Listen up, ladies, I’ve got the shopping scoop for you! By now, you know to expect The Gift Goes On in November each year (on the 19th this year, to be exact). And I’m sure you are marking your calendars and anticipating the incredible, purchasing-with-a-purpose event where you can literally check off most items on your list, all in one night, setting the stage for less stress and more peace during the Christmas season. Woo hoo!
“Why are you always so bossy?” I remember exactly what we were working on in middle school science class when someone asked me that question. I immediately shut down and no longer participated in class that day. I had never wanted to be seen as bossy. I just wanted to get our group project done in an organized way.
Jesus was in the middle of teaching a lesson when a gaggle of scribes and Pharisees traipsed into the temple. While turning the spotlight from the Great Teacher, the religious leaders claimed the center of the room and carelessly tossed a young woman in the middle of their gathering. The crowd watched this unexpected showdown take place as Jesus rose from His seated position in the treasury room of the temple.
Our Mesta Park neighborhood gets REALLY into Halloween. We’re talking a full-sized zombie graveyard two doors from our house, an interactive Frankenstein lab down the street in the doctor’s window (complete with a skeleton popping out of a coffin to scare people as they walk down the steps to leave), and over 3,000 trick-or-treaters.
This morning I sat up and quickly decided to lie back down. Could I do life today? I wrapped myself tightly in the soft covers that always welcome me and closed my eyes hard. I knew what my mind would chant, and I knew I would have the choice to combat it with Scriptures, whether I committed to a day standing upright or not. One eye at a time reopened tentatively. The loud thoughts pressed in around my mind.
My friend, Kyla Pace, is one of those women who oozes Jesus. I’ve known her for over a decade, through some of the most challenging seasons of her life, and can honestly say that Kyla walked as intimately with Jesus in good health as she did throughout her recent battle with cancer…in fact, I’d say she walked even closer in the crisis.
