10 Commandments of Pregnancy: For The Husband

December 7, 2016 by

Pregnancy is… weird.

Sure it’s beautiful, cool, entertaining and overall MIND BLOWING, but really, this whole growing a baby thing is just sometimes weird.

Last week we talked bout the 10 Commandments of Pregnancy: For the General Public. And now, we move onto another very important demographic in the preggo process… The dear husbands.

If you have had a baby, are currently pregnant, know someone who is pregnant or especially if you are a husband of a pregnant gal, this post is for you. Feel free to share, and please comment below with your OWN “commandments” for being pregnant <or dealing gracefully with a pregnant woman. Creativity encouraged.> [Read more…]

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Faith is a Gift #WilcoWednesday

April 20, 2016 by

Welcome to Wilco Wednesday! If you are a new around these parts, “Wilco” is Army-speak for “Will Comply.” Think of it as saying “Roger, God. Got it. Will do.”  So that is what Wednesday here at 7 Days Time is all about– exploring his decrees and seeking guidance for what complying with Him looks like in everyday life. The best part? He loves us for who we are, not what we do.  Remember: He doesn’t want perfection, just obedience. Share. Enjoy. Interact. And let’s respond to God’s call with  a hearty “Wilco, Lord!” Please help me welcome my friend Amy to the blogging “stage!” 

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“Faith is a gift from God.  It is our duty to accept it.”  –MNSGR Gerald Ward

Many years ago, my husband and I attended a marriage retreat when we were stationed at Fort Campbell, KY.  I couldn’t have been more excited.  A weekend away in Nashville at the Opryland hotel!  All expenses paid!  Just us!  My mom had even flown in to watch our 20-month-old.  Fresh from his first deployment, the husband and I were more than ready to delve into our marriage through some bible study and companionship with other military couples.  I even remember pulling out my “formal shoes” and my go-to little black dress in the hopes of a fancy dinner.  This. Was. Serious. [Read more…]

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My Mother’s Faith #WilcoWednesday

January 27, 2016 by

Welcome to Wilco Wednesday! If you are a new around these parts, “Wilco” is Army-speak for “Will Comply.” Think of it as saying “Roger, God. Got it. Will do.”  So that is what Wednesday here at 7 Days Time is all about– exploring his decrees and seeking guidance for what complying with Him looks like in everyday life. The best part? He loves us for who we are, not what we do.  Remember: He doesn’t want perfection, just obedience. Share. Enjoy. Interact. And let’s respond to God’s call with  a hearty “Wilco, Lord!” Welcome back my friend Holly, as she shares one of most powerful posts I’ve ever published here at 7DT. 

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Julie Ann Knight was a sweet-natured, compassionate young woman with a solid sense of humor and an unsophisticated understanding of God. Although her understanding of her Heavenly Father was simple, it was pure and innocent and she loved Him very much.

Julie Ann Knight was my mother. And she was beautiful. She had a heart of gold and she laughed so much it was contagious.  She didn’t have a great childhood, being raised mostly by a single mother who worked long days to make ends meet. While her mother loved her deeply, she wasn’t one for emotional moments or affection unless there was a reason, which was how she was raised. (Call it generational, if you will.) But Julie, she was as affectionate as a puppy. She longed for people to love her and like her. I tend to take after her in this regard.

Julie was easily liked, and she found out later in life that would get her into trouble. My mother found herself pregnant in the summer of 1982 and quickly made the assumption she wasn’t ready to be a mother or able to provide for a baby. Julie, pressured by her internal struggle and people in her life, came to the conclusion to have an abortion. [Read more…]

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I’m not the Lord of my Life

May 27, 2015 by

Hi friends! I am taking a quick breather from creating new material on Wednesdays as I prep for an upcoming conference and lay some foundational leadership work with a one of my local organizations. I was digging through the archives and found this post worthy of a re-share. I pray you enjoy it! Thanks for the grace. 

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I am not the lord of my life… THANK GOD.

I type those words with ease, because if I was lord of my life,  I would be in serious trouble.

But there was a time (not too long ago, might I add) that I really was TRYING to be my own lord. It wasn’t extremely obvious. It’s not like I was building little golden Sharita-idol statues to put around my house and sell on Amazon. (That would be so awkward.) However, I WAS trying to do all, control all, be all to everybody.

And as lovingly as God crafted me, I am NOT made for that.

Neither are you. [Read more…]

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In the Lord’s Army #SDG Connections

May 18, 2015 by

I never thought it would happen, but I have finally gotten used to it. Sort of.

I check the clock, certain that at least six hours have passed. But it has only been three minutes. Sigh.

I make plans, but I always write in pencil. Sigh again.

My heart no longer jumps into my throat every time the phone rings. Sigh. (Do you see a pattern here?)

Yes. I am Jesus lover AND an army wife. And just because I say I have gotten USED to this call, it doesn’t mean it is easy. [Read more…]

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More Than Eeyore #WilcoWednesday

May 6, 2015 by

Welcome to Wilco Wednesday! If you are a new around these parts, “Wilco” is Army-speak for “Will Comply.” Think of it as saying “Roger, God. Got it. Will do.”  So that is what Wednesday here at 7 Days Time is all about– exploring his decrees and seeking guidance for what complying with Him looks like in everyday life. The best part? He loves us for who we are, not what we do.  Remember: He doesn’t want perfection, just obedience.  Joining us today is my dear, wonderful, beautiful and encouraging friend Kristen. Share. Enjoy. Interact. And let’s respond to God’s call with  a hearty “Wilco, Lord!” 
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My mother use to lovingly call me Eeyore, as in Winnie the Pooh’s gloomy detachable-tailed donkey friend. A cautious optimist from childhood, I can worry with the best of them over things yet not happened.

Perhaps the most devastating aspect I carried with me to adulthood was not the outwardly visible worrying, but the warped perspective about my importance to God. Not that God didn’t love me, but how much love I felt I deserved in relation to how important I felt others should be loved and cared for by Him because I’ll be honest, I was born to an upper middle class American Christian family. I’m not impoverished, parent-less, abandoned, truly on the battlefields of faith, my life is not daily threatened by the bible sitting on my nightstand. So I struggled with obedience to God’s plan because I failed to see how I really played a part in God’s plan. [Read more…]

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To My Daughter: It’s OK

May 4, 2015 by

Two years ago, the Lord saw fit to bless me with a daughter.

A daughter who is a lot like me. She has my nose. My hair. My gracefulness. (See also: Falls up the stairs.)

She also has my attitude. Stubbornness. Passion. Independence.

Feel free to pray for me.

In all things, she is a blessing. Even in those moments when scrambled eggs fly across the kitchen table or as she nails me in the jaw with a foot during one of her epic tantrums. (Disclaimer: If you ever see me in these moments, I might be muttering something about her being a blessing through gritted teeth as I talk to the ceiling.) [Read more…]

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Dear Dad #WilcoWednesday

March 4, 2015 by

Welcome to Wilco Wednesday! If you are a new around these parts, “Wilco” is Army-speak for “Will Comply.” Think of it as saying “Roger, God. Got it. Will do.”  So that is what Wednesday here at 7 Days Time is all about– exploring his decrees and seeking guidance for what complying with Him looks like in everyday life. The best part? He loves us for who we are, not what we do.  Remember: He doesn’t want perfection, just obedience.  Joining us today is my dear, wonderful, beautiful and encouraging friend Kristen. Share. Enjoy. Interact. And let’s respond to God’s call with  a hearty “Wilco, Lord!” 
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Dear Dad,

I was at PWOC this morning; we were evacuated – calmly, quietly, quickly, asked to leave. We’d been evacuated for a possible gas leak months ago, but this was different. All was quiet, no sirens. Chaplains and CID descended amid the surprising quiet chaos of a hundred women, mostly mamas waiting for their children to also emerge from the building unharmed.

I knew before I was told; I knew in my gut someone was threatening to take their life. The day, in fact the past week, had seemed to have a shroud of darkness over it. Not literal darkness like Northwest winter is prone to, but spiritual darkness. Besides ruining two desserts I was going to bring that morning I, like so many of the fellow women, had had weeks that just didn’t seem to have gone at all right. Husbands deploying or already gone, kids sick or gone haywire, messing up things we can do with ease; it was in the air. [Read more…]

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Would you REALLY??

May 27, 2014 by

My woman brain goes weird places every now and then.

If you don’t believe me, just ask my husband. (He says I am “abnormal.” But this is coming from a man who chews his toenails and watches weird space documentaries on TV… sometimes simultaneously. So I vote his “abnormal” is unfounded.)

But my brain really does come up with crazy thoughts sometimes. Occasionally they are good thoughts, just letting my imagination run about what God might have planned for us in this world. Sometimes I daydream about heaven and anticipate meeting Jesus for the first time. And yes, my brain will often try to put “scary” thoughts in my head revolving around severe sickness, accidents, death etc. (At which point I promptly tell Satan to GET BEHIND ME as I pray Philippians 4:8)

There are a few occasions when a semi-profound Jesus thought randomly pops out of these thought tangents.

Like this one: “Would I REALLY die for Christ?”  [Read more…]

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Fruit of the Spirit in Parenting

February 19, 2014 by

Fact: Parenting is HARD.

Not all days, but a lot of the days (or at least part of most days) is a challenge like I have never experienced before. For all you parents out there, I imagine you are probably nodding your head and whispering under your breath “Amen, girl.”  For those of you who aren’t parents, don’t check out. Because God can use ALL of our situations and seasons to develop fruit within us.

By fruit, I don’t mean apples, bananas or grapes. This is Spiritual fruit– even sweeter, albeit much harder to grow. [Read more…]

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