Life by Grace Alone

I remember visiting the mother of a college friend. She seemed quite sure that I was going to marry a minister. I remember at least inwardly if not outwardly rolling my eyes at the very thought. How could I be a pastor's wife? Except for a brief time in the first grade, I hadn't played the piano. All my experience told me that was central to my role as a pastor's wife. When I was able to look past the stereotype I saw a lot more. Too often a pastor and his wife are thought to be on a different spiritual plane. If they reveal too much that unnerves people. If they don't reveal enough then they would not understand what "real people" go through and so people hesitate to share their struggles with them. It would be wise for a couple to develop relationships with people outside of the church but when is there time to do that? If the pastor and his wife have close friends within the church it's often hard to think outside of the pastor - church member framework...

I've always regarded toes as just something that complete your feet and help you balance when you walk. To the newest member of the family these practical appendages have a new function. As I sit at my computer trying to think and type I can't move my feet fast enough to avoid having my toes licked or chewed. She is absolutely adorable. I still believe that, even after my poor idea of a good night's sleep (6 hours) was torn to fragments of 20 minutes each. We purchased a book yesterday on raising a puppy in spite of the sales woman's advice that all it takes is common sense. We might have a fair amount of people common sense but we're lacking in puppy common sense. Of course people common sense would have told me it doesn't help if you don't read it. Hopefully we can start on crate training pretty quickly. By now you must realize the newest member of our family is a puppy. Our 13 year old Brittany died in July. She was mainly my husband Steve's dog. Chlo...