Southern Living Yankee

BACK TO BUSINESS I've been away from writing way too long. Juggling Tom's new swing shift schedule, training 50 hours for the library job, and the "sale of the season" every weekend at you-know-where were enough spinning plates for me. Today is the day. Tom's at work now, Aaron's at school, I am off today and tomorrow, so this is it! In a few moments I will look at the pages I've written for the book. After weeks away, what will I see? Will they be amazing? Wonderful? Uplifting and encouraging? Or just the opposite--my greatest fear--DREADFUL!?? So, please pray for me today. Pray for wisdom and patience and perseverance. Pray for clear thinking, freedom from interruptions and distractions; pray that I can focus! Also, please pray for my friend, Crystal, who is having radiation treatment today and will have to be in isolation for the next several days. "People person" and involved mother that she is, this is extremely difficult. Our Thanksgiving w...

PROMISE IN MY POCKET Every time I put my hand in my pocket, there it was, God's promise to get me through today: "The Lord is the strength of my life, whom shall I fear?" My nervous fingers literally held onto the post-it note I wrote it on. I had laid awake most of the night, anticipating a confrontation at work. A last-minute Bible look brought this verse to my attention. It would be my lifeline, stuffed deep in my pocket. Meditating on it, I realized how well it corresponded to another favorite verse of mine: "God arms me with strength and makes my path perfect." And then I remembered how I'd gotten into this sticky situation: I had prayed and asked God for something. Moments later it happened! God was in this! He had started it, and He would be my strength. I had nothing to fear. And now it's evening. I survived. God was right, there was nothing to fear. Here from my third floor window, city lights shine against blackness as the day closes. The radio...