I am not much of a shopper, but one thing I did learn young was to judge a mall by its anchor stores. The quality of the anchor stores would give me insight to the quality of goods being sold and the type of experience I would have as a shopper. If I was on a hunt for a bargain, I would not go to malls which anchored themselves with Macy’s and Nieman Marcus, high-end retail stores. Since I am not a sailor that is about as much experience I have with anchors, but like anchors of a boat, which hold a boat in place to meet the sailors needs, these stores kept the mall in place to meet the shoppers needs. This concept of being “anchored”, settled, and unmoving in our faith can be found all throughout scripture, such as in the book of Hebrews.   

Ever realize in the middle of a conversation with someone your mind begins to wander? You begin to engage with the wandering thought to the point you no longer are listening to the person speaking to you, the show you are watching, or what is playing on the radio. You may be looking in their direction and even in their presence, but you have completely left the conversation. Then suddenly you notice and you zoom right back into the conversation and you try your best to gather the context in order to be able to respond. Well, let me tell you this happens to me often. Especially, when I have so much happening, I notice my mind begins to wander. As I am sitting in meetings or talking to my family, and they say just one word and then there my mind goes. Oh, our Lord knows how well He fashioned us so He purposely and intentionally speaks of our minds over 100 times in the bible!

Many times when we are exposed to new things we often try to compare it or liken it to something familiar. When I first started playing water polo there were many times I had to have teammates explain the rules to me using basketball terms and methodologies, since that was familiar to me. However, there are many things about water polo that are only applicable to that particular sport. So slowly I had to make the unfamiliar familiar and stop leaning on my basketball experience. Too often we want to do the same with God. We want to understand His ways and His thoughts and so we humanize Him too much. Jesus was God in man form, but God the Father is still holy and separate. 

Motherhood is by far one of the hardest and most challenging events of life I have dared to experience. I remember the first day of being a mother and realizing there was someone that was absolutely dependent on Steve and me. This child would be dependent on my husband and I for every provision: financial, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I would never expect them to figure out how to pay my mortgage or go food shopping while they were a child under my care. I would desire to see them become the best versions of themselves through my husband and my guidance and passed down wisdom. This revelation made me realize our God has no different expectation of us because He encourages us to imitate and follow Him as dear children.

It is baseball playoff season for those of you who did not know. As a baseball fan I watch each game and with every pitch and every at bat I sit anxiously waiting to cheer! Baseball many will say is a slow moving game, but ironically every play is based on decisions made in seconds. When I was a young softball player I remember this conflicting feeling as I fielded. It seemed to take forever for a batter to hit the ball, but once they did time seemed to speed up and you only had seconds to make the right choice. Therefore before every batter you had to be aware of the situation. Were there runners on the bases? Were there already outs in the inning? If the ball came to me where should I throw it? Awareness became key! So it is with our Lord Jesus and these days we are living. Are you aware of the time?