The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for coming to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power, which is another way of saying, this is for chicks! Speaking about chicks, we are about to meat the main one from this series so let’s get back to the crowd assembled inside and outside the Temple, and Jesus’ outburst!

When Jesus stood up and cried out to anyone thirsty, and then invited them to come to Him to drink, He wasn’t talking about bottled water! No, these words alluded to the theme of many prophetic passages that talk about the Messiah’s life-giving blessing of the Holy Spirit to all who believed. In other words, He was standing and crying out His claim to be “The” Messiah because this gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believed was something only He could do.

In His next breadth, He affirms those who believe in Him, out of their heart will flow rivers of living water. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus referred to living water as eternal life, but here He is referring to the Holy Spirit. I love the order here: First eternal life then the Holy Spirit!

Well, can you imagine the crowd after hearing this proclamation? Seriously, I can’t help but wonder if there was a quiet hush at first, like this real pregnant pause, and then all sorts of pandemonium as opinions started flying around as if being crowd-surfed, and then the questions followed close behind.

For many people that day, this final day of the feast, this was their awakening, the day that the veil was torn from the eyes of their heart and they exclaimed that this is the Prophet, The Christ. Yet for others, this outburst raised more questions, and they weren’t quite convinced, mainly because He was from Nazareth, not Bethlehem, or so they thought. But actually, they hadn’t done their homework. They had merely listened to others who spoke their opinions of where He came from.

Had they researched a bit more diligently, they would have discovered He was born in Bethlehem; He just grew up in Nazareth so there was a division among them because of Him. STOP! But just for a minute. It’s an important little detour. How often do we jump to the wrong conclusion because someone has steered us that way? I know I’ve fallen for the wrong information more than once and it’s not a good feeling. Call it being naively gullible or just unlearned, but when it comes to God’s Word, His truths, make sure whatever you hear, or read, including from me, lines up with Scripture!

I’ll let you go for now, but please know, we are getting so very close to meeting The Adulterous Woman. She could be someone in this huge crowd. Join me Monday for more.

Blessings

Evinda

The Final Invitation From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for the final invitation in this invitation series for Living Outside Your Circumstances! Grab your coffee and come on in!

Many of us have been deceived into thinking that it’s so much easier to let the past be the past, but as an over-comer of many life issues, I can tell you that the way to abundant life, to that Destination? Joyful! ™ is through a revealing, peeling and healing process that must take place so as to not continue in the same cycles that rob us from true life.

I had no idea I still had so much to learn, especially as it relates to living outside my circumstances, but I did, and I still do, and I am humbled every time I think about sharing all that I have learned since we started this series two months ago! I am bursting at the emotional seams, wanting to give you some of the keys I now hold in my possession to unlock the prison we can often put ourselves in while in a circumstance. But I promised I would wait, so – oh, maybe just one: Take the X out of external, and what do you have?

Okay, I better hush now! Please, if you haven’t marked your calendar, won’t you plan on joining us this Saturday? He’s given me so much to share with YOU!


See you in a few days!

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for taking the time to join me for a little break today. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this adulterous woman, or at least attempt to get near her today!

We last left off with Jesus telling the officers that came to arrest Him that it wasn’t the time for His arrest, and then He spoke in another riddle, not like the Joker from Batman, either! He said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

What in the world? Now, these words really caused a lot of commotion. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see all of the perplexity around the Temple. They had no idea what to make of Jesus’ words. But something else that’s peculiar is they left Him alone! The let Him be. I wonder why that is? There is no mention of an all-out brawl to try and force Him to go. The only answer that lines up and makes any sense at all is that His appointed time for the arrest that would lead to all of the suffering, the eventual crucifixion that would send Him into hell, His rising again, and thereafter ascending to His rightful place, back with His Father had not yet come, just as prophesied.
Now we are at the last day of the Festival, which is getting us closer to The Adulterous Woman, I promise! We are also nearing His appointed time.

Religious Leader

Imagine hundreds of thousands of people spilling out of the Temple, sitting where they are to celebrate the last day, “that great day of the feast” and somewhere in the crowd is Jesus. Scripture doesn’t allude to His exact location so I’m not sure if He’s inside or outside the Temple. I’m leaning towards inside, but wherever He is He’s surrounded by people, wall-to-wall people. All of a sudden He stands up and – this next word gets my attention – “cried” out. He didn’t just get up, clear His throat, hold His hands up and grab a megaphone to yell for everyone’s attention. He got up and just cried out. I can only imagine what emotion He must have been experiencing because His appointed time was getting closer. But I feel in my gut that it was something else; a yearning to express for almost the last time the message His Father had sent Him to give to all He encountered.

The beauty in His words is they too were/are a fulfillment of prophecy spoken by Abba through Isaiah, and again through John in Revelation. He cried out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

There is a lot in one of these final outbursts, if you will, so I’ll let you go for now, but take a couple of minutes to dwell upon these words that He cried out to them and to us.

Pondering,

Evinda

P.S. Please join us today for more of Co-Dependent No More on our Blog Talk Radio Show at 1:00 Pacific Time! www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power

Power Friday at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Power Friday at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s go talk a minute about the difference between aggressive and assertive.

It’s a mind-boggling thing to even think about and as I think about the two, I am able to see many, many – too many – instances even in the recent past wherein I used aggression versus assertion. But then again, I didn’t realize it and I can certainly say it wasn’t on purpose. But now that I understand the difference, wow, is this ever helping me in any and all of my relationships as well as in ministry-related communications and circumstances.

This week’s power thought, and probably a couple more after, comes from revelations given to me in real-time situations as the choice to be aggressive or assertive rises to the occasion:

Aggression is agenda-driven; assertion is information-driven

Make it a aggressive-free weekend!

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks so much for taking time to take a little break with me. Grab your coffee and let’s get back into this series and see if we get a little closer to The Adulterous Woman.

Religious Leader

So we are at this party, if you will, and we’ve been onlookers in the crowd, the ones murmuring exclamations, questions about Jesus. Now we are going to check out these Pharisees, these religious leaders who are all over the place, clothed in self-righteousness as well as fancy garb. So far we don’t think they’ve really heard everyone’s whispers of questions and opinions, but at this point in scripture, we learn that they did!

I have to interject a little something here — Isn’t that the worst feeling, to be talking about something or someone in secret because you know you shouldn’t be talking about it to anyone, and then that certain someone who you don’t want to hear busts you? Ugh, that has got to be one of the worst feelings, especially if we stay in it and don’t learn from it. Yes, there’s even a great whisper of a lesson in this type of a moment: If it ain’t edifying, it ain’t flying out of my mouth! I fall short in this area every day, but I’m not giving up trying! Okay, back to the crowd and the ticked-off Pharisees!
So the Pharisees all gather together and talk about what they are hearing all the people say in secret. Imagine all this testosterone coming to the surface with each comment repeated that they overheard. Whew, I’ve been in a roomful of male attorneys in the midst of a heated deposition, so I can say I can only imagine! It isn’t pretty; that’s for sure! Anyway, they want to deal with the immediate problem, which in their view is Jesus so they decide to send the officers to take Him.

At this point, I’m not sure where Jesus actually is, inside or outside the Temple, but there is obviously a crowd still gathered because when the officers approach Jesus to arrest Him, He simply says: “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Wow, what a mouthful. I think we’ll leave that for the next blog. Please join me Monday for more of this series, The Adulterous Woman, whom I know we haven’t even met yet, but I promise, we are getting closer! We just need to set the stage, if you will, for her entrance.

Pursuing truth,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for a little break at Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this detour from long ago that is ever so relevant in our lives today.

For those of you joining us for the first time, we are in the midst of the Feast of the Tabernacles; Jesus has just spoken in the Temple about the exceptions that the religious leaders allowed as it related to circumcision on the Sabbath – which was a breach of the Law because it was considered work and His own mercy in healing on the Sabbath.

That caused a major ruckus and there were all kinds of murmurings going on while in the background the religious leaders were plotting His arrest, unbeknownst to the people who were in groups whispering their opinions about this Christ. Those who found Him to be who He said He was could not or would not speak up for Him because of fear of excommunication, which was considered to be one of the most devastating things that could happen to a Jew. To go against every religious law they had been spoon-fed since they were old enough to eat of wisdom would be like swimming up river 24/7; eventually the new way of thinking would be overtaken, drowned out by the old. The pressure was just too much.

The point of this detour is this: Sometimes it feels like that today, at least to me. It’s becoming more and more apparent that we are being surrounded by a host of things that are working 24/7 to rip us away from the One in Whom we put our hope, our trust, our First Love and get us to flow down the stream, spiraling farther from truth, the safety of His grace, mercy, farther away from the new law.

Are we standing in our groups, clicks, and whispering our belief in Him, fearful of what others may think or say, fearful of standing out like a sore thumb? Or are we going against the current, standing in our hope and faith in the One whom we will spend eternity with after it’s all said and done, no matter what the circumstance?

Join me tomorrow as we get back on track and closer to the adulterous woman!

Pondering,

Evinda

Invitation Tuesday @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Invitation Tuesday. Grab your coffee and come on in!

I can’t believe November is around the corner, which means so is our next event, Living Outside Your Circumstances. I had no idea I still had so much to learn in this area, but the truth is painfully true. I’m so grateful for His grace that keeps me in this journey and willing to share my mistakes that He turns into victories along the way. What a sovereign God we serve, an incredible Artist who is the only One who can take those painful circumstances filled with gut-wrenching colors and turn them into an awe-inspiring picture that sparkles with revelations that unleash hope and faith.

I have so much to share about how He's giving me victory in learning to live outside my circumstances, so I hope you can come. Here’s the scoop:



Looking forward to this time of transparency and encouragement,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me at Coffee Hour for a little break and the continuation of The Adulterous Woman, which we still haven’t met, but we are getting close! Grab your coffee and come on in.

We left off with the answer to why everyone was whispering in their little groups at this party: Because if these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: excommunication from the synagogue.

So this explains why no one would speak up for Jesus -- STOP! We have to take this detour; it’s too relevant in our lives today not to. So let’s look up the definition of excommunicate in the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: excommunication – 1: an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership. 2: exclusion from fellowship in a group or community.

Oh, I just saw something else, another interesting fact from the World Encyclopedia: Excommunication – Formal expulsion from the communion of the faithful from sacraments and from rites of a religious body. Largely abandoned by Protestants, excommunication has been retained by Jewish congregations and by the Roman Catholic Church.

Remember, we’re in the New Testament with two major bodies of religion, if you will, Jew and Gentile, sort of like our two governmental bodies, Republican and Democrat, and just as we see the unnecessary fighting between those bodies, imagine that kind of constant rift all because of Jesus and His Father who desired then, and desires still, fellowship and relationship with His chosen people, the Israelites/Jews, and the Gentiles, you and me! I’m trying to paint a verbal picture of constant tension, a major power struggle, if you will, that caused these Jews to whisper their true desire to know more about The Christ that they’d been hearing about for as long as they had been walking.

Religious Leader

Imagine the fascination they must have experienced. Who was this Guy who was said to be abolishing The Law that they had been spoon fed from the time they could eat of spiritual food? Was there really a possibility that they didn’t have to obey the Law down to the letter? If He wasn’t The Christ, how could He know that they didn’t keep the Law Moses had given down to all of them? And what about that guy He healed on the Sabbath?

Oh, yes, there was much conversation going on about Jesus, and I can only imagine the confusion that overwhelmed the hope of those who were searching for The Christ. This type of conversion that believing He to be Who He said He was would be like you and me converting from Christianity (New Testament) to Judaism (Old Testament) theology. Do you feel the jump? It’s almost insurmountable, too much to wrap up on one blog….

Join me for more on this detour Wednesday.

Thoughtfully,

Evinda
P.S. Join me today at 1:00 Pacific time for our Blog Talk Radio show, Breaking Free from Co-Dependency at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power

Power Friday @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Power Friday thought at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in.

If you’re joining us for the first time, these Power Friday thoughts are actually inspired by revelations, realizations, and life experienced as a result of our Blog Talk Radio show wherein we are talking about co-dependency, what it is and learning how to break free from this viral epidemic!

Last week I shared that co-dependency seems to be a viral infection and I need some turbo-strong antibiotics to cure me. Well, an important one to have on hand for many issues and it is P3, Practice, Practice, Practice! If at first you don’t succeed, do it again until you are free! You WILL make mistakes!,

See, I’ve got to keep practicing to erase these tendencies within me. The encouraging truth is even when I mess up His grace picks me up so I can try again. So I’ve been practicing a different way of communicating based on the principles we’ve been learning as they relate to keeping my stuff with my stuff, having an undivided heart, and this week, it’s been consciously choosing assertion over aggression.

We’ll talk more about that in next week’s Power Friday! Have an awesome weekend.

Assertively,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I know life is full of demands and it can be challenging to stop what you’re doing and turn it all off. Grab your coffee and come on in for more of the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman.

So we’ve learned some interesting facts about this party that we’re eventually going to get to and I have to tell you, something tells me we haven’t skimmed all of the facets of its spiritual significance but I know we will see more of it as we get more into this true story. For now, let’s go check out who’s there.

Wow, there’s a bunch of important people here; you can tell by the way they are dressed, and I’m not just speaking of their clothing, either. Their body language is screaming authority in such an audacious way. They are everywhere, or so it seems, standing erect like stone walls with their arms crossed. I think they are the religious leaders.

And who is that lurking in the shadows? Oh, my goodness, is it really Jesus? Why does it look as though He is trying to hide? For some reason, He’s not the life of this party, or so it seems. I’m going to get in a little closer and see if I can hear why that is.

Ah-ha, apparently Jesus had just spoken openly in the Temple, the main location for this country-wide party. Wow, He’s really caused some ruckus among this party. I can hear some people saying “He is good,” and others are saying, “No, He’s not good. He’s trying to deceive the people.” No matter where I go in this crowd, people are in their little groups and Jesus is the topic of their conversations. I still can’t figure out why they are whispering.

Oh, that’s right; they are whispering because the religious leaders were more like dictators and they had a lot of power over the common people. Wow, they are not even trying to mask their authority. They are everywhere, lording over the crowds like a cloud threatening to break open with rain any moment. See, the more Jesus taught and worked publicly, the more these leaders would cause trouble for Him and His followers. Is it any wonder why they are whispering?
If these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: ex-communication from the synagogue.

We’ll stop right there. Join me Monday as we get closer to The Adulterous Woman.”

Digging for the facts,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining me for a little break today at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman!

This particular party that we’re going to is Israel’s Thanksgiving feast which acknowledges the fall harvest and God’s provision for them. It is a happy time, a time of unprecedented harmony and peace. This festival is also a reminder of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt where they wandered for forty years and lived in tents/booths – so this is where “sukkot” comes from! OMG, so now Leviticus 23:42 is vividly more clear: You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God!

This fact-gathering is sort of fun, but when I turn over one, I have to keep going so we can get the full spiritual significance to the Feast of Tabernacles, and thereafter meet our adulterous woman!

There were actually strict guidelines to building these booths/tents and today, when the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated, the sukkot is still constructed and must be made with something that came from the ground, such as tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, sticks or two-by-fours and it must be made sturdy so it will not be blown away by the wind.

Wow, I so admire the adherence to these parts of this celebration. I mean, these tents/booths are constructed before this particular feast as a reminder of this time that the Israelites wandered, but they aren’t figuratively wandering anymore – sort of — and they still do everything down to the nth instruction, including living in the tents/booths during the first seven days of this celebration, the daily procession around the altar or tabernacle, and on the seventh day they march around it seven times!

Oh, here’s another interesting facet of this celebration: They recite Psalm 27 at the daily service at the Feast of Tabernacles. Ooh, that got my curiosity. I’ll be right back. I want to check out Psalm 27. Maybe you should too.

I’ve got to share! The “theme” pulled me right in to this Psalm of David. It says: “God offers help for today and hope for the future. Unwavering confidence in God is our antidote for fear and loneliness.” But listen to the first couple of verses: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Isn’t that beautiful and every bit as relevant for us as it was the Israelites who wandered in the desert for forty years looking for their promised land? What powerful words of confidence for us as Christians to remind ourselves when our circumstances seem to be just too much to bear, when our wandering seems to stretch out like the hottest, largest desert. What amazing words of truth which entwine the Jew and Christian on common ground with the most powerful thread, the Christ that we have found, the One they are looking for.

Join me tomorrow for more diamonds of facts about this party that we’re going to which will take us to The Adulterous Woman.

Blessings,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks for stopping by for your break today, the first day of our new series, The Adulterous Woman. Sounds interestingly scandalous, huh? Grab your coffee and come on in.

Before I introduce you to a couple of very important people in this true story, allow me to give you some historical background so you don’t feel as though you are coming into the middle of something. Come with me to a time long, long ago, to an annual feast, a party, if you will. It’s called the Feast of Tabernacles, aka, Feast of Sukkah. Let me give you a little background on this particular feast because I think it will add to the framework of The Adulterous Woman.

During this feast, many Jewish families construct a sukkah (סֻכָּה), a small hastily-built hut in which to eat meals throughout the festival. The sukkah is used to remember the huts [plural: sukkot] Israel lived in during their 40 year sojourn in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. The celebration lasts for eight days in Israel and nine days in the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jews living beyond Egypt).

During the first and last days of Sukkot no normal “work” is permitted as required in Lev. 23:39. In other words, these are days of rests, which is where “Sabbath” comes from. The intervening days of Sukkot are called Chol Ha-Mo’ed, half-holidays during which usual work activities are permitted.
There is incredible spiritual significance to each one of the festivals introduced to Israel at the time of the Exodus and observed by Jesus and the First-Century Church. Deuteronomy 16:14-15 reminds us that this particular feast was/is to be a time of rejoicing for the blessing of God’s provision and sovereignty for and over our lives and because it is memorialized by rejoicing, it is considered especially important to give charity during this time of year.

I hope you weren’t bored with this history that surrounds this particular party we’re going to attend. The older I get, the more I appreciate knowing the grass roots of cultural traditions and religions, especially when they are rooted in Biblical principles. Many believe that the Old Testament is no longer relevant to our lives today, but when I take these pieces and add them to what we are going to be talking about in this series, I see all kinds of relevance sparkling, reminding me of the importance to rejoice over His provision and sovereignty in and over my life. How about you?

Join me Wednesday as we continue laying the foundation for “The Adulterous Woman.”
Intrigued,
Evinda

P.S. Don’t forget to join us live today at 1:00 Pacific time at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for more chit-chat on breaking free from co-dependency!

Power Friday @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Power Friday @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in for just a few minutes.

Since starting our co-dependency segment on Blog Talk Radio, I have to admit that there have been many days that I’ve been more discouraged than encouraged. The reason why is I had no idea I was so infected with so many of these tendencies. I’m getting good and mad at this stinking viral disease, though and that’s where this power thought comes from, from my frustration with myself:

They say co-dependency is an addiction; I say it’s a viral infection.

Will somebody please tell me where I can get the strongest antibiotics ever prescribed so I can get this junk out of my blood!

Join me next Friday for a few antibiotic prescriptions!

Breaking free,
Evinda

Nana Holds From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

It’s a beautiful day and a great time for a coffee break! Grab your coffee and come on in and let me share some poignant realizations that this season of Nana Holds is revealing.
As I rewind this part of the movie of my life, I see some changes, and though they’ve been almost unbearably slow, at least I am able to see them despite all that I am still working through.
In the beginning, when his daddy brought Bryden to live with us, he looked at me as though I were an alien. It’s as if his little child-sized intuition kicked into overdrive and announced to him that I wasn’t so kid-friendly, especially in a living situation.
Now, don’t get me wrong; it’s not that I don’t like kids; I do, but I think I’ve always kept them at a distance, albeit subconsciously, but there definitely seems to be some sort of wall that divides the child in me from other children. I don’t know if the foundation of this wall began to erect after my childhood experiences. Who and what is the builder of this internal silent wall? All I know is it is there, but something tells me that Bryden is going to hurdle that wall and tear it down.

As I confess this, another truth comes to the surface, and that is, this wall doesn’t erect with all children; it only appears with the children in my inner world, like all of my grandchildren, and even with the little ones of my closest friends. It’s not that I turn into some monster; I really don’t. And I’m certainly not saying that I don’t love them with everything I can, because I do and I am. It’s just there, this indescribable something that prevents – I can’t even put my finger on what it prevents, or at least I wasn’t able to in the first few months of this season that we have been talking about.
I’m sharing this with you now because something tells me these realizations are going to be significant in this season of Him entwining the little life of Bryden so tightly into ours, and as He does that, He will change the perception I have of myself as it relates to kids.

If I had to describe another change I see, I’d have to do so like this: For many months, instead of being on my knees in total surrender, picture me on my back with my feet in the air, kicking and screaming like a petulant toddler! See, I didn’t want to be a mommy again; been there, done that, got the hat, mug, T-shirt, bathrobe and slippers. Don’t want to do it again! The kicking and screaming magnified as though on steroids when his daddy made a few more bad choices that changed life for everyone, but that’s for later on in this series.

Now I see someone more surrendered to this season, letting go of most of my resentments as well as my agenda and trading all that for His will. Notice I said “most” of my resentments. Again, I transparently share from my heart so as it changes, He will be given all the glory!
There is so much more to share in this series, but we are going to put Nana Holds on hold for a while, that is until after our next event because there are many significant aspects of this circumstance that I will be sharing in our Living Outside our Circumstances workshop! Join me Monday for a new series called The Adulterous Woman!
Transforming,
Evinda

Nana Holds From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for coming by today for a little break from it all. I’m so happy there is you to share this life-changing series with. Grab your coffee and come on in!
You know, the more people I talk with, the more I realize that George and I are so not alone. There are so many parents out there whose adult children are moving back home, and something even more startling is the truth that many grandparents are raising their adult children’s children! Many parents wonder where they went wrong but I am coming to learn that is not necessarily a cut-and-dry answer to this puzzling reality, a phenomenon that seems to be spreading like an epidemic.
The truth is our kids have their own tapestry that God is painting with the choices they make and only He has the power to turn some of those ugly colors splashed into the tapestry by their bad choices into something awe-inspiring and beautiful. How do we not resent them, though, is the million dollar question and reality that faced me day in and day out, especially in the beginning of our Bryden adventure!

Bryden loves to dance!

As the weeks turned into months, I was able to push my resentments away and for the most part, put my agenda on the back burner. After all, He had allowed this circumstance; I knew this with my whole being. Just because I didn’t know why He had allowed it didn’t disqualify me from showing up for duty. So showing up and shutting up became easier as did some of our responsibilities. What was incredibly important to me was structure for Bryden, some sense of stability for this little guy who had been uprooted like a root-bound plant without ever having rooted, or sprouted for that matter.

Happy and goofy boy!

I was incredibly mindful of that and I while I pitied him for what he has had to endure, I also wanted and continue to want to protect him from having to bounce around again. That was absolutely first and foremost in our hearts; that Bryden be in the best place for him with the least amount of chaos and confusion.
Getting to know him after getting over the shock of living with him is like going to school all over again, and yet, I have been in this class before so I have a little advantage. But oh, am I ever in need of a refresher course! And talk about all the gadgets and toys! TMI! And don’t you just love those car seats? I think I need to go to Car Seat University to not only learn how to put the blasted thing in my car, but all the does and don’ts, too!

happy and goofy boy!

Changing a diaper was a bit slow in the beginning, but that changed real quick-like! Besides, who wants to act like an AARP candidate while trying to change a poopy diaper?
Yes, routine and structure went a long way in easing much of the tension I felt in the beginning, especially the tension created from not really knowing what role I play in this little guy’s life, but as I struggled to work through all of that, there were many sweet moments and memories that we all made that I wouldn’t trade for anything, not my own agenda, my own space, a cleaner house, nothing.
Join me tomorrow for more of Nana Holds.
Evinda

Invitation Tuesday From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by today for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. I’m really enjoying these Invitation Tuesdays, where I can share something relevant as it relates to our next Destination? Joyful! ™ event on November 3rd. Grab your coffee and come on in.
I’ve been doing the final edit on A Cup of Hope for the Day since last Tuesday – I’m happy to say it’s finished, the final edit that is. I hope there isn’t a final, final! Anyway, I was so excited about something I read that I know that He wrote through me. In fact, as I was editing this book, I marveled at the truth that HE really did write through me because I didn’t remember writing many of the “cups of hope” that are in that book!
Anyway, this is what I read in one of the series within A Cup of Hope for the Day which I found to be so relevant for our next event: “When we allow our circumstances to build a wall around our heart, this prevents us from knowing God with our inner being. See, this kind of knowing takes experience and if there’s a wall around your heart that you’ve built to try and shield yourself from your circumstance, you are blocking yourself from the spiritual view, and that could actually be blinding!
Want to know how to live outside those circumstances in victory? Well, please accept this invitation:

Looking forward to sharing this time with you,
Evinda