Hope From Your Mama!

 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered!  Don't be afraid; YOU are worth MORE than many sparrows!" ~Jesus I had a horrendous day.  There were just too many sad things going on around me and I wasn't very happy with who I was and my inability to fix all the sad things. It was one of those days where everything went wrong. Things came to a head and I had a melt down. I cried myself to sleep that night wondering if I would ever feel right again, or would I just sink lower and lower?   I awoke the next morning with my eyes swollen from the tears of the night before and barely having the ability to get out of bed.  But I did, and went to work at my housecleaning job with my sweet daughter and her schoolwork in tow. I clean at a house that has many windows.  My daughter usually sits at the kitchen table, works on her s

In proper society, we're not supposed to discuss Politics and Religion.  Well, don't worry, I won't talk about politics here at all. (wink wink) I hope you will know that this blog is in NO WAY intended to offend my brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to the Catholic Church.  I was actually baptized Catholic. Whenever I have asked for prayer for things, it is ALWAYS my faithful Catholic friends who pray for me and I KNOW that Father hears them and honors those prayers. Last Fall I went to Holy Hill Retreat Center and very much enjoyed the homily/sermon I experienced when I attended Mass.  I was delighted by the Grace and Truth of Jesus the Priest expressed in his message. I am actually repenting of my past negative thoughts of my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ!     I am using the Catholic religion only as one of many examples of how religion has not changed since Adam and Eve bit into the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Assuming to know the mind of G

Facebook/Social Networking/Blogging has certainly been an interesting phenomenon hasn't it? Possibly as relevant as the invention of the printing press! It is the ability to publicly express your thoughts and opinions without control or qualification given from a "higher up"... Well, unless of course someone in a "leadership position" reads your thoughts and moves to get you "kicked out" of some club or fired from a job! This really happens to people you know. I know a few personally. Most who know me, know that I very much enjoy social networking. I have taken heat about it on occasion. It is hands down one of my favorite hobbies.  It's funny that people have other hobbies that THEY don't get picked on for... working out, sports, reading... But, there it is. My sisters and brother used to call me "Chrissy Face" when I was little... then, when I was in High School, they shortened it to "Face"... So, I guess it&

One of the things I really like about myself is that I really don't have one "type" of friend that I enjoy being with.  I am thankful that I have a vast array of friends with different... every-things! I learn from people and have constantly been humbled whenever I'm foolish enough to start to make a stereotype.   I have a newer friend I met a little over a year ago who has been such a blessing in my life. She is a VERY spiritual person. Her roots in her faith have come from a more Charismatic/Pentecostal experience.  Things like, speaking in "tongues", visions, dreams, prophesying to one another.. are things that she is more comfortable with. My experience tends to be more of a "that just does not exist, so we don't talk about it" type of background. Even though I have always appreciated the mysticism that is God working all around us, all the time!   I love how she sees almost every situation in her life as a message from God. She is N

I am approaching my 25th Class Reunion! That to me is unbelievable. I have spent a longer time OUT OF school than I have IN school.  There is no time to lose that 30 lbs I wanted to lose... so I'm just going to have to go with my head held high and my girdle on tight! Truthfully, even though it's been that long since I've been there, I still struggle to this day with the feelings my school experience has left me with.  I was the baby of five kids. When I was about three, My Dad became a "Hippy".  He left the Rat-Race of the city of Milwaukee grew out his hair and his  beard and moved out to the sticks to make a go of becoming a grocery store owner. We moved into an extremely small town and were not welcomed with open arms to say the least. The irony of that, is that today, the little town I grew up in is one of the biggest "Hippy Towns" around! It's in "style" now! There was one family who lived in town that had a bunch of kids who wer

I went to see the movie,  "The Help", with some lady friends.  My husband and I had been to the movies a couple months before and I saw the poster for it and instantly knew I HAD to see that movie.  I did not realize it was a popular book. It is a story about the injustice of segregation and all of the fallout that happens when someone challenges that.  How people live in a way to consider themselves better than others or turn a blind eye when things seem to really be "just fine" with their world and yet cruelty and hatred abound in it's most sinister disguise, "morality" and "high society". The character, Aibileen, has been taking care of white folk's children since she was 14 years old. The movie starts off with her telling her tales of life as a housekeeper and caretaker of children. One of the things she narrates as you watch her just loving on this child was,  "Babies LOVE big thighs"... which immediately made my

Ghandi: “Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected” SO TRUE!  It needs to be REAL love, not this, "I know more than you, so I HAVE to tell you. Because THAT is Love",  type of love. Which probably isn't really love at all, is it?? In Rob Bell's "controversial promo video" for his book, "Love Wins", he shared that they had an art show at the church he Pastors. In it, they featured a piece of art that had a quote from Ghandi on it, and that somebody put a sticky note right on it saying,  "Reality Check, Ghandi is in HELL!"  I've always wondered what the quote might have been, and I BET this might be the one!! I found that Bell's book was not really so much about the doctrine of Hell. He gave some varying thoughts on the subject and I am perfectly happy to leave that whole discussion up to the "Big Boy Theologians."  I personally don&#

 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails . But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away! For we know in part and we prophesy in part , but when COMPLETENESS COMES, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a (dim) reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part ; THEN I shall know fully, even as I am fully known...  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.   BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE. The older I get, I tend to not look at things the same way as when I was younger. This is true in matters of my faith in God as well. Like the idea that God cannot (WILL NOT) be contained in a single denomination nor a "Set and Perfect Doctrine" or certain understanding of Scrip

I have always been a lover of good stories. Stories with lots of meaning, maybe a little romance  and a great happy ending that makes you weep! I tend to really like fantasy/fairytale type of stories.    My favorite books ever, are the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis.  They are children's' fairytales with these amazing, deep spiritual truths in them.  If you aren’t looking for the truths, you will probably miss them. I’ve also become acquainted with the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien.  I say to my shame that I have not read the books… Yet.  But I did see the movies!! I’d like to share a scene from one of those movies with you.  The second movie in the Trilogy, The Two Towers.  I watched it at a very difficult time in my life of dealing with some of the most trying times of my son's disability and feel that watching this movie was very much my Father speaking to me. Yes, He speaks to me often through movies! For those of you who are not familiar with

We have started to attend a new church recently called Radiant Fellowship. There are many reasons why we chose to switch churches after many years of attending a different one.  We did not decide to leave because of a fight or a strong dislike for anyone.  Although unfortunately, that did happen just before we switched churches. It was UGLY and probably one of the worst experiences of our life! It also taught us a lot of things we never would have learned if that bad experience had not happened.  I guess that is how life works sometimes. We didn't think that our old church was evil. We LOVED the Church there! By Church, I mean with a capital C, as in the "people" (like Jesus meant when He was talking about Church) not as in corporation or denomination. We just were journeying in different ways than the place we were at. The much smaller church we first became a part of almost twenty years ago, had slowly become a "Mega-Church" with this huge affluent