As I called the police two women walked up. As they approached, the owner saw the reality of what had happened. At this realization, her eyes welled up with tears, her heart dropped and I could see the sadness overwhelm her.  My reflection of this incident leads me to these thoughts. I saw my smashed window, stated a fact, called the police and went on with my day. Was it a hassle? yes, but as I told my friend "It is what it is." Yet, the very same incident to another women caused tears and heart break. You see, the reality for her was that they had her home address, her car registration, they knew where she lived and were they to show up at her house (which we later discovered that they probably had while we were still hiking...but for the grace of God) they would find her teenage daughter home alone sleeping. That is cause for distress. The exact same incident caused two completely different reactions, because even in the similarities, the extenuating circumstances that surrounded our individual lives caused their own unique reactions. How many times does life happen to someone we know and we wonder why they are not handling it as well as we did when the exact same thing happened to us? Why is it that one person can lose a job and bounce back and another person loses a job and their world falls apart? How does one person loose a family member and seem to be resilient enough to wake up and go back to work while another person loses a loved one and they become immobile, bitter and angry with the world? My car break in reminded me that we all handle things differently. There isn't a cookie cutter way to grieve or process. We may not always know the internal struggles and circumstances surrounding a tragedy or struggle in someone else's life. Today, I am reminded to be patient with others in their distress and allow them to deal with tragedy in their own way, the same way that I hope others will give me grace if I am not dealing to well in mine. So today, whatever you are going through, may you receive the grace and the space to go through it at your own pace and in your own way, knowing that you do not walk alone, but that you have the outstretched arm of God before you and beside you to comfort you and to guide you. Friends, you are not alone.  Now, as for Charlie-girl... her take way from the whole incident was the great joy of getting to ride with the window wide open. Yep, even Charlie and I process things differently.
I love you in the Lord, Mia   There are a few rules of etiquette that I have learned for hiking. For instance, hikers going uphill have the right of way, if you hear someone on your tail, step to the side and let them by, keep your music confined to your headphones and it's always a good thing to acknowledge those you pass. Not everyone follows these unwritten rules, but when they do, it makes for a great experience. I was making my way up the Piestewa Peak Summit trail in Phoenix yesterday morning. For those of you that are not familiar with this area, it is a nice 1.2 mile, 1,200 ft climb to the top. As I hiked, I was reminded that not everyone is aware of hiker etiquette, as evidenced by the fact that I found myself giving the right away to hikers that had already made the climb and were on there way down with no intention of stopping for those of us making our way up, panting and dripping with sweat. Others, though, kindly stepped to the side as I made great strides and stretches over the uphill rocks. For that, I was grateful and squeezed out a smile in the midst of my exhaustion. There were moments when I thought, "I have gone far enough, I should just turn back now" but, the fighter in me doesn't like to quit until I make it to the top (which last week almost got me into some trouble). After making the 1,200 ft ascent, I was able to rest and take in the view. There is that exhilarating feeling when you make it to the top, when you reach your goal and have survived to conquer your mountain. For me, I think about the fact that 1.5 years ago, I could barely make it to the top and if I did, it took me twice as long with many stops along the way. This day, though, being in better shape and living a healthier lifestyle, I pushed through without stopping. I made it and I made it well. After a nice break on top of the summit, I made my way, with the grace of gravity pulling me back down to where I started. I smiled at those making there way up and I stepped to the side to give them the right away as they struggled upward. I allowed those who were descending faster than me the opportunity to go on by and at times I was afforded the same courtesy, as those who were going a bit slower than me, let me pass.
And then it got me thinking (as hiking always does) about the difficulties in life that we have, the mountains that we climb and the "etiquette of struggling" that we so easily forget. There are times when I, one who has been through the fire, see others going through the same battles I once went through and wonder why they are not conquering it as quickly as I did. There are times when I know people are struggling and I fail to give them the "right of way" in their pain and I expect them to move out of my way and "get over it" so that I can continue living my life. There are times when people are making uphill strides in their situations and I forget to acknowledge them. There are times when I, because I already made it to the top of a certain mountain, forget what the struggle was like to get to a place where you have a birds eye view and greater perspective. There are so many times that I am simply the worst hiker in the world. It is good to be reminded that we all hike (through life) at different paces, we all have mountains to climb and battles to win. When I am more conscious of those around me, it makes this hike of life a little more doable, a little less difficult and a lot more encouraging for everyone. I can't climb someone else's mountain for them, but I can step out of the way and not be a stumbling block in their journey. I can reach out a hand and give encouragement. I can allow them to feel their pain so they can move to a position where they can see the view of the joy to come. I pray that we all will be a bit of the grace that gravity brings in someone else's life as they are struggling uphill. Let's go hiking! I love you in the Lord! Mia On Saturday, I read from John chapter six. Jesus was teaching that He was the Bread of life and that "...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" At this, some of his disciples said "This is a hard saying, who can listen to it?" and some of them fell away. But Jesus said to the twelve "Do you want to go away as well?" The response from Simon Peter reminds me of what my response should be in the face of this world, in hard situations, in matters of truth and bearing my cross daily, when I want to cower and go with the flow, when I want to quit, give up and not fight the good fight and when I feel like truth gets hammered at every corner in the media. May I like Peter always say..... "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." Remembering this truth spurs me on to continue to speak the truth in love, in love for friends, for a city, for a nation who so desperately need the words of eternal life. Today, Monday as I re-read this passage, I was able to simply sit in my back room and sing it to the Lord. Declare it for my soul, strengthen my heart and renew my mind. Join me in my backroom. #BackroomPrayers Going to worship this past Sunday and sharing communion with my church family was powerful. My pastor preached the word of God, reminded us all that the Word, His Bible is the source for all truth. My favorite moment was when our church handed out a new Bible to everyone in the congregation and our Pastor had everyone read silently to themselves John 17. The beauty of the silence in the presence of the spirit at that moment as the Words of eternal life went through all of our hearts, renewing our minds was, in a word, AMAZING. That was the the true Fellowship of believers.
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The BlogA collection of writings from a life based on the truth that about midnight anything can happen. 
AuthorAs an imperfect servant of the Lord, I often feel I am fumbling my way through life, looking upward for guidance and outward to love. So, I write about it, to break up the noise in my head. Categories
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