Spiritwick

Yesterday morning, I decided not to take my morning shower.  My hair wasn't that bad, and I figured it would help me not be quite so rushed to get out the door that morning with the girls if I just skipped it.  Skipping my shower freed up some extra time though, and I happened to look across my bedroom at that moment toward my Bible reading plan.  Perfect! I could actually start the day with my Bible reading rather than just squeezing it in at some random time in the afternoon or evening like usual. (I'm not a morning person.) My Bible app opened up with Proverbs 31:30 as the verse of the day. "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." I smiled at the sweet affirmation that choosing time with God over a shower was a great choice.  I read my Bible section for the day in Luke 23 and 24 about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and I decided to write out my prayer for the day.  I was struck by how Go...

"I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations."   (Psalm 89:1) I'd been contemplating all week what to blog about.  Should I touch on my experience at the retreat?  Should I talk about the lessons that I'm preparing for the conference in Uganda? This morning, the idea occurred to me to blog the testimony that I prepared for the retreat.  We had been tasked to have ready a 5 minute version of our testimony to share at the retreat.  Several people would also share their testimonies in Uganda, so we were practicing keeping them relatively brief. I had some slight anxiety in preparing my testimony.  I had heard many testimonies throughout my life, and the ones people seemed to really like had some huge dramatic event smack dab in the middle that brought them to Jesus and/or that God dramatically delivered them through.  I didn't have any dramatic life-or-death exper...

As people find out that I'm going on this Uganda trip in just a few short weeks, I field this question more than I expected.  That's probably because I didn't expect it at all.  I'm never entirely sure how to respond, so I usually fumble through some vague "Sometimes I'm excited. Sometimes I'm in denial. Sometimes I'm apprehensive."  I'm not sure even that vague answer is entirely honest though.  Right now, the answer is probably "no."  That sounds horrible, and I don't even want to type it, but it's probably the truth right now.  Let me explain. First off, I'm an introvert.  I'm a talkative introvert, so some people assume I'm an extrovert, but very few people know me well.  I don't feel a deep, wonderful connection with others quickly like I hear that some extroverts do.  It's just not how I'm wired.  I don't get excited about new and unfamiliar situations with a group of people that I don't...