uptomytoes

Category: Suffering

  • Let Him Have It!

    Recently someone asked me what God is doing in my life.  What big things has God done? And I had to think… Sometimes it feels like I’m in a perpetual state of weary and I can’t see beyond the next moment…and other times I’m so desperate for a change that I look ahead with either…

  • A Simple Life

    One of my favorite things is playing the piano.  I grab a moment here or there to play a song or two whenever I get a chance.   Yesterday I pulled out one of my Christmas songbooks and began playing “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” by Chris Easton and Amy Grant.  I remember when it…

  • The Rest of the Story…or Running Away

    The other day I was reading the story of Elijah and the Baal priests.  How God rained down fire from heaven and burned up an altar saturated with water.  How Elijah prayed and God answered.  How Elijah was blessed to see the power of God first hand and to be a part of the display…

  • Can I Say “Really?!?” to God?

    Have you ever felt like the verse you just read, the devotional you just opened, or the thought someone just shared was…well…for lack of a better word…ugh? My sister-in-law Debbie sent me a devotional this morning. She surprises me with really beautiful encouraging texts. Just when I need them. This morning the devotional included this…

  • No Longer a Dragon

    Sometimes it amazes me how often God gently confronts me with His word. Lately it seems every time I open the Bible or work on my Bible study or talk to a friend, He is there prodding and prompting and loving me. This past week was one of the most difficult at my job. Sometimes…

  • Those Things and Thankfulness

    There is this thing I keep talking about.  This thing called thankfulness.  I keep coming back to it in my life and in my writing. I think it is because God keeps bringing me back to it. Over and over and over again. Today my devotional time included the verse I often use to deal…

  • But he said…

    But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:9 I have taken for granted that I understand this verse. I’ve had it memorized for years, but I don’t think I fully grasp its meaning.  I think I’ve been skating along the surface…

  • God said No and That’s a Good Thing

    I just have to begin by saying thank you for all the prayers and kind words of encouragement. Yesterday I finally called to find out test results.  I was twisted in knots waiting and decided that it was time to just find out already. When I called the nurse took a minute and then came…

  • Happy to Wait?

    Is there anyone in the whole wide world who is happy to wait? Anyone like the Psalmist who can truly say they waited patiently? Let’s just say that I could absolutely not have written this Psalm unless you added the word kinda… I kinda waited patiently for the LORD.  I’m trying though…trying to wait patiently.…

  • Up to My…Head

    When I started this blog I wanted to offer hope with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure.  I can, at times, be a little funny.  My amusing side has been slipping a bit lately, and I’d like to find that voice again. As I begin this new year, I’m thinking I want…