Jesus Through Joanie

I love pencils! In fact, I have a tendency to get pretty excited over a great pencil…it’s the small things in life. The best part about a pencil is the eraser! I journal and write by hand often, and I make mistakes. That eraser is perfect for wiping out the mistakes so I can start over on a clean surface. Don’t you wish life were that easy? Just turn the pencil over and erase the mistakes and start over? Oh boy, I do! Several weeks ago, my husband and I sat down for our monthly budget meeting. The dreaded budget meeting; I’m sure was his first thought. This is a…

“He/She’s so lucky, he/she never has any problems! Their life is perfect, they have everything. They never have to worry about anything!” – Be honest – how many times have you caught yourself saying something similar when you look at someone else’s life? It’s a natural instinct to compare our lives to someone else. And we often begin that comparison only by what we see, not what we know! But looks can be deceiving. We really never know exactly what someone else is worried about or going through. A person can put on a fake smile and speak a kind word all the while, they are falling apart inside. This…

Last week I gained some confidence. I made a plan and set a timeline for myself. In fact, I am stretching toward some pretty lofty goals. I won’t go into the boring details, but let’s just say that confidence helped clear my mind and allow the creative juices to flow again. And as I began telling these things to those closest to me (for accountability), I felt energized and motivated toward the possibilities of all that God has in store for me to do. However, as the week wore on, things unraveled a little. I had a disagreement with my husband and reacted very poorly, definitely not to the standard…

We’ve all heard that familiar children’s song that recites as follows: “He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole wide world in His hands – He’s got the whole world in His hands!”. You were singing weren’t you? Do the words of that song mean anything to you? They remind me of two passages of scripture that I turn to regularly. Isaiah 45:7 says – “I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things;” & Matthew 10:29-31 reads – “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?…

“I love spring time, everything is just so alive”, my husband’s voice abruptly pulled me from my never-ending thoughts. I looked over at it him for a moment, reminiscing. We were on our way to my niece’s gender reveal party, to celebrate a new life. The combination of this celebration with his comment caused my mind to flutter quickly back to a time in my life, when being alive was the most important thing on my mind. It was April seventh on an early spring afternoon. The air was warm but not quite hot yet, and the trees had just begun to bud, although there were no blooms in sight.…