I Love Celebrations!

July 4, 2016July 5, 2016Leave a comment

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Hope you had a Happy Fourth with family and friends. This is a spectacular time of the year! I love the parades, the fireworks, the hot dogs and simply the good ole fun we experience each year! I’m proud to be an American, and Independence Day celebrations are a glorious way to show it. More than that, I’m thankful to be a Christian, and experience freedom in my soul as a result of the sacrifice Christ made for us.

Just as the fireworks light up the night sky, so should our love for the Lord and gratitude to Him shine brightly in this dark world. As Christians, may we sparkle and shine every day of the year with a contagious enthusiasm from within our hearts. My hope is that a dark and dying world will see the sparkle and shine of believers and be drawn to Him.

Jesus said, “Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify the Father.” The love, freedom and forgiveness we experience through faith in Christ can be a daily celebration as we joyfully live and love the people around us. Let’s let our love for Him explode in bursts of brightness as we reach out in kindness and good deeds to light the world with the love of Christ.

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Parents – if you are looking for fun ideas to do with your kids this summer, check out my series on Theme Weeks at www.positivemom.com You will also find creative ideas in my book More Fun, Less Whining too! Click below.

A Positive Plan For Creating More Fun, Less Whining

Do your kids sometimes come down with the “I’m bored” bug? Thousands of years ago, King Solomon prescribed a cure: “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22. Now Karol Ladd offers positive encouragement and step-by-step, age-specific ideas to help you create a fun home atmosphere and build lasting memories! Paperback.

Addicted to Prayer

June 27, 2016June 27, 20161 Comment

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Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. Spurgeon

In his book entitled Prayer, Timothy Keller describes a conversation he had with his wife during a particularly challenging time in their lives. His wife Kathy urged him to pray with her every night, and she used the following illustration to convince Him:

Imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would die within hours unless you took a particular medicine – a pill every night before going to sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could never miss or you would die. Would you forget? Would you not get around to it for some nights? No – it would be so crucial that you wouldn’t forget, you would never miss. Well, if we don’t pray together to God, we’re not going to make it because of all we are facing. I’m certainly not. We have to pray, we can’t let it just slip our minds.

Now please don’t think legalistically here. You are not going to die if you miss a time of prayer each day. Yet Kathy recognized her desperate need to go to the Father for everything in her life. Do we have that same kind of desperation in our own hearts? Last week I read through the book of Daniel and was inspired by his courage and faith, but more than that, I was moved by his commitment to prayer. Think about it, Daniel prayed even when the public policy was against him, and he faced the lion’s den.

If Daniel took life-risking measures to pray three times a day, then why am I not willing to get up a little earlier and spend time with the Father. Great work happens on our knees. God gives us insight on our knees. We grow more in love with Him, on our knees. Let’s make this a week of casting our cares on Him.

Here’s one of Daniel’s prayers of praise after God:

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
    You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
    you have made known to us the dream of the king.

Daniel 2:20-23

Why wouldn’t we want to pray to such a great and mighty Father?

Check out my chapter on being Pray-pared for Every Day in:

Becoming a Woman of the Word: Knowing, Loving, and Living the Bible

Does Worry Cloud your Thinking?

June 20, 20161 Comment

“Worry is like a fog,” says A. Purnell Bailey. He goes on the write:

“The Bureau of Standards in Washington tells us that a dense fog covering 7 city blocks, 100 feet deep, is comprised of something less than one glass of water. That amount of water is divided into some 60,000,000 tiny drops. Not much there! Yet when these minute particles settle down over the city or countryside, they can blot out practically all vision. A cup full of worry does just about the same thing. The tiny drops of fretfulness close around our thoughts, and we are submerged without vision.”*

Worry is an anxious and fretful state of mind built on assumptions about what could happen in a given situation. On the other hand, responsibility is a healthy concern about circumstances or situations that leads to positive steps of action. Responsibility and careful planning grow into anxiety when fear dominates our thoughts. As we face fresh challenges in our life, we have the opportunity to decide whether we will walk in wisdom or drown in a sea of anxiety.

Consider Jesus’ words about worry in his famous Sermon on the Mount: “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today (Matthew 6:31-34).”

Notice Jesus described worry as “dominating the thoughts of unbelievers.” As followers of Christ, we have a different option than to allow worry to take over our hearts and minds. We can seek God and look to Him for our provision. We can also recognize that although we may make our plans, the final result is up to our loving God. When we face difficult times, the difference between those who follow Christ and those who don’t know Him is the opportunity to experience a peace and comfort in trusting a loving God. Hmm . . . do you think the world sees an evidence of our trust in God? Or does the world see us dominated by our fears, just like everyone else?

Prayer: May my love for Jesus and a realization of His unfailing love for me, dominate my thoughts today and push away fear and worry.

A portion of this blog is an excerpt from Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive. Click the picture below to order your copy.

580492: Thrive, Don&quot;t Simply Survive: Passionately Living the Life You Didn&quot;t Plan

Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive: Passionately Living the Life You Didn’t Plan

*Believe you Can, by John Mason, p 148.

Life Lessons Learned through Baylor’s Controversy

June 2, 2016Leave a comment

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Driving through Waco this past weekend, my heart was saddened to look at the beauty of Baylor’s campus, realizing the turmoil within its walls. We have come a long way from 1978, when I first stepped foot on the soil of the BU campus as a freshman. And without a doubt, we still have a good bit of growing and learning ahead of us. Whenever we face challenges, whether as individuals or institutions, there are always questions to ask ourselves. One question is, “What do I learn from this?” Here are three lessons that I want to bring down to a personal level.

No one is above reproach. We must each examine our own lives and hearts – and re-examine them on a continual basis. How easy it is, not only to sin, but to turn a blind eye toward it in our own lives. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, sinned greatly and tried to sweep it under the carpet. Baylor’s controversy is a reminder to us all to recognize and turn from the sin that we may be allowing to infiltrate our own lives.

Focus on the Bigger Picture. Yes, this is not Baylor’s most glowing moment, but what company, church or institution is without challenges or controversy somewhere in its history? Let’s step back and look at the bigger picture, Baylor is an outstanding university striving for academic excellence from a Christian perspective. It is, and will continue to be, a place where students are inspired and equipped to use their gifts and talents to make a difference in this world. I can look back with gratitude for my years as a student there and the life-long friendships that were built as a result. Let’s keep our eyes on the bigger picture of what God is doing in this place.

Life is Messy, but God brings Redemption. Many lives have been deeply hurt and affected by this tragedy at our university. We grieve with them and recognize that it will take time to heal and feel whole again. The reality for each one of us is that life is messy, sad and painful at times. I’m reminded of what David wrote in Psalm 34, “A righteous man may have many troubles…” Yet, David didn’t stop there. He went on to write, “but the Lord delivers him from them all.” We may not understand why we go through certain troubles, but we can know that God is able to bring redemption and even good through bad things.

As followers of Christ, we have a hope that God can take even the worst of circumstances and use them for a greater good. Look at the cross. Talk about a reason to despair! The disciples thought their whole life had crashed right before their eyes, and yet the greatest trial became the greatest triumph. As we ask the question, “What do I learn from this?” Let us also ask the bigger question, “What will God do through this?”

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8

May 20, 2016Leave a comment

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How do you personally respond to the evil and injustice you see in this world? You have a choice. You can either be overcome with fear, despair, anger & bitterness, or you can choose hope. The Bible tells us to overcome evil with good. What does that look like in a practical sense? That’s what we are going to be talking about at Positive Woman Connection Bible Study as we finish up our study of Romans 12 on May 24. I hope you will join us. For more info click here.