Encouraging Deep Roots

A friend gave me a book for Christmas called, The Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan. It's a meaty little book that I've been enjoying. It has also landed me in the book of Exodus and the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  They come to the edge of the Red Sea only to find their way blocked by the water and with Pharoah and his army in hot pursuit. And in typical fashion, the Israelites begin to freak out! They are frightened. In verses 13-14 of chapter 14 we read the following: But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.” Those two phrases stand firm  and be quiet  jumped out at me because when I'm anxious and worried about something those are the two things that I don't do! Instead I'm full of internal chaos and keep mulling the situation over and over in my mind. Mose...

Epiphany is the manifestation of God in human flesh; God with us. And it is God's manifestation not just to the Jewish people, but to the Gentiles. Today is Epiphany Day and Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate it.  The message that was communicated to me when I was growing up was, "Make something of yourself." "Don't settle." "You are better than this." and "Be somebody." That same message is prevalent in our society. It's as if there is a collective fear of being mediocre or insignificant. And yet, the God of the universe, humbled himself and made himself less, and willingly took on this frail human form. He allowed himself to experience emotions, pain and exhaustion. He came under the care of two human parents. He was betrayed by friends who were fickle. And ultimately he was tortured by arrogant men and died on a wooden cross which was a symbol of humiliation. Why would He do that? We go out of our way to avoid those neg...

Okay, Mondays aren't necessarily always fun days, but I'm going with that title! :-) I have a Zoom meeting this morning, but then I'm going to putter around the house and do some odd jobs here or there. One of my goals this year is to amp up my movement, but I'm going to have to come up with a different winter plan. I have to be so careful walking and then I'm not getting my heart rate up enough to make a difference. Last week two of the days I walked ended with me pulling a muscle down the back of my leg when I slipped on ice and then the following day taking a spill in the middle of the street. So plan B is coming up. I ventured back into sour dough, except I'm using some whole grain flours instead of white all-purpose. I'm only on day 3 of getting the starter going, but I have lots of fermentation happening already! Another goal is to read more books this year. I'm halfway through this one that my husband bought me. And I'm almost done with one a ...

  It's the first day of a new year and with that comes all sort of expectations of change. We set goals and lay out a plan for the year. We have the best of intentions. And that usually lasts for about a week or less, and then we are right back to the same old habits. Why is that? Because we are still the same person on January 1st that we were on December 31st. We have the same personality, bad attitudes and habits on New Year's Day that we did on New Year's Eve. Good intentions will not help us make change in our life.  As I sat and thought and prayed about some direction to go this year, I also reflected on the thoughts I'm sharing in this blog post. I'm still the same old Terri with the same tendency towards certain behaviors, thoughts and attitudes. Laying out a bunch of fancy goals will not change anything in my life unless I change at the core of my being. In my faith journey I have found that will only happen by staying connected to the Lord. For the past fe...

This is one of my favorite days of the year because it's the day I set new goals and look ahead into the new year. I like the idea of a clean blank slate and the excitement a new year brings.  Yesterday I did an "out with the old" post and today is "in with the new".  I'm not really sure what 2026 holds, but I know some change is happening as my district role comes to an end. I'm not a fan of change and I also get really indecisive about what I should do and what direction I should go. I've been reading the book of Joshua and in chapter one God tells Joshua that He will give him wherever the sole of his foot steps. In other words, Joshua had to take the steps and God would bless him. He couldn't stay paralyzed with indecision.  As I reflect on my own life I often allow fear to paralyze me or cause me to second guess my decisions. I'm realizing that in some areas I need to make a decision based on what I'm sensing the Lord saying to me and...

It's hard to believe that we are at the end of 2025. We are going out with a bang as we are in the middle of a lake effect snow event with anywhere from 1-3 feet expected. So our celebrating will take place at home, hunkered down.  Out with the Old This has been a difficult year in many ways with loss and change. My mother-in-law passed away and we moved my father-in-law into an assisted living facility. Their house and most of their things have been donated or sold. He is struggling to adjust to not being at home and not having his wife with him and he takes a lot of attention and time. My stepfather also passed away this year after struggling with Alzheimer's. He was such a sweet man and I grieve the loss of his influence in my life. I know loss is part of life, but it really is difficult for the ones left behind.  This past weekend we moved my daughter and son-in-law two hundred and fifty miles away and this is a good move for my son-in-law as he will be close to his family...