Do You Have A Word?

Do you have a word for the new year? My word for 2020 was, “abide.” The word means: to accept, or act in accordance with. Some synonyms are: obey, observe, follow, hold, bear, endure, stand, suffer, tolerate.

Boy. When I sat outside on the morning of January 1, 2020, writing in my journal about the word, “abide,” I remember feeling pretty hopeful. I also remember feeling cautiously optimistic.

I think I was leaning more into the “cautiously” part, rather than the, “optimistic” part.

I kept hoping for a 4th quarter, “Hail Mary Pass” miracle with three seconds to go. I was convinced people were going to do the right thing, even if it was a photo finish moment; but they would certainly do the right thing. I believed our financial

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My 2020 Vision Sucked, But I'm Trying To See Better

My glasses have a scratch right in the center of my right lens. I have done all of the google suggestions to remove a scratch, to no avail. If possible, the scratch seems to grow. Of course it is right in the center of my right eye. I have learned to hold my head to one side or up/down a little to see around the scratch, and the part that hinders my vision.

I have put off going to the eye doctor this year because of COVID. Sitting right on top of someone else breathing into my air space and vice versa just does not sound like an exciting idea. But it is getting to the point I need to have my vision checked and get a new pair of glasses.

My 2020 vision has not been superior, to say the least. In fact, I have not had my eyes examined since a couple of weeks before Irma

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Linus and The Cross

This ornament is Linus and his blanket. You are familiar with A Charlie Brown Christmas. Linus is rarely without his blue, security blanket. You might have seen the article about Linus and his security blanket that many people are posting again. We believe the article was written in 2015. The article pointed out that when Linus gets up and recites Luke 2:8-14, and says the words, “fear not,” he drops his security blanket. A pretty powerful moment, right? Charles Schulz was a bold, brave man of faith, and obviously made no bones about it when he wrote “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Granted, in 1965 when this came out, it was a much nicer time, and Charles Schulz knew he had an incredible opportunity to reach young children and teach them the meaning of Christmas!

Our pastor, Steve Lawes, has an incredible gift and talent of pointing to Jesus. Last year, Steve talked about how he likes to show this clip (where Linus drops the blanket) and how he very much believes that was no accident on Schulz’s part.

Remember the infomercials where “today only, act now, because for $19.99 you can get all of this! But wait, there’s more!” Remember those? This is one of those moments. But wait, there’s more! Steve

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I Need To Change How I Smell

Michala went on a retreat a couple of years ago and called us to share one of her favorite takeaways. She said, "We are to smell like Jesus." (The fragrance of Christ referenced in this scripture: "Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing." - 2 Corinthians 2:15)

I loved that reminder and wrote it down in my Bible.

But lately I have been thinking ... I do not think I smell like Jesus. The temperature from the past year leading up to the election has made many of us reach the boiling point. I am sure many of my comments have smelled more like Aimee and less like Jesus.

I don't want to smell like Aimee. Granted, often times, Aimee smells like Brown Sugar and Fig, or the Bum Bum cream I love. Sometimes

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Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Grace. Joy.

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Grace. Joy.

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I felt the nudge to write about the word, “Eucharisteo.” The Greek word, Eucharist means, Thanksgiving. The word, "charis" means grace, and chara means, joy. So translated, Thanksgiving and Joy literally extend from the word, "Grace." We cannot earn it, we don't deserve it. But grace is given, generously.

Several years ago I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I highly recommend it if you have not read it. Of course if you have read it, you know it is worth reading, again.

Jamie George, my pastor in Franklin, Tennessee also did a message one year on Eucharisteo, and the meaning of Thanksgiving, Joy and Grace.

As I flipped through my Bible and found my scribbled notes in the margin, I smiled as I thought about the song, “Reckless Love.”

“I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still You give Yourself away …”

Thanksgiving. Eucharisteo.

Thanksgiving is a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it’s a holiday weekend. This year, the holiday looks different. Most of us are not traveling to see family or hosting family members in our homes, due to COVID. But we will still

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My Faith In Jesus Is Not Threatened By Muslims

Every once in a while when I want to get my stomach feeling really good and queasy and want to get myself all worked up and angry, I open Twitter and read what my fellow Americans are saying about politics.

Most of the time I can just roll my eyes and keep scrolling. Other times, I find my stomach feeling hot and I have to put my hand over my mouth to keep from throwing up.

Recently, the nauseating hot button topic for me was certain Members of Congress who claim to be Christians in their bios, fighting an unnecessary and nasty fight with Representative Ilhan Omar. First of all, no one is disputing the fact Representative Omar is a practicing Muslim. Second of all, we as Christians should act like reflections of Jesus.

What hurts my heart is the fact we as Christians

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Our Flawed Nutcracker

We have a Christmas countdown nutcracker. It has little blocks at the bottom that you can change each day, counting down the days until Christmas. The only problem is, the blocks are missing a few numbers. So some days, I can switch the block on the left to the right position, using the correct numbers, and vice versa. This does not always work out, though. Some days, the countdown is not correct, due to the missing numbers.

I still love this nutcracker, though.

As I was looking at it one morning, rolling my eyes about not being able to interchange the numbers and make it work, Terry asked me if I wanted a new one? I said, “No, it’s okay. We can just skip the days where the numbers don’t work, and I’ll be here to remind you (and anyone else who asks, or doesn’t ask) how many days until Christmas.”

Sometimes, I think

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I Found A Chocolate Babka!

After Michala’s wreck, she needed to be with us for a while, so we brought her back to spend some time healing at home. One evening we did a quick run to Trader Joe’s. As we were standing by the “bakery” section, we found a loaf of gingerbread. Since it was Vegan, I said, “Let’s keep looking to see if they have anything else gingerbread, just in case the vegan one doesn’t taste like gingerbread to us.” We were looking at all of the different baked goods when I saw a chocolate babka.

Now, I was in college when this episode aired, and it was truly hilarious back then. So as soon as I saw the chocolate babka on the shelf, I said to Michala, “Oh look! A chocolate babka! We better grab it while they still have the chocolate babka.” Of course upon saying this, I cracked myself up, laughing. Since Michala wasn’t laughing, I said, “It’s only funny if you watched Seinfeld, so you need to see that scene to get it.”

Still nothing.

So I turned to look at her, but Michala

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What If We, As Christians, Loved The Woman Who Had An Abortion?

If you have followed my page and read my writing for a while, you know my background. I minored in political science and spent years in politics. I used to be very quick to tell anyone who would listen, “Yep! I’m a Republican.” I worked on state level campaigns, Congressional campaigns and I even worked on President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.

The past few years I have been politically homeless. But as my mentor in politics once told me, “You can take the girl out of politics, but you’ll never be able to take the politics out of the girl.” Boy, was she right.

Even though I find myself without a political label these days, I am still immersed in politics. I guess everyone is.

This is a topic that has weighed so heavily on my heart for quite some time now, and I spent years seeking a way to make a difference, studying scripture and wrestling with God in prayer over how I could deal with this one particular subject that seems to be an extremely “hot topic” with regards to political issues. I have wept over this matter, and this is where

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Don't Confuse Me With The Facts

"I’m trying to think. Don’t confuse me with facts.” - Plato.

Then there’s, “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” - Mark Twain.

Boy. Do those two quotes speak volumes, or what?

With today’s political division so rampant, it is easy for people to get their blood pressure elevated with conversations. People who only watch Fox News or OANN will believe one way, where people who only watch CNN will only believe another. It seems to be more and more rare to find someone who actually digs into multiple sources to find the truth, hidden in the middle of the two extremes.

Remember when we were all taught to write research papers, and to include, “at least three sources.” Sometimes you needed to have far more sources than three.

The wonderful thing as lovers of Jesus? We have 66 books in the Bible to source

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We Need More Jesus And Less Us On Social Media And Everywhere

I have shared with y’all before about the little game I developed a few years ago. It’s called, “Let’s Invite Jesus to Play.”

You see, when I have to be around difficult people, or I am in the midst of a difficult situation, I visualize Jesus standing right there. Right next to the hateful person, or seated at the table where the difficult conversation is unfolding.

I have a smart mouth. A wicked, sarcastic mouth. And as funny as I often find myself to be, I know I should cling to my friend Lindsey’s advice to me many, many years ago, “Think it, don’t say it.”

Ugggghhhh. What I really need to do is not think it. But I am human. So of course I think it. I need to keep working on the don’t say it part. I am getting there, slowly but surely. But I slip up, a lot, too.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” - Romans 12:18 (NIV)

With some people, I get it. It is just not possible to leave at peace with them. Bob Goff has a great saying in Love Does, “I don’t mean

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Devotion Announcement

Hi friends!

As you are likely aware, Facebook has had some major changes lately. When it comes to changes, my sister-friend Lindsey puts it like this, “I’m like a turtle. I want to pull my head back inside my protective shell.”

I do not do extremely well with technology changes. At all.

One of the things I have noticed the past couple of weeks is, not all of my scheduled devotion posts are actually posting. Some have been lost in space.

The only way I know how to remedy this is to try and post here, and link to Facebook for you to still read, if you don’t visit my website each morning for the posts.

We will give this a try and see how it goes!

Sending you all my love, big hugs and a reminder … Christmas is only 95 days away!

Sweet blessings,

Aimee

Christians Can Love Politics, But We Need To Love Jesus More

I am too young to sound this old, but I hurt for our nation. I was not alive during the Civil Rights struggle, and those decades of fighting, injustice and turmoil, so I cannot compare what happened then to what is happening, now. But I can read history and watch footage, and it feels pretty darned close.

When I was in college, the first day of one of my political science classes, I remember telling my roommate, Rebecca, “This woman is so liberal, I’ll probably fail the class because I can just tell she’s going to hate me.” This professor turned out to be one of my favorite professors, though. Yes, we had completely different beliefs and opinions, but she was fair. She challenged us. She pushed us.

I was meeting with her during one of her office hours and she had to take a phone call. As I looked around her office, there were photos of her with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Al Gore. I remember this hot feeling in my stomach starting to simmer, like a terrible conversation was about to take place, and she was going to tell me I did not belong in politics and would never fit in, or I didn’t have what it takes.

When she hung up the phone, I remember feeling how sweaty my hands were. She said, “Aimee,

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Are We As Christians Stinky Like Onions?

We usually work out earlier in the day. One day, however, we had some contractors doing some work outside. Things were not going like they were supposed to go, and Terry kept having to deal with them. (Seriously. Why even have contracts if people won’t honor their end of them? But I digress).

So as the hours ticked by, I looked at the clock and realized it was 4:45 PM. I was making chicken tortilla soup for dinner, and wanted to get it started and simmering. After all, with the rain that day bringing in the brisk, cool weather (it was about 87 degrees as opposed to 187 degrees. Alright, 187 might be a tad bit of an exaggeration, but y’all get what I’m saying) I thought a thick, spicy chicken tortilla soup was needed.

As I started prepping the soup, I diced an onion that made me weep. With every slice of the knife, tears began pouring out of me. I even said to Terry, “I’m not sure where Publix is getting their onions these days, but if I had to bet money, I would say somewhere along the equator.” Tears kept gushing out

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I Need To Be More Like Cooked Spinach

When I cook a bag of spinach, I am always amazed how much there appears to be in the bag, and then how little there appears to be, once it’s cooked. It is a fascinating sight to watch how that bag of spinach is piled into the pan, overflowing, even; and then cooks down to such a small amount. The nutrients, though, are still there and so worth it.

As I made Terry’s and my dinner the other night, I was cooking chicken, sliced potatoes and had them in the oven and then started the spinach on the stovetop.

As it wilted down into the garlic I had minced and cooked in a little bit of olive oil, I tossed the spinach with some tongs and added a little sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Slowly that big ol’ pile of spinach became less and less.

I added a little splash of prosecco (because I had some

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Let's Be Nicer And Love Our Neighbor

I just shared this with some friends yesterday, but September 10 and September 11 are some pretty significant dates in our minds.

Hurricane Irma ravaged our home on September 10, 2017. September 11, 2001 forever changed all of us.

The definition of bittersweet: Hurricane Irma. September 10, 2017.

Damn near killed Terry and me, rebuilding the house. That’s the bitter part.

But because of Irma, we grew closer to our neighbors. We met our insurance adjuster who is a precious, honest, Godly man, who fought on our behalf when the insurance companies didn't want to budge; and is now one of our dearest friends.

Day in and day out for two and a half years, Terry and I worked to

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Star Trek, Star Wars and The Word of God

So, I asked Terry a question the other day while we were on a road trip. I asked him, “I know I’m probably going to regret asking this. But what’s the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars? I mean, is there really a difference?”

Y’all. My mom has a saying. She says, “Common sense is not common.” These words are so true. I lacked total and complete common sense when I asked this question. Why I thought a quick answer would suffice, I do not know.

I have never seen a full episode of Star Trek and I really don’t remember any of the Star Wars movies since I haven’t seen them since I was a little girl, when they were first released. (Or any of the sequels/prequels, since).

41 minutes later, we were interrupted by a phone call, so the explanation ended. I kid you not. Terry talked for forty-one minutes straight, about the intricacies of Star Trek and Star Wars. And although I had a few questions here and there, most of that conversation was Terry.

Forty one minutes.

That’s right. Forty one

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Bring The Travels To Your Kitchen

I have noticed some phrases being used by an awful lot of people lately. “Remembering better days.” Or “Back when life was good.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love walking down memory lane. I am an emotional sap. I love when my phone’s icloud photos randomly show me a memory or Shutterfly emails me and says, “Remember this from three years ago?”

As nostalgic as I can get, however, I do not want any of us to assume all of our better and best days have already taken place.

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13 (NLT)

We cannot live our lives right now with the tunnel vision of pure bleakness. If we do, we are not placing our hope in the hands of God. We have

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We Will Survive The Pain

My precious daughter and I spent years in turmoil. Watching my terrible lead, we suffered in silence. Shame overcame us and guilt for allowing my daughter to endure what I endured often consumed me.

One day I wound up in the emergency room with internal bleeding from all the stress. In a moment of weakness, I actually prayed, “God, please take me. Just take me now.” As soon as I cried that prayer, the Holy Spirit wrapped Himself around me and whispered, “But Michala …”

I immediately wept and begged God for His forgiveness for that desire to just die. What about my precious baby? How could I selfishly wish for it all to end, leaving her to fend for herself?

That moment of weakness changed me and changed my direction. It changed my prayers and my closeness with Jesus, tremendously.

And you know what? I not only survived it, I

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I Am An American, But My Citizenship Is In Heaven

I keep seeing posts about standing/kneeling for the flag. I have really been awakened this year to several things. I am so incredibly proud to live in this beautiful country; land of the free, home of the brave. I love my beautiful America and the freedoms we have. More than my love for this country and our flag, though, is my love for Jesus. I do not ever want to confuse my love for the two. Because my nationality is certainly "American citizen," but ultimately, my citizenship belongs in God's Kingdom. So it is more important to reflect my citizenship in His Kingdom than my citizenship, here.

Regarding standing for the National Anthem as our flag proudly waves, I agree, and having had so many family members who served and currently serve in the military, as well as countless friends, I am so incredibly proud to stand. But this year, I have really had a change of heart and perspective. While I will stand for our national anthem, I absolutely have a better understanding for some feeling a call to kneel. What I once saw as a grand disrespect, I now see as a peaceful demonstration and a desperate plea/cry for help and change. And if I were in a setting

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