Salty Zebra

  “Therefore consider carefully how you live – not as unwise but as wise.”   Ephesians 5:15  What does it mean to live not as unwise, but as wise? According to the devotional, “True wisdom is found in seeking God in every decision, both big and small, and trusting that He will faithfully lead us in the direction we need to go.” This seems to line up with what I read in scripture, so I agree with it. Therefore, the source of wisdom is God Himself. So how do we access this wisdom?   In the Old Testament, they had various methods of determining God’s will and seeking His guidance. One of these was the Urim and Thummim, two gemstones carried by the High Priest of Israel on the ephod/priestly garment. The Bible says these were used to determine God’s will, but it doesn’t say how exactly. They also had a test to see if a woman had been unfaithful involving drinking water with the dried ink from a curse scraped into it. If she got sick she was guilty and if she d...

Note: I asked my husband what I should entitle this post. Seeing that it's on submission, obedience and respect for your husband I couldn't very well argue with him about his suggestion.  Perhaps I've learned a lesson about what things I should ask him!  Nevertheless, each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  Ephesians 5:33  Obey your husband.  Submit.  Respect your husband.  This is what the Bible tells us, but do we accept that?  Twenty- five years ago, my aunt invited me to join her for a women's study at her church.  They were going through the book,  A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. I was bored and lonely at home all day with a newborn, so I accepted the invitation.  Each week they had discussion about the chapter we were to have read.  I hadn't gotten around to buying the book or reading it, but I've always been pretty good at jumpin...

   This incredible trip has taught me so much, and I feel like I'm just beginning to unpack it. I'm certain that these lessons will overflow into future posts as well, but I wanted to give you an introduction to the  Community First! Village  here in Austin, Texas. As shared on their website: Community First! Village is a master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. This is the actual truck originally used in street outreach, now retired as a decorative memorial  This amazing endeavor began over twenty five years ago. As a part of their street outreach,  Alan Graham  and his partne...

  “The wisdom of the shrewd person is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deception.” Proverbs 14:8  As we go through life, we face decision points. They are like forks in the road that will determine our future path. It might be a change in career path, you might be inviting someone to come live with you, you might be considering a substantial investment. I’m not talking about the classic, “What’s for dinner?” questions, although to be honest if I had good counsel available for that I’d certainly seek it! What I’m considering are the larger, life-altering decisions we face at different points in our paths. How do you face decisions like this?   What does the Bible have to say about decisions like this? A lot! You’d be surprised how many verses I found! It turns out that God cares about this stuff and He really wants to provide us with all that we need to do the right thing. Go figure! It sounds like one of the most important aspects of approaching a deci...

  “A fool’s annoyance is known at once, but the prudent conceals dishonor.” – Proverbs 12:16  As the story of Esther continues , we read in Esther 1:9-12 about the women’s side of the banquet. While the men were partying for seven days, with the royal wine being poured out without measure, the women were having a shin-dig as well. Somewhere along the way, the king got it into his head that he needed to show off his wife. This could have been a “my wife is prettier than your wife” argument or maybe someone challenged him that his wife certainly couldn’t be as beautiful as he said. Only God knows those details, but whatever the reason, he summoned his wife to come to the men’s party.   Ok, I got curious and looked it up. There are some fascinating theories out there! The best one I found was on this site . They share that, according to ancient text and rabbinical teachings passed down, Vashti was actually the rightful heir to the throne and her husband was not yet, ...

 We smirk at the toddler stomping in the kitchen saying she can do it, "By Myself!" We shake our head at the senior citizen driving by braille down the road. But we each have a bit of an independent streak in us. We'd like to think that we can handle things on our own, that we don't need help. And when it gets suggested that maybe we shouldn't be doing something, watch out!  I've always been pretty fiercely independent. Yes, I'll ask for help to get something down up high, if someone's handy or I might get caught climbing on the counter 😏. When I was recovering from brain surgery , I was willing to let my husband carry out the grocery shopping, mainly because I literally wasn't physically capable of it. And yes, if there is ANYONE else in the house, I will holler for them to come take care of a spider. But do not tell me what to do, or worse, what I can't do.  My husband has learned this the hard way over the years. He's developed a carefu...

   The start of our trip is fast approaching and I'm in full Disney Planning Mode ! Those who have been privy to this particular penchant of mine will not be surprised to hear that I am currently using fourteen  different spreadsheets to sort out this planning. Why do you need FOURTEEN spreadsheets you might ask? Well, have you ever spent $1,000 a day on tickets just to have ten people standing in a central plaza saying, "What do you want to do?" "I don't know. What do you want to do?" Yeah, neither have I. That's cuz I have spreadsheets.  When you plan out your Disney trip in advance, it gives you the freedom to enjoy your time in the park without the mental exhaustion of trying to figure out what's next, analysis paralysis we call it in my family. I'm not tied to my plan for the most part (we do have some important reservations), but it gives me a guide so I'm not having to figure things out in the moment. I find that  exhausting! What do t...