Several months ago, a broken sprinkler head under high pressure sent muddy water spraying across the front of our home. The deep front porch took the brunt of the filth, with windows, shudders and our pretty red door dirtied.

Are you ready for something new? Do you need a fresh start, a new direction, a renewed spirit? Do you feel like you have a slow leak in the abundant life to which you were called?

Our children are stepping into the adult world day by day. Our daughter is finishing college, and our son has just graduated from high school. They are asking big life questions: Where do I go to college? What do I study? Who do I marry? What is my life work? Most recently, our son asked, “What do I need to be a good husband and father?” These are heavy questions that demand wisdom and courage.

“Mom,”, my 18-year-old son, soon to be a graduate, whispered, “I don’t know what to do. I need to you tell me what to do.” There was such desperation in his voice and everything in me wanted to figure this out and fix it for him. In reality, it was not a big thing. But in the moment, it was urgent...especially to him. Hadn’t we spent the last eighteen years teaching him how to weigh things with Scripture, to consider others involved, to seek God’s face and to lead by serving? Yes, we had. But my boy was needing some handholding as we talked through options, obligations and expectations. He came to a perfect decision, and I was grateful to still have opportunities to pour into him.

I have always considered my fleshly nature to be stingy. Generosity is not a trait that flows naturally through me. As the Lord is growing me into Christ-likeness, I have begun to look for ways to be gracious and generous to others.

When her baby brother was born, our 2 ½ year old daughter had a rude awakening. Suddenly, she wasn’t the only child. Her parents’ attentions were divided, and in the early days, the division did not seem fair. For almost a year, when referring to her brother, she called him ‘the boy’.

As a child, I sang, “His Banner Over Me Is Love” with much gusto and hand motions. My own children would dance around their rooms with this proclamation.

We don’t use the word watchman much in present-day-terms, nor do we really appreciate the concept of someone whose entire job is to look out, ahead, in front of….to just observe. In reality, a watchman’s role is broader than this simple definition. There is purpose in the watching.

I have older teenagers at my house, so the laundry is never done! They take things off and put things on multiple times a day for any event or change of emotion. They take the school clothes off and replace them with hanging-around-the-house clothes until friends drop by…and this necessitates yet another change. And of course, when they take something off, it must be dirty! All these changes and choices are very intentional.