uptomytoes

Tag: prayer

  • When Your Questions are as Deep as Your Faith

    I enjoyed a lovely lunch with a dear friend who epitomizes grace, although she probably wouldn’t agree. She is one of those people who has suffered so deeply it’s hard to understand how she is still standing upright, much less smiling and serving others with compassion. She is deep. Deep in faith. Deep in grief.…

  • Straight Paths and Slam Dunks

    I’m trying to dig deeply into Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.” It’s verses I’ve had memorized for a long time. Every time I come across them, the promise of…

  • Everything Uphill

    I just got off the phone. I was praying with a friend about this life that is feeling very hard. She is such a dear friend. She knows the life I’ve lived for the past ever so many years and she prayed, “Lord, it just seems like everything is an uphill battle.”   And I felt…

  • Life on the Stump

    There once was a glorious old oak tree that, for years, we affectionately called “Grandpa’s Tree”. It stood on a bit of a hill overlooking the river. In its prime, this mighty oak provided peaceful shade and a quiet place to read a great mystery, ponder life and love, and offer heartfelt prayers to God. …

  • Not Exactly What I Was Looking For

    One morning recently, my oldest daughter and I were having our weekend morning coffee together time. We talk, share, and lament the lack of sleep one or both of us had the previous night. This particular morning we decided to get on the ferry and head to a beach where you can find shark teeth.…

  • Asking A Lot

    On the second floor of my home is a little room barely big enough for a twin bed and a very small dresser. We call it the tiny room. I’m not sure what it was designed for, but for a while, I called it my “junk drawer.” You know, that kitchen drawer that becomes the…

  • When You Just Want to Hide the Hard

    This past weekend I planted 7 large bushes. Digging the holes ‘bout killed me. I was determined to get through all the roots, rocks, and clay. I jumped on that shovel like my life depended on it. Wrestled those shrubs out of their buckets and into my hard-fought holes. Filled back in the edges with…

  • Be Who You Already Are

    I was sharing with a dear friend some hard things that were happening and she texted me this, “God will provide abundantly and be your Bridegroom. He is King. Be His beloved.” Gentle but powerful words that went straight to my heart.  In those words I heard, “Be who you already are.”  I am Beloved.…

  • Prayer Is…

    Prayer has been both my first response and my last resort.  It has been the thread of sanity through difficult seasons.  The words that put me back to sleep during a restless night.  Prayer is the ending of long days The blessing offered with my children at night.  The quiet of the morning and the…

  • When Ordinary is Not Enough

    When Ordinary is Not Enough

    I’m so busy wanting small things to make life easier, and God is telling me to ask for big things that make life extraordinary.