Big Heads and Spiritual Arthritis—A Diagnosis
© 2014 by Karen Friday
“I hope the baby grows into his head!”
I’ve seen newborn babies with large heads. Heads that outdo the body. The percentage of head size to body size is a little off. As they grow, their bodies normally catch up with their head.
Full grown people can have a big-head. The head that declares, “I am in control, I can do it by myself, I know what’s best for me…for you…in this situation.”
We all fall prey to having a big, fat head! Swollen with pride and “me” thoughts and “I know” thoughts.
Prideful thoughts convincing us how we can make it on our own, we don’t need anyone else. Big-headed thoughts persuading—we deserve to go to the top and to be served.
It’s the same big-headedness first seen—in one of the first scenes of the Bible. Adam and Eve in the Garden. The big-headedness of the desire to be wise—like God—and on their own. The boastful pride of life (Genesis 3, I John 2:16).
July 31, 2014 at 8:56 am | Uncategorized
America’s Driveway in the Foothills of Virginia
My family heritage has roots in “small town America.”
America Maxfield, my maternal grandmother, lived in a small town in the foothills of Virginia. When my twin sister and I were seven, we lived with our grandparents for a few years along with our mother. Moving from our birthplace of El Paso, Texas, to a small town in the southwest mountains of Virginia, Big Stone Gap. Our mother grew up in Big Stone Gap—and so would we—and a younger sister who came along a few years later.
My grandfather bought and sold scrap metal at a junk yard he owned—visible from their house and nestled at the bottom of the hill. A long, curvy, uphill driveway lead to their home.
Childhood memories are filled with the trek up and down the driveway by foot or bicycle—building calf muscles on the uphill trips. Catching the school bus or going to the junk yard to see my grandfather. My grandmother always seemed to be doing something in the kitchen and had snacks ready when we came in from playing.
Memories—in small town America.
July 24, 2014 at 8:36 am | Uncategorized
From the Sides of My Heart!
By Karen ‘Girl’ Friday
“Thank you so much from the sides of my heart!” “I am sorry from the top of my heart.” Ever wonder why we say, “…from the bottom of my heart?”
The thought conveys the heart as the center of emotions and feelings. Saying “from the bottom of my heart,” relays we are sincere in our promise, apology, or gratefulness.
“I love you…from the bottom of my heart.” This is how I feel, from the core of my emotions, for someone. Someone I have poured my life into the last seven years. What I believe Christ meant when he admonished us to make disciples. To come along side of others in life with love and authentic relationship. Through the good places and the rough places. Encouraging, praying, and speaking the truth in love.
Jesus led by example in the authenticity of discipleship.
July 17, 2014 at 10:53 am | Uncategorized
Jane’s Story: Steadfast Love in Tragedy
This is Jane’s story. And this is a story about love.
You see, even in the midst of tragic events and dark moments, some things will never happen in this life.
Never.
“You’re going to have to explain this to me. I don’t understand why this happened.”
One of the many pleas spoken to me following the death of a young woman in our church.
Jane’s Story
Jane was only twenty-eight, leaving behind a husband and three small children including an infant boy born only days before.
Explain it? How? I mourned and grieved myself. And I struggled to make sense of it. So many people loved Jane.
Earlier that day my husband, Mike, pastor of our church, sent a troubling text to my phone. “Pray! Doing chest compressions on Jane.” I went numb.
In ICU and on a ventilator, Jane’s Bilateral Pneumonia and weak heart made her critical.
A sick feeling came over me. And I paced in my home office, praying out loud. Tearful. Calling out again to the Lord to spare Jane’s life.
Also, I quickly forwarded the text to many friends and people in our church family who had been praying, visiting the hospital, and sitting with Jane’s husband, Trey.
The News Came
July 11, 2014 at 8:29 am | Uncategorized
Formula for Living Water—H20
“Water, water, everywhere…”
There were days and nights,
water was the only thing in sight.
When the ship was out to sea,
as far as our eyes could see.
A family cruise to the Bahamas was the perfect way to celebrate our daughter graduating from college and son graduating high school the same spring. While I enjoyed cruising the ocean, I was glad to get my feet firmly planted back on land—at our ports of call and when the cruise was over.
“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” Lines from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The sailor is out to sea, surrounded by water on every side, none suited for drinking.
Water. We need a daily supply. Take it for granted until we don’t have it. We can’t live without it—literally. Life cannot be sustained without water—living water. The earth cannot support living plants or vegetation without water.
July 7, 2014 at 10:57 am | Uncategorized
A Hostage Situation—The King’s Ransom
A Hostage Situation
By Karen Friday
My emotions have kidnapped my mind. My thoughts have been taken captive and are being held hostage. The demands are high. The only hope for release is The King’s ransom—pure, undefiled, full truth of the mind of Christ.
The words played over in my mind…I found myself in the same place again—obsessing.
“Obsess,” defined by Google dictionary, means to “preoccupy or fill the mind continually, intrusively and to a troubling extent. It takes control of, has a hold on, and is fixated on; to be consumed by.”
Obsessing fits well with my personality—perfectionist, overly organized, detail driven, and often self-critical. Recently I was obsessing…about ministry areas…about my physical appearance. My thoughts held hostage…
July 1, 2014 at 2:38 pm | Uncategorized