My Ebenezer

If you've ever been asked to lead a discussion or teach about a certain spiritual discipline, you can be sure that the Lord will lovingly bring just that exact topic to the forefront in your own life. He'll graciously put your ugly sinful tendencies "right on Front Street," as my good friend Dara likes to say. This is grace! This is God's kindness to reveal sinful tendencies in our own hearts so that we can repent, seek renewed relationship with God and others, and be used of Him. Here is a story about one such evidence of God's grace to me. Josh and I were late to our small group last night. Oh, we were there . We had technically arrived on time, but we remained in the parking lot of the neighborhood's clubhouse for over 45 minutes before we were able to walk in holding hands. Much later in the evening, on our way home from Grace Group, Eden begged to be the one to fill the boys in on why we were late (the boys had driven separately from a soccer practice

 I am in Scotland. S C O T L A N D. This is me; Joanna, the one whose comfort zone is within about one square mile, who said she never wanted to leave the USA, who hates to travel on anything public, who nearly hyperventilates at the mere mention of airplanes. How is this possible that I am here? Only by God's grace. Every step in front of the other, every long line, every minute on those airplanes was enabled by God's grace. On my end, it wasn't always pretty--usually it was very ugly--and I may have said, "I can't do this" more times than we could count (Josh had to tell me to quit saying that), but God was faithful to me and I have a really great story about one such miracle to share with you, but for perspective and contrast I have to share a really ugly story first. Here goes:  We dropped off our rental car in Dublin about 11am, and had to ride a shuttle bus back to the Dublin airport to catch our 1:10pm "quick" flight over to Edinburgh, Scotlan

Our cat, Willow, has kittens periodically. By periodically I mean about 2-3 times a year, and we don't hate it. We actually enjoy guessing when her due date is, how many kittens there will be, what they will look like, etc. Then when she has them, well, is there anything cuter than kittens? But sooner or later, 8 weeks later to be exact, it's time for those kittens to go. At that time we will put an ad on Craigslist and find homes for each and every one. This brings the fun hassle of sending people additional pictures, telling them again how much we are charging (that was in the ad!), setting up potential meetings with people who will ghost at the last minute, after we've already given them our address. Everyone should put an ad on Craigslist at least once just for the experience. Should you finally get someone who likes the look of a kitten, wants to pay the price, can meet at an agreeable time, successfully finds your house, is okay with the fact that the kittens haven&#

 We homeschool on Thursdays and Fridays, and lately I've taken to using a safari illustration to try to motivate my kids--especially Seth--to stay focused. I'll say to Seth, "Come on, chase down that gazelle! Stay hungry!" or "Your gazelle is getting away from you, Cheetah! Chase it down! Don't let it get away!" What I mean by that, of course, is, "Pick up your pencil, stop daydreaming, and Do. Your. MATH!!!" The other day after I encouraged him to go get his gazelle, Seth said, "Yeah, but I'm a vegan cheetah." LOL!

**I found this post in Drafts, and just decided to post it even though it is unfinished. :) It's from over a year ago, but who cares?  I mentioned to Noah in passing this week that he had learned to read when he was four years old. He didn't believe me! Thankfully I had proof in the form of a video from this very blog (see I knew this would come in handy at some point!). Well, I couldn't just watch that one video. That one was so cute I had to look at others. How much I have forgotten from those little years long ago.  You wouldn't even recognize Noah these days. He's 5 feet 11 inches tall, has a deep voice, and huge feet. Braces on his teeth. He weighs more than I do. He's more man than boy now. "They" really are right when they tell you these years fly by. Here I am, 41 years old with a high schooler whom I started blogging about when he was a year old. It's nuts really. And then I think about my other two kids, who don't have the same number