Praying It Forward

I still remember when I saw the movie Pay It Forward a decade ago. A few of the details escape me, but the premise of the story was forever ingrained in my heart and mind.

Kindness.

Randomly given.

Seeking nothing in return.

Keeping the cycle going.

Infusing good into the world three acts at a time.

What a concept.

It is interesting how quickly the inspiration we receive from movies, books, sermons, or teaching evaporates against the cold black night of a dark world.

Heartaches come.

Life happens.

People are mean and hateful.

Vanishing Act

Several years ago we went to see, world famous magician, David Cooperfield perform live. Both my husband and son are facinated by illusionists. I can't really say that I feel the same, although I must admit, some parts of the show were intriguing. 

The final act required participation from the audience. I can't recall the number of people involved but I'll never forget the jaw-dropping response of the audience, myself included, as 25+ people vanish before our eyes. People nearly broke their necks scanning the auditorium in an effort to discover where they had gone.

Then, after a short bit of time that felt like hours, much to the amazement of the crowd they all reappeared. Unharmed they stood before us just as though they had never left. And despite the fact that they we were complete strangers we collectively breathed a loud sigh of relief. It was really quite impressive.

Critical Care Giveaway

We've just posted our review of Candace Calvert's book Critical Care. Along with the review we are offering a signed copy to one of our readers.

Please stop in over at Perusing The Printed Pages for more information and to enter the contest, which ends on February 21rst.

If you already have a copy come by and win one to give to a friend!

Love & War

John and Stasi Elderedge's new book Love & War has been released just in time for Valentine's Day. You'll find more information on the book along with my review on Perusing the Printed Pages our review blog.

Enjoy!

Slip sliding away

After hibernating for several dreary snow filled days I awoke to the invitation of the sun bidding me to come outside and capture a glimpse of the winter wonderland that a recent winter storm had left behind.

I quickly obliged, new camera in hand, of course. Rushing out the front door my husband stopped me before I'd descended from the porch. "Be careful, it's solid ice" he said, as I was looking out at the blanket of white snow and my anticipation for taking pictures began to heightened.

"I'll walk through the snow" I replied thinking he was talking about the driveway. "No, you need to come here to me and I'll take you down to the street. Go slow." Honestly I did not want to heed his call as I preferred walking through snow to sliding downhill. Afterall, the camera is new, what good is a broken lens?

Beauty and the Beast

Many of you know that we had a real winter storm in Tennessee yesterday. I classify it because many times these storms never materialize although people clear the bread & milk from the grocery store days before they've been forecasted to hit.

For as long as we've lived in this state "snow" is considered a four-letter word that sends everyone running for cover. The longer I've lived here the more I've come to understand why.

Sleet, snow, and ice are beastly to deal with here in the South. Many of the roads are windy. Quite a few of the driveways run uphill. We have something called "black ice" which I am pretty sure is invisible.

There are very few tire tracks down the street right now. A few hours ago I watched as our neighbor tried to get into her driveway. To fully appreciate the amazement of her struggle you'd have to see that the driveway is hardly a car's length in distance but covered with inches of solid ice. She made it but it took quite a lot of work.

Wordless Wednesday--HOPE

When it comes to resolutions don't be an old bag

As we embark upon a new year many of us make resolutions. We resolve to make important changes in our lives that are long over due or to perform tasks that we have been putting off. The first day of each year, in a sense, we start fresh. It's a great feeling.

Many times the freshness wears off quickly as we fail to make good on our resolutions or continue to put off certain things. In short, for most, resolve is not enough to bring about much of the change we need.

Sometimes Love Lets You Fall

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my mother and I were enjoying a cup of tea and some conversation. Her full-time job and my "newlywed status" did not allow us the time to visit as often, which made our times together even more deeply treasured.

While the women were inside chatting, the men were out in the garage doing some kind of "man thing" to one of the cars. Every now and then we would peek out the window to check on them. We did a "head count" just to make sure they were all accounted for, but otherwise left them alone. Over the years we had learned never to disturb men at work.

We had just changed the topic of conversation when my husband appeared in the doorway. By the grimacing look of pain on his face and the tight grip he had on his thumb I could see, without him saying a word, that he was hurting badly.

Merry Christmas from the Lancasters

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