Only One Thing Is Needed: Don't Miss Jesus This Easter

From where I stand, I can now look back over my life and see that I've always been a writer. I'm the writer who, as an awkward middle schooler, kept a diary of my secret thoughts. I'm the writer who knew that someday I'd grow up, and like all the other adults, forget what it's like to be a teenager. I wouldn't understand. I wouldn't get it anymore. So I wrote to make sure my older, more mature {albiet forgetful} self could look back and remember and, of course, be enlightened by the wisdom of the entitled, self-loathing, hormonal prodigy that I was. The teenager is always right, after all.

I'm the writer who would sit up in my bedroom for hours, listening to Green Day and spilling my emotions and tears out onto a spiral bound notebook. At a time in my life when I felt so alone and misunderstood, writing created just the right amount of space to begin to make sense of my world. Somewhere in-between the jumbled thoughts in my brain and the purple pen scribbling across those college ruled pages, life became a little more clear.




I'm the writer who took Creative Writing projects in 4-H and kept a stack of stories in my closet, many of which began with "It was a dark and stormy night…" I'm the writer who aspired to be a doctor or virologist in High School, while simultaneously geeking out over proofreading notations, sentence structure, vocab words, and research papers. I'm the writer who didn't actually read the assigned reading in Language Arts but opted for the Cliff Notes instead. Sorry, Mr. Snook. It's true. Always looking for the easy way out…

I'm the writer who majored in Social Work at college, where I also enjoyed research and writing papers, proofreading papers for friends, hoarding grammar books that had nothing to do with my major, and keeping extensive journals during travels. I'm the writer who, as a stay-at-home mom, started a couple blogs "just for the heck of it." I'm the writer who never realized I was a writer, until now.

In hindsight, it's easy to look back over the tapestry of my life and spot the threads of writing, of teaching, of speaking and encouraging. I think that's me: writer/teacher/speaker/encourager. They're woven in there together with all the other stuff. Some threads come and go, but those have always been. It's funny how an aspect of yourself can exist for so long and you just don't see it. Sometimes it takes another person pointing it out. Sometimes it takes some affirmation for you to believe it's really a strength. 


It's the same thing with Jesus. He's always been there, yet some people don't see it. Some might not ever see it. We can get so consumed with other things that we miss Him completely.


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. {John 1:1-3}



God is the author of the top best-selling book in all of history: the Bible. It's His love letter to us, His journal. It's where He writes his inmost thoughts and feelings, and if we take the time to explore it's contents and read it's pages, we will come face to face with the very heart of God. His heart has always been for the redemption of mankind, since the beginning of time. We wander, and even though we turn away, He still loves us so. He chases after us, pursues us, and woos our wandering hearts back to Him once again.

He knew we would sin. He knew we would choose ourselves, our flesh, and our own wisdom, so He had a plan to save us all along: that plan was Jesus. It always was. When man sinned in the Garden, it certainly grieved the heart of God, but it didn't catch Him off guard. He had already prepared a way to save us from ourselves, to make things right between us again.

Why didn't He just send Jesus right then? Why did He make us wait so long? Because the learning is in the living, folks. We can now look back over thousands of years and see for ourselves, written on thin pages in black and white, that the Lord our God is faithful. Over and over and over again. To the point of insanity, really, and if He were anyone other then God we would seriously think, WHY haven't you given up on them already?? You know they're just going to turn right around and mess up again!!

But thankfully the Lord is not like us! He is faithful. He is true. He is constant, unchanging and unfailing. He can use anyone, anywhere, with any past and any excuse, to accomplish His purposes. He qualifies the called. He longs for all to be saved. His love for us knows no bounds, that He would go as far as to sacrifice His one and only Son for the greater good: for you. For me.



As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you carethat my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. {Luke 10:38-42}



Don't miss Jesus this Easter season! Don't be so busy running around cooking, cleaning, shopping, preparing, dying eggs and visiting bunnies that you forget that the God of the universe came down to earth, lived among us, and died for our sins that we may live FREE! But if you're not looking, you might. If you're not paying attention, you may miss it.

Only one thing is needed, so choose wisely. The God who does not give up, whose love knows no bounds, who will stop at nothing to save your soul is ON YOUR SIDE. He's on our side. And He's victorious!




O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, 
He's alive, He's alive!










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April 15: For the LOVE of Metaphors



I love metaphors.

I just do, ok? Analogies, too, but mostly metaphors. I've reached a whole new level of nerd this week with that realization. But I stand by my conviction: metaphors are awesome!


Less is more.


Life is like a box of chocolates. 


 We ALL know those and many more. Classic and timeless. There are also some lesser known ones, like My husband is a food processor. He is. You can ask him yourself. The food processor is my favorite of all the kitchen appliances, for starters. The food processor can take a bunch of nuts and make from those a smooth, delicious butter. Likewise, my husband is able to take a bunch of nuts {i.e., our family} and help us blend and work well together through good communication, forming relationships as smooth as peanut butter. Most of the time. Sometimes the nuts are too raw and the butter never really comes together. But, like the blade in the food processor, he can also be sharp. And loud. ;) 

I, on the other hand, am more of a coffee pot. So yes, I love metaphors. And guess what? Jesus did, too, so I'm in good company. :) In fact, the Bible is full of them! About 500 or so.


Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. {Matthew 7:24} 

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. {Matthew 13:24} It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches. {Luke 13:19} 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. {Matthew 13:45}

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. {Matthew 13:47} 

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. {Mark 10:15}

But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. {Luke 6:49}

Why did Jesus teach in parables? In metaphors? Because by doing so, He was able to make lofty concepts like the "kingdom of heaven" and the "Holy Spirit" understandable to mere humans. By painting a picture with words, using things that were familiar to us, He enabled us to see into the vast and incomparable heart and mind of God. A good metaphor instantly sparks understanding in a reader, creating an ah-ha! moment, a new and fresh understanding. A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. {Proverbs 25:11}




What type of kitchen appliance best describes you? Husbands, if you're thinking about how to describe your wives, a leaky faucet is off limits. Just FYI.