THE ENCOURAGERS LIFE

From the tiny body, that occupied the seat at the kitchen table, came one of the loudest grunts I have ever heard in my life.  It was homework time, and while they aren't the most stressful thing... yet, my young child looked frustrated while tapping furiously at my device. He had got one wrong on his quiz. Never mind the amazing score of correct answers he achieved, he was annoyed at the ONE question that caught him out. As I reasoned with him that it was ok to get things wrong and make a mistake, he replied with a sentence that echoed in my very soul. "But I don't want to make mistakes." In that moment I saw myself in him. I remembered standing in front of my friend after church just pouring myself out to her and explaining, through tears and snot I may add, that I just wanted to be good. I have made many wrong turns in my life. I have went against my instinct when it came to relationships. I have been mean from time to time. I have wrestled with feelings of anger a...

For all of my life I have not been the ‘average,’ woman.  To each person that may mean something different so, I would like to clarify my perspective.   When I was growing up I thought womanhood was about; Dolls Having boyfriends or male admirers Gentleness Quietness Fertility Being good at stuff but not sharing about it. Knowing how to dress Knowing how to style my hair and do the whole makeup thing   And I didn’t fit.   I hated dolls and they still creep me out a little bit.   I was often mistaken for a boy because I was always covered in nature or doing, ‘boy activities.’   In fact I have often worked in male dominated environments.   Environments that woman are a rarity. This didn’t allow boys to find me datable or attractive and I became a, ‘good time girl,’ rather than girlfriend material.   And the worst thing was, I let them.   I wanted to be loved and adored but I met men that preyed on that desperatio...

  Moses’ story is vast and complex and holds a wealth of treasures within it. The escape from genocide. The dance between mother and foster/adoptive mother. The tug of his family to his privilege and circumstance.   From murder and desertion. To wandering homeless. To marrying in to a new life.   To then returning to the scene of a crime. To being the leader that God appointed for the Exodus. To delegating and creating a structure in which to serve the community he led in to the desert, destined for the Promised Land.   Moses is a success story out of tragic beginnings. Death. Murder. Separation. Pain. Anguish. Loss. Injustice. Fear. His story is littered with negatives, but yet hope reigns and people are appointed to aid Moses’ survival.   Hope for change. Hope for freedom. Hope for new beginnings.   Moses story can encourage us all if we know what to look out for.   There is one part of his ...