Carrie's Corner

Yesterday, a friend of mine posted that his mother had passed on.  I was sad for him. I had known his mother as she and his dad had both given me many rides to church during high school.  She was one of the nicest people I had known.  I remembered she worried a lot about him and being in the thralls of being a teenage boy, he often dismissed her concerns. Both of his parents are now with the Lord and while I know he rejoices at that thought, I too, know that kind of loss.   Last week another friend posted that her mother had passed on.  Again, sadness came over me, but I was glad I had known her mother, even if only for a short while. What these two friends had in common is that they were part of a larger circle of friends that I grew up with at church.  Many of the friends in this circle I have known since elementary school. Some I met in Jr. High and some high school. Some of us attended the same schools together, but most of us did not.  Yet, we w...

To the woman who desperately wanted to have children, but God said, “No”...           I cannot comfort you or ease the empty ache of your soul, but my Lord can. To the teachers who have no children of their own, but pour tirelessly into the lives of other children…           Is “thank you” ever enough to say? You touch and influence far more than you know. For the nurses working in the hospitals taking care of the sick and dying children…           What compassion, grace and mercy God has given you to gift these little ones with some peace. To the childless woman who takes on the role of aunt or guardian with fervor, love and endless delight…           Your love is immeasurable and your time is spent in ways that can never be repaid . For the social worker who sees the very worst situations in which our children live…           Your strength to continuing tryi...

It was a typical Sunday morning at church. There were some video announcements, followed by a brief welcome and then the music started. The first song was great. It was an inspiring, motivating type of song that made you want to belt out a stanza or two. Then the second song started, My Heart Is Yours. I started singing the words and was enjoying the traditional hymn thrown in the middle of the song, but suddenly the words pierced through me. “My heart is yours, my heart is yours, take it all, take it all, my life in your hands.” I stopped for a few seconds and tried to regain my composure. The song continued on. “You are my God, whatever the cost, Jesus.” The cost? Do I  really know what that means?  The song continued on.   “All to Jesus, I surrender.” Surrender?  Really? I can’t even give up butter for 40 days! Why in the world would I think I could surrender it all to Jesus? I stopped singing at that point. I couldn’t. It wasn't honest. I continu...

So many of us in this world are broken in some ways.  Some of us are very broken--as  a matter of fact, I would say we are more than just broken--we are shattered.  Life has been hard on us and we have weathered some really tough times.  Some of us are a little broken, with a chip here or there, but not much more than that.  After all, our lives have been pretty good to us.  Some of us are not shattered, but we are more than just chipped.  Life has been hard, but not unbearable.  We have experienced heartache, yet have still come out of it, more damaged, but still intact.  Cracked, chipped, broken and shattered. What is God supposed to do with all of those pieces?  Can he really put us back together again?  If he does, are we ever really the same?  I guess that depends on what you believe God can really do.  Do you really believe he can make all things new or do you think you will just end up looking like the cup in the ...

Both David and I have experienced the death of someone close to us.  David lost his father in a farming accident when he was 13.  It was sudden, unexpected, and shocking.  I lost my father when I was 22, after watching him fight cancer for a little over 6 years.  It was drawn out, expected, but still shocking when his death finally occurred.   The grief that we both experienced was tremendous. These experiences shaped our lives and even our marriage.  It's a conversation we have always had--from the very beginning of our marriage.  We've always had life insurance and we've always talked about what the other spouse should do in the event of our death.  Though it sounds morbid to have such conversations so early on in marriage, it also served us well to keep a sense of reality in our lives.  We never know how long we have on this earth or how long someone else has...and therein lies the lesson of making the most of the days we now have. Eph...

I admit it.  I am NOT a leapfrog.  I'm not exactly a turtle either, but I do move at the pace of  turtle sometimes.  It drives my leapfrog family and friends a bit nutty.  I don't mean to drive them crazy, but I often times move at a different pace.  I'm a thinker.  I'm cautious.  I ponder.  Probably a little too much of all of those things at times... On the other hand, my leapfrog family and friends drive me a bit batty at times.  They get excited over a new idea and want to pounce on it right away, without giving it much thought.  Forget caution and who has time to think? Let's get it done---NOW! I do enjoy having leapfrogs in my life though.  They are the movers and shakers of the world.  They like to get things done, like to implement new ideas and aren't afraid to jump into new situations.  I admire their lack of fear and their carefree attitude about what could happen.  Of course they often look at me ...

Recently, a friend of mine told me that she was frustrated with homeschooling,  I sympathized with her.  I've been down that weary road of frustration many times.  Homeschooling can be hard--no doubt.  There are days when you are really scratching your head and wondering what you were thinking.  You might even be questioning the Lord and wondering what HE was thinking when he asked you to take on this project....but rest assured--if you truly are following the Lord's leading in this area, then he will give you the tools you need to complete the task.  Isn't that true of other areas of our life though?  Truly---whatever God has called you to do, he will provide the tools you need.  Why is that so hard to grasp though? Truthfully, I was filled with doubts regarding homeschooling.  I was pregnant with our fourth child at the time, and couldn't see how I was going to teach a 1st and 3rd grader all while juggling a toddler and a newborn. ...