enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

Meeting Mother Mary

While driving to visit my dying nephew, I met Mother Mary. I'm not Catholic so meeting her that day was a wonderful surprise and beautiful blessing. I wasn't sure if my nephew would still be alive by the time I arrived, so I prayed. Prayer by prayer, mile by mile. I asked God to guide my words and give me strength to support my family. How could I possibly find the words to comfort his mother on this day? It was in the middle of the state, in the middle of no where, when she whispered..."Talk with me, I understand." Mother Mary assured me. Mother Mary, of course knew what my ... Read the Post

Dirty Laundry

As I sat there in the middle of the living room floor, knees folded beneath me, the rhythm of the task at hand hummed in my mind like a familiar tune. Sort, fold, stack. Sort, fold, stack. Laundry is such a routine task, and not one of my favorites. Yet, without warning, something else grabbed my attention. Stains. With two young and active kids, no amount of pre-soaking, scrubbing, or pre-treating gets out every single stain. Grass stains, slobber stains from a welcoming dog passing by, bubble-solution stains, wiping-my-hands-on-my-shirt-rather-than-a-napkin stains, ink stains, blood ... Read the Post

My blessed toilet bowl brush

When I look back at my spiritual walk, I can recall some very defining moments. Those moments that brought me into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. You might be thinking those moments came about when I was reading the Bible, listening to a sermon, through meditation or prayer but they weren't. It wasn't until recently, in hindsight, that I even acknowledge the importance of these moments. I describe these defining moments as,  “Joyfully Sacrificing My Flesh (Selfishness) for this Insignificant Task with little Appreciation.” I’m sorry about the long definition but it has ... Read the Post

Procrastination Costs

I'm a procrastinator. I struggle with it every day and I'm not proud of it. I've learned over time that procrastination costs. Sometimes it costs a lot. For instance, once I forgot about a court date for a traffic ticket. I kept putting off scheduling a new court date or paying the fine and it eventually cost me  an extra $400. You would think I would never put important things off again. But I still find myself procrastinating. And sadly it spills over into my spiritual life as well. Sometimes I wonder how many blessings I've lost out on because of this bad habit? More importantly, have ... Read the Post

A Hands-Full Decade

“I’m hungry! Let’s pray.” Chase piped up as I set down napkins and silverware. Both boys wiggled in their chairs at the dinner table. Trevor had just walked in the door, and he dropped his briefcase, hurriedly changed clothes, and joined us in the kitchen. As the four of us clasped hands, my hubby of almost fourteen years thanked God and blessed the food. But in that moment, I had to gulp down surprise at the sheer size of the two hands in mine; one of them almost-ten year old Cole’s hand and one of them just-turned-eight Chase’s hand. No longer small or unsteady, their hands nearly ... Read the Post