Wind Blown Weeds or Deep Rooted Trees

By Sharon Autry

My kids and I have been working behind our house clearing a new walking path in the woods.  In the process, we’ve pulled, clipped, and chopped our way through the itchy overgrowth.  As we worked, I noticed two kinds of plants.  Some of the growth is grass.  You can tell because when you pull, it comes right up.  The other takes more than a pull.  We have to get the clippers and cut them down leaving the roots in the ground.  These baby trees are surprisingly strong.

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The Learning Curve of Marriage

When my husband and I said, “I Do,” we had all the answers. He was a mature 28 year-old and I had listened to Focus on the Family since I was 9! Besides, my maiden name was Lovejoy: our home would be filled with love and joy! We were experts!

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All the World is a Coloring Book!

My kids have a book that we’ve read for years. Our last child, a 7 year-old boy, is the one enjoying it now. It’s called, God Thought of It First. It tells about all kinds of things that are common to us that God thought of first (helicopters, hummingbirds…).
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Putting the Past Behind

By Sharon Autry

Our train is here!” my husband shouted. We hurried down the steps, one child in a stroller, the oldest on her own feet, and Crislynn holding my hand being dragged behind me. From the train platform, my sister Laurie watched the whole ordeal as we ran toward her through the subway station. 

She described how Crislynn desperately tried to pick up all the used subway ticket treasures that were scattered on the concrete floor. But I was pulling her along. She’d look up briefly and find a pole in front of her. So her little arm would fly up in front of her face as protection in case she rammed into the pole. As soon as we passed one pole, she’d look down and grab for some lucky ticket only to find herself on a collision course with another pole. Arm in front of her face, she protected herself again.

This repeated three times before we finally made it to the train where we found Aunt Laurie laughing hysterically.

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Are You a Whiny Wimp?

By Sharon Autry

I am officially a wimp! I whine and complain about the most ridiculous things. Dried out leftovers. Missing the two-hour sale by five minutes. The smell of wet sneakers. Having to backtrack an aisle in the grocery store.

The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, was not a wimp. His “light and momentary struggles” included things like beatings, traumatic shipwrecks, and spending days, months, even years chained to a guard.  Those things seem anything but “light” to me.  But compared to the joy of offering people the hope of Jesus, Paul saw these persecutions as the temporary situations that they were.

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