Salty Zebra

   Disneyland truly is one of the happiest places on earth for my husband and I. Several times over our relationship, including our honeymoon, we've popped down for a few magical days. It's been about ten years since the last time we did this, and both of us are starting to feel like it is time. Yes, we've been to Disney World since then, but it's really not the same. Because I've been to Disneyland so many times, it's a familiar, comfortable booking process for me, but just in case it's new to you, I thought I'd share my steps. What Comes First?  With most trips, you need to decide whether to book the flight or the hotel first. Most of the time this will land on the side of the flight, but because we are blessed with the ability to fly for free with my daughter's airline benefits (she's a flight attendant), the first piece of this puzzle I need to consider is the hotel. Because of the huge variability in hotel and ticket prices with Disneyland, ...

Disclaimer: I am not a financial professional nor formally trained in any way. The information in this post is designed to inspire, not direct you. I highly recommend working with a financial advisor, like my amazing one,  Josh Collier , when dealing with your family's investments. Photo credit: Dee Jones of Open Door Photography  She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.  Proverbs 31:16   I don't know how much thought you've given to the field that the Wife of Noble Character in Proverbs 31 bought, but it's been on my mind lately. This wise woman saw a field that she thought would bring benefit to her family and she bought it. First off, this means that her husband saw her wisdom and trusted her with the family's finances so she had money available to buy a field, that's not nothing. But then we get to the part where out of her earnings she planted a vineyard. How did she get earnings? It's not like buying the field autom...

 I have a condition called foot drop. It comes about when there is an impingement, or pressure, on the nerve somewhere between my brain and my foot. It causes my foot to periodically, and unexpectedly, not lift my toe up all the way when I'm walking. When I am wearing just socks, this usually doesn't cause much of a problem, but when I am wearing shoes, it causes me to trip over my own feet.  Historically, when this happens, I feel really dumb how foolish am I that I can't even pick up my feet right when I'm walking? But my doctor, recently, taught me that this condition is inherent in my system. No matter how much my brain tells my foot to pick up my toe, my foot is not getting the message. I could look at my foot the whole time I'm walking and tell my foot with every step to pick up my toe, and I would still not do it every once in a while. Now, perhaps this is because my foot doesn't have ears to hear my mouth speaking, but that's what nerves are for. And...

   I have a couple of people in my life that ask me about the acronyms I use sometimes, so just to clarify, ICYMI stands for In Case You Missed It, which is exactly what today's post is about. Today I will look back on the last six weeks of studying God's wisdom, something I have been very much looking forward to. Sometimes these wrap up posts are a bit of a chore, but this time I have so enjoyed the study that I am excited about looking back on it and remembering all that God has spoken to my heart!  The first week of our study we focused on God's wisdom for our relationships and family. Our first day focused on the importance of balancing truth and mercy , something we are not prone to doing on our own. Next, we looked at how the relationships in our lives keep us sharp and how important it is to surround ourselves with people who are not entirely like-minded. When we live in those relationships though, ones where we may not feel the same way about everything, it's s...

  God spoke to my heart recently at church and the message has stayed with me so strongly that I really wanted to share it with you today. I'll wait to post it though so that I can link the sermon, although the song will take longer to be recorded. You see, our worship pastor, Michael, is also a song writer and God has used him to share some beautiful, impactful messages through music. A few weeks back, he shared a new song he had written and it touched my heart. This week, he shared the song again and invited us to sing along, but it spoke to me even more deeply because of the message a guest speaker had given. One of our fellow church members, Bryan, spoke yesterday on John 5:2-9 , the story of Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. He focused on Jesus' words in verse 6, “Do you want to get well?” This may have seemed like a strange question, but there are lots of reasons that someone may not want to get well. Illness may be all they've ever known. This man may ha...

  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.   Romans 12:2  God made us, intentionally, with a hole in our heart. We feel it deeply. We ache for it to be filled. We can’t be satisfied, we can’t be at peace, until our heart’s hunger is satiated. This causes people to do all kinds of things. You may have heard of people travelling to India on a journey to find themselves. Some join a monastery. Others devote their lives to research, finding a cure for the world’s ills. There’s a deep, driving need in all of us, and until we recognize what it is, and meet it, we will feel a constant pressure to do so.   The world has devised a plethora of options to stuff inside this hole and see if it fixes it. There are the darker vices – gambling, alcohol, drugs – things that will take hold of your life and take you where you do n...