...a word from Kathy

(Cross post from Fortyfaithful.blogspot.com) O ne of the great joys of my life was living in Corpus Christi, Texas.  We lived there 12 years and experienced great joy and friendship.  We were blessed beyond measure.  Our lives were transformed.  Corpus Christi is gifted geographically and sits right on the Gulf of Mexico and one of its most beautiful spots is aptly named Ocean Drive.  Ocean Drive holds many, many memories for me.  One of the dearest though is the memory of sitting at the waters edge.  On many occasions I would phone a friend and ask her, "Can you meet me at the water?"  That one phrase told her all she needed to know and she would come.  There were days when the waves were so large that my car would easily be sprayed with the surf and there were days when all was calm and flat.  I learned that for my soul it really didn't matter which waves I experienced as it was ALL about the water...The moving, life-giving water. W...

(cross post from Fortyfaithful.blogspot.com) T hank you for your call.  All of our operators are busy with other customers right now but please  wait someone will be right with you.  Your wait is...approximately 40 minutes.  Hello! AT&T...please just answer my call and with a live voice...please. I don't wait well.  I like for the traffic to flow, for phones to be answered, for doctors appointments to be wait-less, and for my food order to be quickly forthcoming!  I tend to like now time not wait time.  And yet I find myself with you in 40 days of waiting.  Forty days of anticipation is lengthy for those like me.  What could God possibly want to say to me that takes 40 days of preparation?  Am I THAT messed up?? Or what exactly does He intend to do inside me in these 40 days?    Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the de...

(Cross post from Fortyfaithful.blogspot.com) W ell....we are four days into the wilderness of Lent and I have already blown it!  In my quest to give God MORE of my time during Lent, to follow Him into the wilderness of contemplation, I also like to "give up" something during this season.  Thursday night I was attending a basketball game and my darling husband surprised me and bought peanut M&Ms to add to my popcorn snack. Now really, how can a loving wife reject such a thoughtful gesture even if sweets are off the menu of your life?  I didn't.  Restart! Barely 48 hours later I found myself squarely in a more serious situation.  I found myself in a wilderness with a lot of uncomfortable sand in my shoes and a lot of negative voices in my head.  This Lent I have been determined to follow Jesus' steps into a wilderness place for growth and reflection.  But now that I'm in that wilderness sand, it hurts me and it stings and it is just so so uncomfor...

(Cross posted from Fortyfaithful.blogspot.com) L ast week, while in a local coffee shop I ran into an old friend.  After chatting for a few seconds she said, "I haven't seen your blog recently, are you still writing?"  Ugh, I gulped.  My quick response was, "Well, actually I have not written in a while but plan to start a Lent Blog....(hopeful I sounded all holy and like a real writer with goals and deadlines...).  My friend simply stared at me with confusion on her beautiful face. And added a very intelligent question, "Huh?",  she went on to express, "I don't understand or do Lent but I'd like to try."  Then I begin to try and explain Ash Wednesday and Lent....it didn't go real well. "On Ash Wednesday, you go to church and get ashes on your forehead representing dust to dust."  More staring.  I kept going, "Then, for the next 40 days you give up something you love until Easter....it's called fasting!  This prac...