Posted on

Laughter, Joy and Power: The Nitrous Oxide Connection and Tips to Keep it Going!

This starts with a snail named Turbo who dreams of speed. When Turbo almost drowns in an engine filled with nitrous oxide–and my kids and I started getting nervous– I started to wonder: isn’t that stuff laughing gas??

Turbo snail engulfed in nitrous oxide.png

SNL skits and Steve Martin flashed before me, and I checked wiki to confirm: sure enough, the stuff that numbs pain and causes giggles is the same stuff that turns car horsepower into unicorn power.

Turbo Movie-Snail Speeds Away.jpg

I don’t believe in coincidences so what’s God trying to say??

Speed and Joy can go together like Slow and Annoyed, but maybe the connection runs deeper. What if Fun, Laughter, and Joy are some of our Greatest Weapons in life?

Maybe that’s why they’re constantly under attack…

Continue reading “Laughter, Joy and Power: The Nitrous Oxide Connection and Tips to Keep it Going!”

Posted on

God’s Love is Deeper than our Worst…

Visit any church and listen to people sing about God’s Love–but do they know how deep it goes? Can they understand it or would they recognize it?

spilled milkLove is easy when given to one who spills milk, but how about someone who spills blood? And not accidentally but purposefully?

The hard truth is God’s Love goes that deep… for the mass murderer, the child rapist, the filmer of any kind of torture….

We may think we’re decent people, innocent of such crimes, but don’t forget: your thought life is also part of the equation. Jesus said being angry with someone was like murder, and looking lustfully at someone was like having an affair  (Matthew 5:21-30).

Truly no one gets into heaven on merit, but we’re all invited:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, bible)

So considering all the hate and evil in the world, not just in deed but in thought- Jesus was on the craziest Love mission ever… Continue reading “God’s Love is Deeper than our Worst…”

Posted on

Transgender God, Part 1: What’s in a Name?

When I started this “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days looking into God’s Heart” series, I had no idea how deep I’d go.

In recent posts of this series I started noting:

I use ‘He’ and ‘His’ as pronouns for God, but fully recognize God with both Male and Female  ‘identity’–for lack of a better word–, as evidenced by the human race and through the Bible…” Post coming soon!

This is that post, and the topic is dear to my heart. It may disturb, but can also encourage, and my desire has been, as best as I can, to put God’s Heart ‘out there,’ crazy as It may be.

So let me “come out” about this.

Continue reading “Transgender God, Part 1: What’s in a Name?”

Posted on

Dance… Shake it Off!

This is a “5 Minute Friday” Prompt…shout out to Kate at Heading Home for hosting!
Objective: Free write for 5 minutes and stop. Simple. Ready to rock? 3…2…1…..Go!

D-Don’t stop. Nobody cares and Nobody’s opinion matters….when it’s all said and done there is only One Whose opinion counts, Who truly “gets” you, and Who understands your moves and totally, absolutely Adores them. (granted, a loving, doting father and mother might catch a glimpse too…)

A-Always feel free. Your church may not let you. Your husband may not join you. But I bet your kids will jump right in. Shake it off. You were born to fly. You were born to be free. Always remember…there’s more to Life than this life. Continue reading “Dance… Shake it Off!”

Posted on

What I Didn’t Say to my Son this Morning…Confessions of a Perfectionist Tongue

It’s a school holiday week here, and my husband let me sleep in (8am, woo hoo!). It was a rough night with our little one, and I came downstairs groggy. I had already been pondering the day from the bed–Will the kids listen? Will I lose my temper? (People, don’t set yourself up for failure…think positive, think of all the blessings..a home, bed, covers, and the kids are all safe together with me, put all the troubles squarely at God’s Feet. Deep breath. Ok, Let’s Go!)
My 6yr. old was sitting sweetly on the carpet watching a programme. I was about to greet him when I noticed his hair: loaded with way too much hair gel–again, smelling strongly and looked dusty. I was about to say: ‘hey, don’t you remember? Use just a bit of that stuff, ok?’

Continue reading “What I Didn’t Say to my Son this Morning…Confessions of a Perfectionist Tongue”

Posted on

God’s Halloween Costume: Trick or Treat, What’s Your Worth?

Day 14 in the “Wild Kids, Wild God- 31 Days Looking into God’s Heart” series.

Did God ever dress up for Halloween? Charges of blasphemy coming my way, but my answer is yes. Before we unpack lets look at how I got here.

13 days ago I read an article that changed my life. My image of #childtrafficking was painted girls in Thai brothels or teen runaways (as if that made it any better). But the story of a 5yr old Floridian boy passed around in his community for abuse destroyed me (and I put the whole planet up for annihilation in response).

whats-your-image-of-child-trafficking_painted-girls-jerome-elam
Whats your mental picture of #childtrafficking?

The headline read, “thousands were made off him…” and I did a double take– thousands, not millions??!!

A human being is Price-less.
Only Heaven Itself can articulate our worth…

Economics 101 says resources increase in value the rarer they are, yet humans, one-of-a-kind Divine Entities, have decreased in value. Continue reading “God’s Halloween Costume: Trick or Treat, What’s Your Worth?”

Posted on

God’s Sense of Smell: Poop Stinks…

Day 8 of the “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days looking at God’s Heart” Series.

Smell is maybe the most underrated of our 5 senses. It’ not flashy like *sight* or grabby like *touch*, but stick my nose under a box of Lucky Charms and I’ll immediately be transported to a daycare room in 1983.
That’s one Powerful Sense. Continue reading “God’s Sense of Smell: Poop Stinks…”

Posted on

Anything for the Kids….why I didn’t buy that nice jacket

Day 5 of the “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days looking at God’s Heart” Series.

No amount of books can prepare you for becoming a parent. You can read about missed sleep, missed showers, missed meals, missed mind… but you can’t prepare for how that actually feels.

Continue reading “Anything for the Kids….why I didn’t buy that nice jacket”

Posted on

Forgiveness and Forgetting–BFF

This is Day 3 of the “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days looking at God’s Heart“ Series.
Check the Introduction to the series here.

Forgiveness involves forgetting.

When I had my first child I was a bit paranoid and controlling about almost everything…what he ate, drank, saw, what gifts he got…is that organic? Does this have phthalates in it? Are you smoking..? Even before a friend wanted to hold my baby one time I asked, did you wash your hands? (Phew! So glad to be delivered from all that bondage!) Continue reading “Forgiveness and Forgetting–BFF”

Posted on

Stay the “Same”… or Show Up?

This post is an unedited, 5-minute free write on the word prompt “Same.” It’s part of a “5 Minute Friday Challenge” and you can view the wonderfully diverse results from other bloggers at the bottom of the linked page.

May the contents inspire you to Shine the wonderfully awesome, one-of-a-kind Light you have in you…
———————3, 2, 1… GO——————–

Continue reading “Stay the “Same”… or Show Up?”

Posted on

Life like Contractions

Things are going well. You got some sleep, had a moment to shower and are about to start the day. Then it begins…..pressures piling up, minute by minute, moment by moment.

The kids are yelling and whining- each about something different, the baby is crying upstairs for milk, your husband is in bed sick, quick–take a deep breath before you lose it!.. Continue reading “Life like Contractions”

Posted on

Beauty fades, Kindness Never Goes Out of Style

1 Real Woman, 18 photoshopped versions based on cultural preferences. Lesson learned: You’re Beautiful. Period.

We’re all one-of-a-kind, never to be repeated or replaced beings. Don’t be bothered by “standards” which are always changing and never satisfied.

If we want to work on/filter anything, let it be our Kindness and Love. That never goes out of style and does a world of good. Literally.

parallel-world_2014_EstherHonig__wysiwyg_before and after photoestherhonigbeforeandafterphoto3

Check Video, Cultural Differences of Beauty here, or Slideshow: “Perceptions of Perfection.”

Posted on

Watch: Colorblind man sees Purple for the First Time #HeavenGlimpse

It’s so easy to take vision and the beauty of color for granted. Watch the video when someone who is colorblind sees purple for the first time. Get a glimpse of how beautiful the world around us actually is. His response to grass broke my blind heart.  Continue reading “Watch: Colorblind man sees Purple for the First Time #HeavenGlimpse”

Posted on

Keep Moving Forward–Grace and Choices

If you’ve ever been on a bike you know that slowing down too much can cause you to fall. You have to keep moving in order to keep steady. I think life can be like this–we keep moving forward, or we start to fall… Continue reading “Keep Moving Forward–Grace and Choices”

Posted on

The Lost Sheep, a Diamond-in Progress

Have you ever asked God: “if you love me so much, if you accept me so much, why are you trying to change me?”  But what if He’s not trying to change us? Maybe we are being polished, like diamonds. A smudged diamond is still a diamond, but a little buffing makes it shine, and being a ‘brighter diamond’ will surely benefit others:

…my kids will benefit from me having more patience, strangers will benefit from me showing more kindness… I would benefit from extending more grace to myself …

Continue reading “The Lost Sheep, a Diamond-in Progress”