MyLeslieNotebook

"Charm is deceptive." I've had this phrase in my mouth, heart, and mind for a month now. The girls in my church have spent the entire summer studying Proverbs 31, and since I had a few weeks between teaching lessons so I really wanted to dig deeply into what the verses meant.  One of the verses I knew I'd teach was verse 30, which begins with the phrase, "Charm is deceptive." At first I simply glossed over it; I knew what it meant:  It meant we could fool people with our charm. It meant the Proverbs 31 woman doesn't use her charm to deceive others.  Right? Well, kinda. Not really. The meaning of this phrase changes when you look up the word "charm" in an online concordance . That's when you realize that, in its dozens of appearances in the Old Testament, it's rarely translated "charm" but more likely "grace" or "favor." As in, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8) or ...

There is a recurring statement made among Christians when it comes to prayer: "I just don't pray like I should." What does that even mean? Well, if you've been involved in church for more than about two years, you know you should pray about everyone, in every way, at all times. You know that you don't have because you don't ask, and that the Bible even says to "pray without ceasing," (1 Thess. 5:18).  "Yeah, right!" we say, "There's no way." I followed this train of thought for many years. I'd hear a sermon or read a book on prayer, get really excited about it, buy a new notebook, (because that was always a key, right? A prayer notebook!) and pour out my heart to God. For about a week. Then the prayer journal would fall by the wayside and I'd feel heathen-ish again. "What kind of Christian doesn't pray?" I'd wonder. Me. But then I asked myself this question, and I encourage you to ask it...

This gorgeous print is for sale by Mary Grace Design ! There's a woman in my church who is known to declare that certain things are "from the pit." (Yeah, I'm looking toward the Scott family.) She says it half-jokingly, but she's pretty much spot-on with her assessment.  And right now I'm walking through life with a few friends--of at least three different generations--who feel alone. Either through pain or shame or fear, they feel no one understands, no one is there, and there's no one they can tell everything to. So please picture me gently grabbing your sweet chin and saying to you, like my friend, "That is a lie. Straight from the pit." You are not alone. Do not believe the voice telling you otherwise. "I know," you say, "Jesus promises to be with me." Indeed He does: In Matthew 28:20 Jesus said, "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Romans 8:11 promises, ...

There is a beautiful piece of property across the road from us, close to 200 acres. It's been an untouched wilderness since we moved here 12 years ago: no houses, no people. So when I look out my front window, all I could see across the road were mature, thick trees.  Unfortunately that property recently changed hands, and the new owners must have realized there are many thousands of dollars worth of timber on it. So they hired loggers to cut down and sell the mature trees. In order to do that, though, they have to knock or cut down all the trees , because the little ones get in the way of the big ones. They started at one end of the property and are slowly making their way to the area directly across from us. And it's made us so sad. Total confession here: My sadness is completely selfish. I don't usually get gloomy over logging, but it's happening 12 feet from my mailbox . I will admit that God has chastised me when I see that truck full of logs driving away ...

I have a friend who is trying to figure out what to do with her life right now. [I laughed out loud after I typed this. I have many friends trying to figure out what to do with their lives right now . From 18 to 68 and every age in between, I know a woman who feels a little lost. A little indecisive. A little scared, wondering what to do and how to do it and how to know what is the right thing to do. You are not alone. ] Anyway, so I was texting this ONE friend yesterday, and our conversation went like this: Me: "Hey, what about your life plan?" Her: "Still up in the air. I have nothing figured out." (How many of us would say the same thing?) So I started digging. I love the articles in my Woman's Study Bible , so I found one on page 1553 entitled God's Will that says,  "The Bible teaches that realizing God's will is the result of habitually conforming your thinking and behavior to God's Word over a lifetime....The Christian who ...

our friend Josh and his precious daughter (I feel like the subtitle of this blog should be, "How Shelby's ups and downs can teach us all about walking by faith." She seems to be a recurring example in my posts over the past few years. If you want to read them all, scroll to the top and type "Shelby" in the search bar.) Shelby's had a tough day today. (This isn't the first time I've typed these words.) She's been selfish, moody, bossy, and disobedient. This isn't normally her day-to-day behavior, so I started analyzing what was going on: She destroyed all of us--her older brother, my husband, and me--at our favorite board game (Ticket to Ride) last night.  David (my husband) and Daniel (her brother) were gone all morning; she had my full attention. We did a fun "girl time" of watching a movie they wouldn't like. She turns seven tomorrow. The official Hudson birthday celebration involves choosing all three meals for the...

I have always hated all-nighters. I remember going to sleep-overs in middle school. Everything was fine and good for the pizza and hot chocolate and movies. But when we were all still awake well past midnight, I was so exhausted that I'd call my mom to come get me.  In high school and college, my friends would stay up all night studying for big tests or finishing papers. I, on the other hand, realized that nothing much had changed since middle school: my brain shut down around midnight. If I didn't get it done the night before, I just didn't get it done. Many years later, after devoting my adult life to the healthy habit of at least 8 hours of sleep every night, I had children who didn't sleep for two years. And all-nighters took on a whole new meaning for me. I'd be up multiple times a night, every night , taking care of my babies.  When we started travelling out west every summer, we'd leave mid-afternoon and drive all night to get to Colorado or Uta...