SALT

Have you ever been in a dark place?   I am not talking about in your closet or in an underground cave.  I am referring to a dark place of the soul; an emotional pit of hopelessness.  Several years ago I experienced a season in my life like this. It was about a year after my Dad passed away and we had just moved back from serving at a church in the Panhandle. I also was going through a very early menopause.  All these things combined seemed to throw me into a downward spiral.  I would wake up each morning and feel like a ton of bricks was on my chest.  I would cry and pray and beg God to let me know why I felt this way.  I knew I must be walking through another stage of grief regarding my Dad.  Dad and I were very close. Actually, we had a co-dependent relationship that wasn't always healthy.  Nonetheless, I felt a huge hole in my heart.   I remember days of this cloud of sadness hanging over my head.  Chad would pray ove...

Good morning SALT sisters!  Today is the first day of Fall. (Some of you will get this post the day after)   Nonetheless, Fall is here and just like that we are entering a new season; a new season filled with new colors, new smells, and new memories.   However, as we are saying hello to Fall, we must say farewell to Summer and that's not always easy....vacation time is over....summer camp is over....swimming is over....and so forth.  This change of seasons reminds me of the change of "seasons" in my own life.   Life is full of change.  Sometimes it is hard to let go of  what we know and are comfortable with and take hold of the new and unknown.  However, God is still with us no matter what season or chapter we are in as He writes our story.  I think back about the many of seasons of my life;  the season of staying home with three little boys, the season of working outside the home and going to college at night, the sea...

Simple things in life...have you thought about them lately? This season of life that I am in right now has me all up in tears one moment and then smiling the next.  I think God has turned my emotional button up a notch...or three.  When I am in a season like this, it's hard at times to focus on the simple things in life around you.  We are faced with all kinds of life obstacles to hurdle and at times we have the giants of self-doubt and fear blocking the way.  Today, I just needed to get out and think about something else.  I needed fresh air and sunshine.  So, I decided to go to town and walk around the square.  This square is just beautiful.  It abounds in beauty of flowers, greenery, a large fountain, pretty park benches and the most prettiest courthouse.  It was a good day to stroll through, enjoy the light breeze, and soak up some Vitamin D. As I am walking along, I started to think about the old hymn, "Sunshine in My Soul." The su...

Promises. Promises. Promises We've all heard those words before.  Some people keep their promises and many don't.  As a child, I would say, "I promise" to do so and so and then not do it.  Have you done that before as a child or as an adult lately?  I think we all have at some point in our lives.  We say we promise, but knowing full well we really don't.  We just want whatever it is at that moment and if we said, "I promise," we would get it.  Maybe as a child, you promised your parents you would clean your room or take out the trash.  Maybe you promised to babysit your little brother or sister.  I know as the oldest child in my family, I remember doing some babysitting myself.  But I started to think on this word, "promise." The Tyndale Bible Dictionary literally defines the word promise as a declaration by one person to another that something will or will not be done, giving the person to whom it is made the right to expect the perfo...

What a crazy few weeks it has been lately at my house....finishing up summer activities, child going back to school, getting into a routine again, and embarking on new adventures outside my comfort zone has really got me flooding with all kinds of emotions...its a roller coaster ride that I can't seem to get off.  The ups and downs, the turns and twists, the backwards and forth of life right now has me just in a tizzy of emotional states and stress and I need help.  I'm just a hot mess of a mother right now needing something to get me through this season of life that I'm so frantically enduring right now. Have any of you experienced such a state of being as this....wandering, floundering, unclear, unsure of yourself? Maybe your like me and feel happy one moment and crying the next.  Maybe your laughing hysterically at something funny and then all of a sudden your anxious, uptight, or saddened.  Maybe you thought you were doing what you were suppose to be and then t...