“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

My heart is so full of joy, I could almost burst. As I find myself with time to focus today, God is pressing upon my heart the need to stop, breathe Him in, reflect and praise Him for the intricate pattern He is weaving through my life and the lives of my family. Honestly, it’s almost beyond words.


About a year and a half ago, my husband was laid off from his sales rep job. At the time, it was pretty devastating. We are a two-income family out of necessity, not choice. Faced with only a few months of severance and a collapsing job market, I went to my knees. And you know what happened? God poured into us. He provided resources and opportunity to help us make it several months without a lot of struggle. But then, he took it up a notch. That provision allowed Steve to find his true purpose and passion. His baseball knowledge, and his ability to share that knowledge through teaching, is a true gift. His dream of starting a baseball academy to prepare young men for life lessons, and perhaps the next level of their own baseball careers, began to take shape. Time and time again, God placed in his path the right people, met his needs and opened doors. I like to say He moved mountains, because He really did.

Its been just over a year since the epiphany moment when God made it abundantly clear this was where Steve needed to be. We stand on the cusp of seeing it in action as three teams take to the fields to begin tournament play. Hours of instruction, practice, patience, scrimping and scraping together the funds and commitment are about to bear fruit. I’ve never been more proud of my husband and I’ve never been more grateful to our Heavenly Father.

Amazingly, this isn’t all! God is working a downright miracle in my life as well. He has brought several friends and family members along side of me as I pursue a path to listen to the whisper in my heart to do more to “help God write His story.” Those words echoed in my spirit nearly a year ago as I pondered my own purpose and path. And, just like in Steve’s case, God has brought into my life friends who bless me, lift me up and encourage me to press on.

In just a few short weeks, nearly 70% of the funds I need to attend a Christian speakers/writers conference have been generously donated by friends and family. I’m confident and expectant that God will provide the rest of the funds and that door will open. From there, I’m surrendered to His will and His timing. I’m learning to listen more and respond in faith. I’m never disappointed when I do, so I know that this time God is knitting together something amazing and I’m humbled and grateful He wants me to be a part of it.

Let me encourage anyone reading this. God will pour into you as well. We are no different than the next person – that is the beauty of God’s amazing grace. It is available for all of us and if we’re willing to surrender to Him, we will be blown away by what He will do. In Jesus’ own words, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Amen and Praise God!

“The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” Proverbs 15:2

This is such a difficult lesson for me, but it’s obvious to me that it is one that the Spirit is pushing me to work on. For years, I was a hothead; snapping a curt response or flying off the handle at really little things of no consequence. I noticed when my kids came along that my episodes were more frequent. Not a great place to be. Definitely not where I wanted to be nor the kind of example I wanted to be setting.


It has taken years of prayer, practice and patience – none of which I made a regular habit back then – to make even the slightest bit of progress. But, I’m thrilled to say that with Heavenly help, I have made progress. Notable progress, which encourages me to press on and keep pushing forward to make even more progress.

In our Bible study group, we were discussing the story of Jezebel, very likely one of the least likable ladies in history. The lesson took us into James 3, where we discussed the importance of a guarded tongue. Wooh, that struck a nerve, I tell you! James 3:9 says “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.” Ouch. How many times has that been me? Too many.

There is hope – there is progress and there is the gift of another day. With a new day comes another opportunity to guard my tongue, pray, breathe, pause, carefully approach my responses in those situations where I’m tempted to resort to my old ways. In a span of only a few days, there were several instances when I was able to (with God’s grace) let things go, breathe in and out while saying Jesus’ name and just let things go without any incident. And you know what, I am a more responsive, obedient Christian when that is my perspective. That’s when I start to think about why a person is doing or saying something where I would respond inappropriately – rather than getting angry or hurt, I see them as a fragile child that God loves as much as He loves me and that changes everything.

I came home and studied through James 3 and then went into the other noted verses, from the Psalms and Proverbs – where today’s title passage settled in and grabbed a hold of my heart. And God reminded me that when we pause to look back on the progress we’ve made, we should rejoice in that moment. So, I did. As a woman, it’s so easy to beat myself up of a lack of progress focus on the 1 (or 2 or more) times when I don’t respond the way I know I should and want to. But I know that without the grace of God every day, I cannot do anything. And when I cling to Him and keep him front and center, everything goes in a whole different direction than if I were trying to paddle alone.