Cathy's Heart

Maria's Story (part 2) While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him. Luke 5:12-13 I caught a glimpse of her petite frame out of the corner of my eye. My red car rolled to a stop, as I helplessly watched Maria, my homeless neighbor, struggle to push the cart filled with all her earthly possessions across the street. Once again the rubber on the front wheels was nearly worn off, exposing the metal beneath. It was the end of a long day and I was anxious to get home. Instead, I turned around and headed to a nearby store. As I drove away, I quietly prayed, "Lord Jesus, please take care of Maria." (Click Maria's name to read Part 1) My heart ached all the way to the store to buy a new cart. Lord, how else can I ...

Taking Every Thought Captive I used to be a runner. Not a runner like my friend, Jennifer, who just completed her 5th Boston Marathon. No, I ran from situations that were difficult, unpleasant or painful. Or, at least, I imagined I could runaway from them. When I was a little girl, I pretended to runaway. My mom would put my lunch in a brown paper bag and away I would go for a daylong adventure. We lived in a small town, in a safe community and I was always home before dark. When I was a teenager, I kept a change of clothes in a small cream-colored suitcase just inside my closet door. If I was unhappy about the way things were going at home, my bag was packed and ready for my well-thought-out getaway. However, I never had the courage to actually make a run for it. Instead, I ran and hid in my small, walk-in closet. There, I sat on my overnight bag and cried until that day's storm passed. Then, I grew up, got married and became a mom. To my surprise, there were still times when I wa...