He was ahead of his time, having owned one of the first home computers. We like to think that he would have an iPad, iPhone, a Mac, and would be the king of texting, tweeting, and Facebook, if he was still here. He would be so proud that I reached my goal of being published. He would be so happy that Dan and I are still together and that we’ve raised two well-rounded, God-loving kids. He’d be really into Kayla’s photography and would probably monopolize Seth’s every waking moment with computer programing and all kinds of techy things.

Dad, we sure miss you!

My son tells me I’m superstitious. I deny it. But maybe I am. So I began thinking positively that I would not have surgery. And I didn’t. Of course, it has nothing to do with how positive my thinking was. It simply has to do with the fact that God is all powerful! He is all knowing. He knows we don’t have health insurance. He is in control of my life. He allowed me not to have surgery this November and I praise Him for it. But I know if I had had to have surgery, He would have paid for it. He’s good like that.

So, on the back side of the month of thankfulness, I can say that I am thankful for many, many things in my life. But one thing I am thankful for is that I did not have to go under the knife or the laparotomy or whatever they call it these days…and that I was here to pray for others who were going through medical and other issues.

Have you thanked HIM today?

There’s a thief that the Bible speaks of. That thief is Satan. John 10:10 tells us: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” That’s his ONLY goal. He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t just want to play with you. He wants to destroy you and steal everything away from you. He comes in the dark or he comes when you’re not home. By this, I mean that he comes when you’re not paying attention. When you’re not on guard. When you’re in your darkest moment and you’re just about to cry out to God. When you have relaxed just a little and gotten comfortable with things. He’s not a knight in shining armor!

The thing is it’s just a game to Satan. Once he wreaks havoc in your life, he’ll move on to his next victim, laughing in your face that he’s used you to destroy your own life and the lives of others.

So why in the world do we allow ourselves to be a player in his game? If Satan likes to play games, then we should give him a run for his money. We should make it the game that lasts forever…or at least until Jesus takes us home or He comes back. We should not roll over and let him win.

The second part of John 10:10 says: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest.” This is Jesus talking. He wants to give us life and he wants it to be full and victorious. No matter what life throws at us, we’ve got to remember that Jesus is the ONLY giver of life. No one apart from God can have this life. Partnering up with someone who isn’t walking in the same light as Jesus (and as you, if you’re a Christian) will lead you down a dark and lonely path. And when you get to the end of it, which you will, Jesus will still be there for you. And your loved ones will be, too. But think about the impact your deeds of playing for the wrong team will have on those you’ve tried so hard to reach.

1 Peter 5:7-9 says: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
In these end times, let’s all commit to praying for each other and for those who have gone astray. Pray for the lost that they may see the light. Pray for the deceived that they may see Satan for who he is and that Jesus is the only Way. He’s the Truth. He’s the Light.

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It could be for more humility. More thankfulness. Or even more love. But right now, that’s not what I would ask for. It would be for more ears so that I could listen to the precious voices of my husband and two children all at once and never miss a single thing they ever say. To be able to hear every utterance that comes out of their mouths while they are here with me on this earth would be a precious gift.

Alexia Lindale is an attorney. Aside from her career and her pets, there isn’t much for her in the small town of Santee, South Carolina. She’s a self-sufficient woman who longs for more deep down inside.

The tag line for this novel is: How can Attorney Alexia Lindale support the wishes of her client when the goal is a near-certain death?

Life Support centers on the life of Baxter Richardson. He seems to have it all. But then he plummets off a cliff and his life and the lives of everyone in the story are literally changed forever. Alexia is hired to represent Baxter’s wife, Rena, in a case against Baxter’s father, in which she wants to unplug Baxter from life support. His father wants to use his legal rights to overrule her wishes. Everyone connected to Baxter has selfish motives for wanting him either dead or alive. No one can agree, not even the doctors, on what to do with him. He’s a pawn in the Richardson family game. People are easily manipulated and bought. The interesting thing is that everyone seems to think that if Baxter’s life support is terminated, he will die.

Of course, there is more to the story than just the Baxter Richardson case. Alexia Lindale has her hands full with career complications, other clients, her life outside of work and her softening heart. So caught up in living the life of an attorney, she never expects the changes that begin to occur in her private life.

Robert Whitlow puts some awesome twists in this book. He also uses symbolism quite well. His characterization is amazing. I like his attention to detail without overdoing it. He leaves a lot to the imagination. He makes you care for the characters and some of the events that happen in the book actually caused me to feel for them. It was very real.

There are questions raised in this book that do not get answered and I was glad to know there is a sequel. At first I thought the sequel was just about Alexia, the attorney, and was relieved to know that it was the continuing drama of the Richardson family. There is so much growth and change that needs to occur in all of them that the story simply could not end with one book. I immediately ordered the follow-up, Life Everlasting.

This is the first book I have ever read of his and plan to read all of them!

Last night, I went to the first meeting of the year for my homeschool group. Since I’m no longer homeschooling, normally I wouldn’t have been there. But I am a founding member of the group and I am the first one to have graduated all of her children (albeit there were only two so that may not be such an accomplishment to some of you) so the group wanted me to remain as the first alumni member. When I walked in the door, I was instantly greeted and hugged and made to feel as just as much a part of the group as I have always been.

I got to thinking about church friends on the way home. Do church friends make you feel this way? Like even though you’re not going there anymore you’re still just as welcome at a small gathering of the ladies? Or if you’re new, do you feel just as welcomed as the regulars? If not, they should. Friends are friends and if they don’t treat you like an old friend when they see you, then they’re not friends.

Have you ever felt like Job in Job 19:19? It says: “All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.” I hope not.

I used to be guilty of paying more attention to my new friends than my old. Now I am more often too guilty of paying more attention to my old friends than my new. I hope and pray that as time continues to pass by my way that I will make new friends, keep the old ones, and treat them all like they are my best friends!

Proverbs 18:24: One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 12:26a: The righteous choose their friends carefully.

1 Samuel 20:42: Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

So then I started thinking about the people who had been there for me throughout my life. There are so many that I cannot possibly name them all. But one particular person popped into my head. He and his wife have loved me and prayed for me and my family for as long as I can remember.

Who is this person and what makes him stand out to me? His name is Bill and he was my youth pastor growing up. He loved hanging out with us kids because he was a kid himself. He took us wherever we wanted to go and didn’t mind waiting on us. (This was before everyone got paranoid and started preventing men from working with kids without a chaperone.) And Bill listened to all my woes about boys and such. He was always there for me. But there was more to it than that. He taught me the Word.

The time came for my family to leave my childhood church because my dad became a preacher and accepted his first church. A year or so later, Bill began attending the new church with us and started working with the youth. That’s the summer we studied the book of James. That made such an impact on my life and has remained my favorite book in the Bible.

He eventually left the church and ended up landing at a great spot where he found his lovely wife…who just so happened to be my middle school gym teacher. What a small world. I was so thrilled when they asked me to participate in their wedding. But there’s more. There’s something else. Something more about this man.

Bill has been at every major event that has occurred in my life. My wedding. The birth of my children. The funerals of my parents. The graduation party in honor of my daughter, who he barely knew but loved because he loved me. The recent funeral of my brother-in-law. This man has kept me in the honored position of a family member. He loved my parents and he loved me and my sister and, therefore, has continued to love on my family. This “ain’t” your usual youth pastor. Especially not in today’s world.

One thing that saddens me as I reminisce about the impact that Bill has had in my life because of his constant presence in it, is that I have not done the same for him. I know he understands that being a wife and mother (especially a homeschooling one) can kind of be all-consuming, but still…this man sets an example that I hope to follow with the kids I have worked with at my church. I think investing in someone’s life is something we have to do intentionally but it’s also something we have to do genuinely. If you’re only doing it because you have to or because these people are “assigned” to you, then you may make a short-term difference in their lives but I don’t think you’ll make a long-term one. Kids are smart and they know when you’re faking or doing something out of duty. Bill had a genuine love for us and that’s why what he has continued to do for thirty + years has worked and why it means so much to me now.

May I always remember that impacting someone’s life is not a job. It’s a pleasure. And it brings joy to the life of the giver as much as the receiver. Thanks, Bill, for setting an awesome example!

What an amazing woman. What a fun time we had shopping at the Dollar Tree for greeting cards and the grocery store for watermelons that were on sale. Then we went to Chick-fil-a for a peach milkshake. If you hear me complaining about my waistline, now you’ll know why. Yum!

Anyway, we didn’t really do much of anything. We walked around her house looking at pictures of our ancestors which hung on the wall in lovely frames. We chatted about family and the importance of spending time with them and praying for them. What a wonderful, relaxing day just to be in the presence of such a graceful, Godly woman who mirrors the Proverbs 31 woman and the Titus woman. I hope to grow more like her as I age.

About an hour later, I received a text. I thought it was from my daughter because I was in the middle of texting with her and it showed up in my inbox as being from her. I opened the text and read it. It simply said “BOTH”. Nothing more than “BOTH”. I wasn’t sure what my daughter meant by that but I proceeded to read her other texts. I then went back to my inbox to re-read the text and it was gone. My daughter said she did not text that to me. None of my other friends that I had been communicating with text me that either.

So was the mysterious and disappearing text an answer to my prayer? Am I to be both a writer and a speaker? I’m kind of in awe.

UPDATE: The following day, I received the same text again when I prayed about something else. Turns out, my daughter had previously sent me that text but not when I received it. It must have been floating in cyberspace waiting for just the right moment for me to receive it. I love how God chooses to communicate with us.