Making a Morning

bam, bam ... bam, bam, bam, bam, bam ... bam ... bam, bam, bam

The noise slowly fills my consciousness -- it's already filled my room.  What is that?

I rub my eyes and look at the clock - 5:51 AM.  Sounds like ... hammering.  Who is hammering something outside at 6 o'clock in the morning?  On Saturday?

Rick is usually a lighter sleeper than me, but he's still sleeping.  I go look through the closed windows for the source of the sound. I stand on my tiptoes trying to see the neighbor's backyard through the branches of the trees that sit between us. And I wonder, should I see someone hammering, will I walk out there and say something about poor timing? I'm not very confrontational that way.

bam, bam, bam bam, bam ... bam ... bam, bam

I wake Rick with my movement at the window that lets in some light. "What's that noise, Rick? It sounds like  someone is hammering -- at 6 o'clock in the morning! I hope it doesn't wake the kids." Rick listens then announces confidently, "It's a woodpecker." Anticipating my response he adds, "You can't stop him."  With that Rick goes back to sleep.

I'm already out of bed.  So I decide to watch the sun fill the sky.

Glorious.

As it did, the woodpecker left for a far away tree. And I opened my Streams in the Desert devotional.  The first part of today's entry:

May 28

The Lord's Times

"Thou makest the outgoing of the morning and evening to rejoice" (Psalm 65:8).

Get up early and go to the mountain and watch God make a morning. The dull gray will give way as God pushes the sun towards the horizon, and there will be tints and hues of every shade, that will blend into one perfect light as the full-orbed sun bursts into view. As the King of day moves forth majestically, flooding the earth and every lowly vale, listen to the music of heaven's choir as it sings of the majesty of God and the glory of the morning."

In the holy hush of the early dawn
I hear a Voice
"I am with you all the day,
Rejoice! Rejoice!"

I'm suddenly thankful for the woodpecker that called me out of bed to watch God make a morning.
And feeing certain it's going to be a good day.

PS. The WINNER of this week's giveaway of His Revolutionary Love is Christina Mathis.

A Revolution of Love

This is me with my daughter Alaina.

In the dedication of my book It's No Secret I wrote: "For my daughter Alaina. My love for you fuels my pursuit of these "secrets" to godly womanhood. Don't reject them just because Mom wrote them."

It's no small challenge to guide a daughter into the truths she needs to know.  Every day when I look at her, I feel the weight of that responsibility.  Therefore, I'm thankful for my friend Lynn Cowell - her blogs and her new book His Revolutionary Love are helping me to raise a confident teen.  I asked Lynn to guest post and share from her heart about this topic and she agreed.  She even agreed to give away a copy of her new book - so read on and then comment by midnight Thursday to enter!

So, take it away, Lynn! ...

How would your life have been different if you had been a confident teen? Would it have empowered you to make wise choices?


I was blessed enough to have a mother, youth pastor and older sister who all poured into me the truth of my identity: that I was a daughter of the King of the Universe. After high school, God blessed me with some women just a few years older than me, but light years ahead of me in their faith. The consistently taught me that Jesus was crazy about me and could fill every love gap I had in my heart. The confidence that this truth instilled in me gave me the confidence to say no to drinking, drugs and guys. It gave me the confidence to purpose God’s purpose for my life and begin to walk in His calling for me right out of high school.


Confidence is a major factor in young people when it comes to the paths they choose. Those craving acceptance, approval and affirmation to an unhealthy degree find themselves trapped. Caught between what they know is right and what they believe will win friends, they find themselves confused. They are uncomfortable, miserable even, but they don’t know how to navigate themselves back to what they were made for.

The amazing women in my life revealed to me some passages in God’s word that I needed at just the right time. I had never seen some of these truths before, it were as though I was slipped hidden love notes from Jesus. The truth that Jesus was wild for me (Psalm 45:11), that He saw no flaw in me (Song of Songs 4:7) and that He actually enjoyed me (Zephaniah 3:17) transformed the way I saw myself.



Lynn



Do you want your daughters, nieces and granddaughters to be filled with a confidence that is true and can stand the pressure of this world? “Girl power” just doesn’t hold up; it can only take our daughters (and us) so far. True confidence only comes from one source: knowing who we are. Only a foundation built on unconditional love will provide that.

Do you see a girl struggling with low self-image? Can you read in her eyes, “Won’t someone love me the way I am?” She needs to know when Jesus looks at her, He is not disappointed in her. She needs to know that love from a guy, be it a dad or a boyfriend, can never fill the love gap in our hearts…but He can.

Maybe you’ve thought about investing in a young girl, but you don’t know how. On my website I am offering a free leadership guide for my book “His Revolutionary Love”, a study for girls ages 13 - 17. Filled with practical how-to’s and thought provoking questions, this guide provides every step you need to do just that.

What young woman can you begin to pour truth into? Ask Jesus to show you one girl that you can make a difference in; one girl that you can begin to change the world through.

Let’s start a love revolution! A radical movement to spread the truth of real love!

I am happy today to give away a signed copy of “His Revolutionary Love.” To enter simply share what truth - divine or practical - you wish someone had told you when you were a teen.

~ Lynn Cowell

Hedges, Heat and a Winner

This weekend Rick and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on Saturday. Actually, Rick wound up M.C.ing multiple dance recitals that day for a friend who owns a studio. And I spent much of the afternoon at another friend's birthday party.  But we went out together for a romantic candlelit dinner. And he gave me an electric hedge trimmer.

Yes, you read that right. From Home Depot. Apparently year 18 is lawn and garden power tools.

Now before you get upset for me, this is actually something I asked for. The azalea bushes in my yard were past the point of threatening to take over; they were in charge. I was more than ready to reclaim my dominion.

A couple summers ago I borrowed a neighbor's power hedger and loved using it. With a wave of this electric wand I can bring a shrub to its knees.  OH the power!  (Insert a Tim the Tool Man Taylor-like grunt here.) So I was happy with my hubby and my hedge trimmer gift. Besides, I can always bedazzle it.

I'd show you before & after pics of the azaleas, only I'm not at home to take any. Our A/C picked the week it's going to hit the 90s to run out of freon. In the words of Jane Austin, "What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."

So I'm hanging out in the air conditioned cafe of a bookstore today. Which is a dangerous place for me to be hopped up on caffeine with a debit card and hours to kill. Somebody come talk me out of buying these books.

I was suppose to make a new fritatta recipe tonight to post tomorrow but I don't think that is going to happen in this heat. Instead I'll make my favorite thing for dinner - reservations.  It can be anniversary part two ... maybe I'll get some flowers this time around.  And when they die I'll mow them down with my shiny new orange and black hedge trimmer.

THE WINNER of this weekend's giveaway is commenter #36 - Julie Spearing.  Congrats Julie.  I'll mail the book to you, and I apologize in advance if it smells a little "inelegant."

Will I Conform?

I may have been complaining just a little in today's devotion, "Because He Said So," about my daughter's tendency to question things. Particularly the things I tell her to do.  Truth is, she's a lot like me. That's probably why she pushes my buttons.

I imagine there will be a point in her future when she turns to her best friend or husband and declares, "OH NO, I'm turning into my mother!"  Heaven help her, she's close already. But I don't tell her that - it would crush her. Instead I hug her and tell her, "You belong to me."

In recent weeks I've been given a personality profile, and a learning style assessment. It confirms that I lean heavily towards extroversion, and towards non-conformity. No wonder "blind" submission just because God says so doesn't always come easily to me.  But, my desire to please God is strong. So my mission is to obey the biblical commands, whether I understand them or not.

And I've never regretted a time that I did.

If you have a few minutes, go take this online personality assessment.  Then report back in the comments here which one it says you are. You can read the explantions of temperment and tell me if you think that is accurate, or if submission to authority or protocol comes easy to you.  (I know it's not exactly easy for anyone - just relatively speaking.)

Then, you'll be entered to win a signed copy of It's No Secret.

And if you're wondering, I'm an ENFP based on this test.