Mandy's Mercurial Monologue

Those who know me or who have followed this blog over the last decade know that I was a birth doula for a while. In that capacity I've attended mothers for the births of 8 children; 3 as an apprentice doula and 5 as the primary doula. Because I have no children of my own, this is the extent of my experience with labor. I've recently been thinking about world events in terms of labor pains. Scripture also alludes to the progress of world events toward God's appointed ends in terms of labor and childbirth: After the events of this last week I feel unexpectedly traumatized. I don't use that term lightly. I read a great article "Ask a Counselor: how do we recognize and cope with trauma?"  which spoke about the way we dismiss small trauma and the effect it has on us. As I read it, I became aware of how traumatic the last year has been, and how it's still impacting me now. Today I find myself unable to get comfortable, as I was when I wrote the post No Pla...

The word of the Lord came to me a second time saying,   “What do you see?”   And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” --Jeremiah 1:3 It is interesting that some of the visions seen by most of the Old Testament prophets were of very ordinary items. The impressions I've been seeing, which seem to be verified by the events around us, have also been very ordinary items of kitchenware. While I hope I am not distressing anyone by sharing these things, I feel compelled to put this out there. If it is of God, the sharing of these 'visions' will serve His purposes, give Him glory, and hopefully comfort His people. Otherwise, it's merely an expression of how a creative person of faith is reacting to these latter days and watching to see her Lord at work. The latest one came within the last 10 days. Again, I said nothing until I felt sure that I should share it. Again, it kept nagging at me. Today I can no longer keep it to myself. Like Jer...