Cathy's Heart

When There Is Only One Way This is my birthday week. I turn 59, and my blog will turn 9. As I have prayed about my annual blog-iversary post, I felt compelled to write one message: There are Circumstances and Seasons When We Simply Must Go Through It! There is no way around IT! No way over IT! No way under IT! And, as much as we want to, we cannot, nor should we, rush IT or reroute IT or run away from IT! Yesterday, on my neighborhood walk, it struck me; there is only one way in and one way out. Although, I can see our house from the surrounding main roads, there is only one path home. At the World Famous San Diego Zoo, last week, I found out that elephants have one way to have a baby elephant, which is 22 months of carrying the “tiny” new life in the mama’s large body. When my grandson heard this, he quickly remarked, “mommy only needs to have our new baby in her tummy for 9 months. Unless, it comes early, like me.” In our lifetimes, there are so many wonderful and amaz...

When There Is Only One Way This is my birthday week. I turn 59, and my blog will turn 9. As I have prayed about my annual blog-iversary post, I felt compelled to write one message: There are Circumstances and Seasons When We Simply Must Go Through It! There is no way around IT! No way over IT! No way under IT! And, as much as we want to, we cannot, nor should we, rush IT or reroute IT or run away from IT! Yesterday, on my neighborhood walk, it struck me; there is only one way in and one way out. Although, I can see our house from the surrounding main roads, there is only one path home. At the World Famous San Diego Zoo, last week, I found out that elephants have one way to have a baby elephant, which is 22 months of carrying the “tiny” new life in the mama’s large body. When my grandson heard this, he quickly remarked, “mommy only needs to have our new baby in her tummy for 9 months. Unless, it comes early, like me.” In our lifetimes, there are so many wonderful and amazi...

"A Book Is Never A Book" "I WROTE A BOOK!"  Shouts the little girl inside of me, twirling around and around in my heart!   I want to show everyone! (Even though, the book I carry with me is just a proof copy). Plus, I find I need to cry. So, I do. Tears, and more tears, spill out of me!  I am an author! A real, live author!   Yes, I blog. Yes, I have a few pieces in the books of special friends. And yes, last year, I was honored to  co-author a book , with two dozen other amazing writers. Still, as I hold in my hands a copy of the book with my name on the cover, and my words filling the pages, it is like welcoming a new born babe. OMGoodness!   Now comes the most difficult part. Marketing and promoting my new book-baby, that will be hard for me.   I confess, writing this post is, partially, for spreading the news. But, more importantly, I am writing because I want you, dear reader, to know that there is a bigger story! A much, much bigger God story! ...

"A Book Is Never A Book" "I WROTE A BOOK!"  Shouts the little girl inside of me, twirling around and around in my heart!   I want to show everyone! (Even though, the book I carry with me is just a proof copy). Plus, I find I need to cry. So, I do. Tears, and more tears, spill out of me!  I am an author! A real, live author!   Yes, I blog. Yes, I have a few pieces in the books of special friends. And yes, last year, I was honored to  co-author a book , with two dozen other amazing writers. Still, as I hold in my hands a copy of the book with my name on the cover, and my words filling the pages, it is like welcoming a new born babe. OMGoodness!   Now comes the most difficult part. Marketing and promoting my new book-baby, that will be hard for me.   I confess, writing this post is, partially, for spreading the news. But, more importantly, I am writing because I want you, dear reader, to know that there is a bigger story! A much, much bigger God story! ...

Hospitality Is Not an Option This post is dedicated to Miles. Thank you for opening my eyes to the true value of family dinners.   Years ago, when we all lived under one roof, our house was the hub for middle school, high school and college kids. Music (really loud music, from the band that practiced in our garage), laughter, conversation, games, shenanigans, and young people filled every room in our home. And when dinner time rolled around... Well, let's just say, it was rarely only our family of six. No, we often set extra plates, as I prayed for the Lord to multiply the food I was cooking.   Our dining room table comfortably held our small tribe. Yet, many evenings we squeezed eight or nine or even ten snuggly around it. Some nights, though, even our long table was not quite enough. Then, I would holler for one of the kids to grab the folding table to accommodate the overflow.   We placed the square green table in the adjoining room, where we could easily include anoth...