YOUR LIFE COACHING WV

    Photo credit to T. Asleson Facebook post #wvflooding Normally I don't post more than once a week so I hope y'all don't mind. This hasn't exactly been a normal week here in WV so here goes. I want to share with y'all a hard lesson I learned a long time ago:  some people's opinion matters, others just don't. Just because someone can talk or type doesn't give them the right to feed into our lives. It is our personal responsibility to filter the junk out, get ticked for a second (or ten) consider the source, hit 'delete' and move on. Rehashing, retweeting, or repeating stupidity only gives it more power....we oughten not do that! But I'm just as guilty of doing this as the next gal so it ain't like I'm just spouting off about something I haven't beat myself up for. We need to remember that ignorant people laughing at a natural disaster are the same ones who have no self respect or common sense, and I believe they...

Photo Courtesy of B. Mathias Psalm 39:7  "And now, Lord, what do I wait for?  My hope is in You. " This past week, a lot of memories came rushing back to native West Virginian's. Memories of total devastation, death, and stuff we lost in other floods. We remembered how water has changed our state’s natural terrain; and we recalled stories our parents told us of other floods too. And none of us had the power to stop these memories any more than we could have stopped the rain.   I still remember the smell of 1985's flood mud and hearing boulders and homes crashing together as they made their way down stream…some things are never forgotten. But let me be honest, I've only been safely trapped in my home by flood waters without power and water, watched bridges float away like twigs and cars bobbing down the Potomac River. So I can only imagine what folks are actually going through. But my heart aches for them and our state. So other than the ho...

SOMETIMES I think we make seeking God too hard. Here lately, I've really been thinking about what that means. And I was  striving  to figure it out.  I share my personal experiences because I know that God uses real life and ordinary people to encourage one another ( and since I like to be encouraged, I figure I may as well encourage too ).  So, this morning I walked over to my office during that pretty hard rainstorm  (which I loved! ), sat down with my coffee and Bible then started reading Matthew 21 and 22 . Can I just share that in these chapters JESUS was having a pretty tough go of it!  First the temple thieves ( He threw a holy fit and kicked them all out ), then the fruitless fig tree ( He cursed that thing to death ), and then the Holier Than Thous  started in on Him ( boy did He ever put them in their place ). We've all had seasons like this, where if it can go wrong it will go wrong. So I was literally just sitting with my Bible ...

Earlier this week a scripture and old country music song, "Looking for Love," came to mind. The verse- Psalm 63:1[a] "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." The song talks about how we look for love (acceptance and belonging) in all the wrong places. Earlier today my grandkids were "building a fort" using leftover wood from some deconstruction around our place. I overheard one of them say "Look what you did! You ruined it." But when I tried to help, the 5, 3 and 2 years olds quickly told me "We've got this Mamm, we don't need your help." Hey, I didn't mind, I was swinging and enjoying watching them apply reason to their project! But they reminded of how many times we try to do things on our own, messing it up, and then end up blaming God for our mess. How many times have you heard "Where was God when...?" or ...

Photo Credit: D. Kelly @ Pendleton Co., WV I was sitting at my desk talking with my boss. He was a nice guy, raised in church, and a self-proclaimed agnostic. We had lots of conversations about faith, God, church...and one of his favorite things to get on to me about was my faith. And every once in a while, he would try to trip me up. Knowing me, I'd get a deer in the headlights look , what he said would sink in, and it was on! He was respectful toward me regarding my beliefs, and I to him regarding is ill-gotten unbelief. I'd apologize to him for gossiping or losing my temper, and he'd laugh. It was all good.  And I remember thinking that I should keep my mouth shut about my faith, but I'm built to keep quiet about that. About that "F" word. I was raised to believe that this was a horrible word and I raised my children with this same belief; this is one word that simply doesn't roll off our tongues. So now you know why of all the conversations we ...