GCR Women

Recently, the world found out that Internet Explorer had a little chink in its armor.  One of the most trusted means to access the Internet had a major security flaw that left all its users open to hackers who could then exploit this flaw to do all kinds of damage to the unwary user.  The answer?  Till this flaw was fixed, SHUT IT DOWN!  DON'T USE INTERNET EXPLORER!  This warning came from Homeland Security.  A very serious situation - a clear and present danger. Even after the flaw has been repaired and the patch installed and we've all gone back to our online life as usual, I can't help but wonder when the next vulnerability will show up, where the next attack will come from.  So, like everyone else, I step up my vigilance and double-check to see that my computer's defenses are up-to-date and running.  I even set up redundant systems of virus and malware protection just in case the first line of defense fails. It reminded me that in my spiri...

I have a group of close friends that I spend a lot of time with each week.  We pray together and visit with each other and we study the Bible together.  Right now, we're working our way through Priscilla Shirer's SEED study.  It is so unlike any other study I've done and I'm enjoying it immensely. The study topic we're currently on is Enough.  Enough.  As I've been working through the scriptures Priscilla has chosen for us, I've been challenged to think about the concept that I have enough.  Enough time, enough provision, enough money, enough knowledge, enough of everything I need.  That's the real challenge to learn to distinguish between what I want and what I need. But back to enough.  Often what I have doesn't seem like enough to me and I think, for me at least, it comes down to trust.  Do I trust that the "enough" that God has given me is really enough?  Or do I use my perceived lacking as an excuse not to do what God has set in...

A week and a half ago, my nephew got married. (That's why there was no April 1st blog.  I was in Austin helping with wedding prep.)  Isn't it interesting how big an impact a wedding can have on a family?  Even in all the activities that lead up to the ceremony, the two families learn how to interact, how to share this special time in their children's lives.  This young woman will no doubt make her mark on our clan but she'll be changed, too, because now she's a McKinney. On our way home from the wedding, we were able to spend a few extra hours in Hill Country and enjoy the beauty of Texas wildflowers at their best.  Every bend in the road brought new vistas of pastures covered in bluebonnets, dotted with specks of red and yellow.  I don't know the official names of many of these botanical treasures but I enjoyed their breathtaking beauty just the same. It was like getting a fresh injection of hope.  We'd just witnessed the joy of the new beginnings...

Prayer is an interesting concept.  Talking to Someone we can't see and can't touch and believing He hears and cares and acts on our behalf. In the Scriptures, the writers urge us to pray.  They encourage us to pray continually, to pray about everything, to pray honestly from deep down inside even when we don't have the words.  Remember the hymn:   Pray All The Time ? Happy, sad, frightened, blessed, distraught, tempted, victorious - pray! It's so comforting to have faith that when we pray, God hears.  That faith is based on our experiences and on those of others but still, it's faith that makes us know that when we pray, we're not talking to emptiness and air.  When my dad prays, one phrase he almost always prays is:  "Be with us and strengthen us that we might all do better."  Dad's 90 - almost 91 and his prayers are simple and trusting and full of faith that while we're not perfect, our heavenly Father can give us what we need to do bette...

I made the call last night and sure enough I have to report for jury duty on Monday morning.  I knew I would but a part of me hoped I wouldn't.  It's not really being on a jury that bothers me.  I just don't like the interruption into my routine.  I get that card in the mail that's titled Jury Summons and I groan and think:  "Really?  Now?  I don't have time for this now!"  But whether I have time or not, I'll be there bright and early Monday morning for two reasons:  1.  It's a Constitutional right and privilege.  2.  It's the law.  And, honestly, it's that second reason that gets me in the car and to the courthouse more than the first reason.  Why?  I really don't want a peace officer showing up at my door because I didn't appear as summoned. It's much the same in life.  We're faced with choices all day long, and a lot of the time, we choose to do the right thing because it's the law.  We stop at s...

Valentine's Day has come and gone.  John and I don't usually make a big deal of this little holiday.  We might buy candy and a small gift for the grandkids, but that's about it. But from what I hear on the news, lots of folks make a very big deal of Valentine's Day.  They buy flowers, cards, candy, gifts, have romantic dinners, get engaged - all in the name of love.  I don't think our world really knows what true love is anymore.  There's so much self-centeredness and violence around us. A young woman tells a reporter that she's killed a lot of people - so many that she stopped counting after 22 victims.  In her latest killing spree, she and her new husband drove across the continent killing people along the way.  I guess they were in love. In the name of love, many in our country condone same-sex marriage.  They ask how we can deny them a loving relationship.  Twisted thinking has led them to believe that just because they call it marria...

Well, here it is already February 1st.  How many New Year's Resolutions have you kept this year?  You know, it's funny. We look at each new year as an opportunity to start over, to do it right, and less than a month later, we've given up and decided that we'll just have to wait till next year.  But now is not the time to give up; it's the time to give it another try, and another and another. I've set many goals but I seldom succeed at them, some not at all and others not in their original form.  If I let failure to meet my goals and New Year's Resolutions stop me, I might as well move into the closet and close the door.  So many times, success is just around the corner, it's in the next step, the next decision.  We give up, quit and label ourselves as failures all too soon. Tomorrow, another McKinney is coming into the world.  She was due Thursday and there were days when we all thought she'd be here earlier than that.  But now, it looks like...