Tea Party Tidbits 9 - Feeling Fearful by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #7 – Feeling Fearful?

This should’ve been obvious, I suppose, but it dawned on me this week in conversation with friends why fear is a sin: it twists my perspective onto me – my abilities to handle a situation, my ability to make things turn out right, my power to change things. And plenty of situations stretch beyond my limitations and tempt me to…

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Tea Party Tidbits 14 - Troubled Times by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #6 – I’d Rather Laugh

Dear Friend, I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out how to inject levity to the topic of troubled times. Except troubled times is not a humorous topic. It’s more of a just-shoot-me-now-and-do-it-quick type thing. I’ve deleted plenty of blog posts that, in essence, say just take it to Jesus, sister, and leave yer troubles there. Which, ok, yeah –…

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Tea Party Tidbits 4 - Need Stability by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #4 – Need Stability?

Dear Friend, Who doesn’t need stability when health declines, loved ones die, or you just forget your razor on a camping trip? Right? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a life-threatening issue for me to realize I have issues. I forgot my razor on a four-day camping trip with friends over the fourth of July weekend. It introduced a new…

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Tea Party Tidbits 13 - Craving Freedom by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #3 – Craving Freedom?

Dear Friend, Happy (slightly early) Fourth of July! After deleting numerous attempts to convey an “appropriate” amount of gratitude for those who have served our country, those currently serving, and especially the One who purchased ultimate freedom for us – I wave the white flag of surrender. There isn’t anything I can say that would be “right” enough to do…

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Tea Party Tidbits 2 - Doubting His Love by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #2 – Feeling Unloved?

Dear Friend, You did everything you were supposed to and it still didn’t turn out as you’d hoped. Maybe not even close. Maybe abysmally far from what you’d prayed for. And then – test time – do you still believe God loves you? Of course I do. How preposterous to ask such a stupid question! But since God obviously forgot…

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Tea Party Tidbits ~ Summer Series 1 by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Tea Party Tidbits #1 – Feeling Weary?

Dear Friend, Welcome to the summer series Tea Party Tidbits. A small morsel for the soul – a verse or a quote – in a fun graphic. (Is it making you hungry, too? Chocolate-covered strawberries and tea, anyone?) Seriously, I wish we could sit down and enjoy the real thing together. I read a fabulous phrase on (in)courage.com the other…

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Alert: Change Ahead by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Alert: Change Ahead!

Dear Friend, I was at a party last summer with some of my husband’s co-workers – fellow engineers – discussing gardening with two of them. (Maybe I was doing more listening than talking.) My ears perked when I heard one bemoan, “The edible plants require SO much more water than the others!” The conversation continued down a different trail, but…

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Continuing Life One Courageous, Common Day at a Time by Pearl Allard (Look Up Sometimes)

Continuing Life One Courageous, Common Day at a Time

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill My garden is doing this with or without me. If you are a real gardener, I imagine you might scoff at my garden plot. It’s not impressive – just a small strip of malnourished dirt that wraps around the back of…

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7 Surprising Lessons from the Dentist’s Office

I was laying tilted back with my mouth agape, sporting the ever fashionable dentist napkin-thingy, while the dental hygienist poked and prodded with assorted tools. “Do you brush vigorously?” she asked, scraping away. I cautiously shook my head, to avoid getting stabbed. She tried to figure out why my gums  receded and commanded me to heed how hard I brushed.…

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