....I was sitting in church on Easter morning with my two beautiful kids. As I sat there, my little girl curled up next to me, I reflected on how grateful I am to have been blessed with such, vibrant, beautiful, healthy children. They are my greatest source of joy. And my next thought was about how challenging it is economically, how tight our budget is, how many places I want to show them, as well as the wide variety of experiences I want them to have. There is a yearning in my heart that will not let up. Because I want them to be exposed to the best education, and the gift of travel to other cultures, I feel the constant motivation to grow, to succeed so that I can provide these things to them. These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. Living a life fully engaged, so that my children can live a fully engaged life is all I ever dream about. And plan for.

And I thought, yes, the budget is tight. This is a good thing. Living within ones means was not the experience I had growing up. My parents put forth a different model. They did the best they could with what they knew. I hold on to that grace for them and I forget the rest. Today, my children are having a different experience. Living lean is a good for them I tell myself. I have LOTS of irons in the fire and I know somehow, someway we are going to be okay. I think that's called faith

...So, the offering basket is coming my way and I know I can give a few dollars, especially since I had not tithed in quite some time. As I was sitting in the front row, having arrived to church at THE LAST MOMENT possible, the basket came to me right away. I put it on my lap, opened my wallet and every bill I came across was a $20 denomination. I wasn't quite prepared to part with $20 even if it was Easter Sunday. So I finally got to the one dollar bills, peeled a few off and dropped them in the basket. Three seconds later, long after the basket was passed to the next row, I looked at just how much money was left in my wallet......and, somehow, I had given the usher ALL the money in my wallet, except for 2 dollars. I think it was a little over $100. I literally felt sick for a moment, then another moment and then I said a prayer I say a lot. I knew that the money was going to be used in a very powerful way and that it was better off in the church's care than mine. I obviously didn't really need it as it practically, magically flew out of my hands and into the loving care of my church.

Gods will? Sometimes I think it's better to act my way into better thinking instead of the other way around. The good book says over and over again, faith without works is dead.

Happy Easter to you.