Becoming Analise

It was a normal Friday night at the Cochran house. We had just finished supper, bath time, and story time with Riley Grace. Patrick was grading papers for his classes, and I was putting Riley Grace to bed. After Riley Grace was snuggled in her bed with about fifty stuffed animals and goodnight kisses (along with fifty “last things” she had to tell me before I finally left the room), it was time for me to soak in my bubble bath (my Friday night ritual after a long work week). J I walked through the kitchen to the bathroom when I noticed the laundry closet was open. I peeked in to see that Patrick had washed some clothes. This is no big deal. He washes clothes often. But something about the laundry that night made me tear up. (And, yes, I do tear up easily, but not usually over laundry!) Before I made it to the bubble bath, I stopped to sit next to Patrick on the couch. I just sat there and gazed at him until he looked up from his work to question why I was staring at him with a go...

Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. Our pastor is bringing to light some amazing points about how Daniel served the Lord wholeheartedly while God’s people were living in captivity in Babylon. Among a pagan culture, God was glorified through the obedience of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It’s amazing to see the parallels to our own culture, as we are living among a culture that is increasingly pagan while we as Christ-followers are trying to be obedient in living out our Christian faith. It’s not easy to pursue holiness amidst a culture that celebrates immorality and denies God at every turn. When living in a materialistic, self-centered, culture filled with immorality, it’s a struggle to focus on the eternal things of God’s kingdom rather than temporal things that will fade away. This morning, our message was regarding anxiety, specifically anxiety about the future and the events that we cannot control. Our pastor explained the events that Daniel experi...

(Riley Grace's 1st Christmas!) How many of you saw the popular Grinch meme that depicts this following frightening declaration: “There are 12 Saturdays until Christmas?” Or the Elf meme that says, “There’s only 11 more Monday mornings until Christmas?” Christmas is still three months away, but when you put it that way, it seems like Christmas is basically here! Does that bring up feelings of anxiety or excitement in anyone?? Has anyone started shopping yet?? Christmastime usually sneaks up on me. I don’t like to rush the pleasant crisp weather of fall (now that I’m out of Louisiana … sorry, friends), with its pumpkin spice and pumpkin carvings, along with cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce, but I do LOVE Christmas! However, once November is behind us, I usually feel completely unprepared for all I wanted to do for Christmas. I scroll through Pintrest days late, finding a million new recipes and crafts I want to try, only to find myself too late to successfully accompli...