Cathy's Heart

The Appointment I Nearly Missed A smile crossed my lips as I tried to etch into my memory the sweet hugs and kisses from my time with my little granddaughters. I printed my boarding pass, checked my bag, then headed for my gate. After I proceeded through security, I placed my laptop back in it's bag, slipped on my shoes, and walked down the concourse towards my flight. I prayed my daughter caught her plane. Then, I strolled through the shops as I waited for mine. I bought an ice tea and a bottled water. And, that's when I noticed him. A clean-cut, young man, who looked to be my youngest son's age, stood alone. His eyes met mine, then quickly looked away. But, in that moment, I surmised he either had a major hangover or perhaps lost his life-savings in the casinos the night before. We were in Vegas, after all. He looked so forlorn. Maybe he'd been jilted by a lover at one of the wedding chapel's on the strip. I glanced at him again. His eyes were so red and glassy, I...

Silencing The Voice of Failure I AM A FAILURE! The accusation rose up from my heart and weighed heavy on me.   In just three short weeks, I had gone from feeling successful about the launch of my  new website , with your kind comments and encouragement, to defeat. All because, I did not meet my own illusive goal to write one new post each week.   The voice of failure is not an unfamiliar one. In the past, I have listened to it taunt me when I believed I had failed or fallen short in my attempts to be a godly wife, or mother, or friend, or Christian...the list could go on and on.   Over time, I have learned,  this sly and subtle enemy sneaks around and slithers in when  I begin to measure my success based on what the world says I should do or be.  It grows louder as I start  to compare myself with the talents and success of others, instead of rejoicing in the person God made me to be . And, the voice nearly paralyzes me when  I lose focus of ...

The Exact Places Where We Should Live Hello dear reader.  I am so excited to w elcome you to my new website.  For the past several months, my youngest son shared his time and talent to help build this beautiful new site, a home for my blogs, a spot for my speaker information, and a place where, I pray, you will be encouraged! I am beyond blessed, and so thankful, for the sacrifices my son made to invest in my life and calling. Now, with 2013 off to a good start, not only will my blogs have a new home, but my husband and I are looking for a new house as well. You see,  the place where we currently live is bursting at the seams!  When our children and grandchildren come to visit, our tiny house is overflowing with love, laughter and bodies. And, there appears to be no end-in-sight to our families growth and multiplication. (Smile) So, a few months ago,  my husband and I started to look for a bigger house. In our search for a new home,  we have been charmed by...

"A Blogging Conference Worth Every Penny: Want to Win A Free Pass? The words on my computer screen caught my attention. It was mid-November. And, just the day before I had prayed,  Lord,   should I be using social media and blogging   to do ministry? Could this be an answer to my prayer?  I wondered. I followed the link on  Judy Dunn's  Blog, entered the contest, and  committed the outcome   to the Lord. I received my answer a few days later.  I won!  I was one of two randomly selected (or, should I say, divinely appointed) winners to the  New Media Expo . I was so excited. I was going to start the new year in Vegas at a social media convention. However, when the time came to pack my suitcases,  I began to have doubts.  Why did I win? What am I doing going to this conference?  My blog is so small and my social media skills are so weak.... On and on, doubts and fears taunted me... I am sure there are others who would b...

Born To Soar Welcome to week 5, the final installment, of my attempt to put into writing the material I recently taught at a women 's Bible study. I wish you could have been there, because there is no way to adequately cover in a blog post all of the Scripture studied, the stories told or the rich insights shared by the women who attended. That said, I pray you will be encouraged by the snippet of lessons taught through this series. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In my last four posts, I wrote about God 's desire for us to  renew our minds , thus transforming our lives so that we might experience all the freedom and fullness available to God 's children through His Son Jesus. Paul explained it so beautifully in Romans 12:2,  Don 't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but  let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God 's will for you, which is good and pleasing and pe...

Born To Soar (Part 4) Welcome to week 4 of my cyberspace Bible Study. Recently, my posts have followed the heart of the messages I taught this past fall at my church. I pray they will be a blessing to you!   In my last three posts, we looked at God's desire and plan to help us  renew our minds , thus  transforming our lives  into the  men and women He created us to be . One of the greatest gifts we have been given to help renew our mind is the Bible, the  living and active  word of God. In the same way a leaf-eating caterpillar is mysteriously equipped with  a small pipe-like straw  that enables it to burst forth from it's cocoon into a sweet-nectar drinking butterfly,  we are miraculously equipped by the Holy Spirit to eat a new kind of food when we are born into the family of God.  No longer do we simply hunger for the food that our body needs, but  our soul longs to be nourished by spiritual food, the very  God-breathed...