Ramblings of a Christian Wife

There is a song that I love that is called "Breath" by one of my favorite Christian artists; Jonny Diaz.  I often recall this song when I am feeling particularly stressed in life, which seems to be frequently in the past several weeks.  Spring is really a difficult time of year concerning my depression, it is also full of the bustle of end of the school year wrap up at both work and home.  At home the kids are anxious to get out of school for the next three months, they have plans they want to see come to fruition, and their attitudes become one of inpatient.  Working at a school means that I am also dealing with inpatient from the Middle Schoolers around me.  Our stock is running low on some of their favorite items because we don't want to over-order, the kitchen staff is trying to order what we need without ordering too much, and we are trying to schedule a good time to shut down the kitchen for the summer, as well as fighting our own anxiety for some much nee...

A few weeks ago, just before Christmas, we received news that a relative of my husband and his wife had lost there four day old daughter due to a birth defect.  It was of course heartbreaking for my husband and I to hear of another couple who had to say goodbye to their child so soon after hello.  For us it brought up a flood of emotions and memories that are always just below the surface. Another family member suggested we reach out to this couple because we share a similar experience.  Since then I have been trying to think of a way to help them feel better along their journey but I am struggling  It is not that I do not want to reach out to them, I often wish I had someone who had some understanding of what we were experiencing back when we lost Azure.  My struggle comes with what to say to help them. I wish I could tell them that the empty feeling deep inside will eventually go away but that would be a lie.  There are days when, even after having my t...

The Sexual Revolution, Generation X, the age of Aquarius, Live Fast Die Young; every generation has some sort of motto or title that is used to try to sum up the beliefs and behaviors of the people from that era and the current generation is no exception.  The motto for this generation "Tolerance!" This generation boldly proclaims that we should be tolerant of every life choice, every religious belief, and every political point of view from gay marriage, to Islam, to adultery, we are told we should "mind our own business, and let everyone do what makes them happy."  Sounds good right, if we let people do whatever they want, how ever they want, and with whomever they want, then the world will be a much better place, right?! I would say no, it isn't right and I will explain why I feel this way.  Really, the explanation is rather simple; 100% tolerance is not possible!  Why? Well, lets look at the society of the "civilized" world.  Throughout the worl...

Today my family buried the last of my Otto and Mable's (my Great Grandparents) five children.  It was a touching ceremony in which the Pastor made sure that all in attendance were aware of my Uncle's (Howard) faith, just as the pastor did when my Grandfather (Lester) passed away six years ago.  I know there were some at the funeral who believed it to be "too preachy" and not enough about Howard.  The same people were likely those who complained about it when Grandpa passed but I can say, I hope that when it is my turn to go up "yonder" the pastor will make my funeral less about me and more about Jesus. For myself, the mention of my Uncle and Grandfather's faiths has special significance.  You see, when I was a little girl, my parents did not go to church.  Sunday mornings were for sleeping in and watching golf (okay that was mostly for Dad but Mom didn't attend church either).  Likely, we would have followed the same path if not for my Grandparents...

After the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage this past week, I have had an array of thoughts and emotions concerning the moral state of this country and what all this means to me as a Christian.  I have been hesitant to put anything down into words other than in my personal journal for several reasons.  One of those reasons is that most of those closest to me already know my stance on homosexuality and same sex marriage.  At some point repeating those views becomes as ineffective as using a bucket to bail water out of the Titanic.  Another reason is that I am simply not sure how I should react.  I know what the Bible says about God's design for marriage (one man, one woman; simple enough) and what God says about sin (which homosexuality is).  I also know that I am a sinner as much as anyone else and I truly believe that God sees all sins as equal; save one, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).  I have thought long and hard about what I want to e...

Mother's Day is a special day in which we celebrate our Moms and all they did for us growing up.  For those of us who are Moms, we often celebrate our mothers because we now know what they endured raising us.  After all those years of wondering why our mothers did what they did we finally have a realization of the truth, being a Mom is the most challenging thing you will ever do.  But I want to address this post, not to children but to fathers. I once had a man say he did do anything for his wife on Mother's Day because she is not his mother. I wasn't sure exactly how to respond to this at first.  I mean that is not an inaccurate statement but it didn't quite sit right with me.  Then it dawned on me why.  No, your wife is not your mother, obviously, but she is still worthy of celebration on Mother's Day. Your wife willing gave up so much to bring your children into this world.  Her body has endured the trials of having another human being share i...

If you have been anywhere outside your home or watched television in the last couple of years, I am sure you are familiar with the books in the "50 Shade of Grey" series.  I know that I have heard about these books, and sadly now the movie, from friends, family, co-workers, and even perfect strangers in the store.  The books have been referred to as "romance" but in reality, they are not at all romantic, they are pornography.  Now, I know many people see pornography as containing actual images of naked people engaged in sex acts, but if you have ever read a "steamy romance" you know that reading about sex acts can invoke the same feelings as viewing pornography. I will go as far as to say that reading books such as 50 Shades of Grey, etc., is not only the same as viewing pornography, it is adultery.  Of course, I know some of you just said to yourselves that I am stretching it a bit but I don't think so.  However, before I get into the reasons for my...