Cheryl Barker's Blog, page 20

God Living in Us Makes Us Lovely

“How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!” Psalm 84:1 NIV

One morning when a full, out-of-town day stretched before me, I wanted a taste of God’s Word to begin my day. I decided to open my Bible to a random Psalm and read wherever my eyes landed. And I am so glad I did.

I opened to Psalm 84 and as I read the first verse, the taste I desired exploded into a feast. They were familiar words, but in that instant, I saw them in a new light, with a deeper understanding. My drive-through, rand...

Mother of the Bride, Pay the Blessing Forward

Mother of the Bride, has someone provided some sort of help to you during your wedding planning process? Has someone given you the benefit of her MOB experience or loaned you some needed items or offered a listening ear? Has someone has been a blessing?

Well now you can pay that blessing forward, MOB. When a friend, family member, or casual acquaintance provides a breath of fresh air in our lives, it’s just natural to want to bless someone else in the same way.

What can you do for another mother...

The Sounds of Spring: Sounds of Life

Early in the mornings, when I stick my head out the door or step outside for a few seconds to take in the beauty of the day, the sounds that greet me often capture my attention first. And right now, it’s the sounds of spring that fill the neighborhood. Yes, the sounds of life are once again in full voice.

These lively spring mornings stand in stark contrast to the silence that met my ears this winter during my early morning checks of the day. The sounds of nature seemed to freeze right along wit...

Choosing to Still Be a Student

After sixty-plus years of speaking the English language (I’ll leave the plus part to your imagination), I’m still looking up words in the dictionary. As a writer, I need to be a reader also so I run across new-to-me words on a fairly regular basis. It’s not that I have a poor vocabulary, there are just a lot of unfamiliar words out there, especially when I get into areas outside my realm of experience.

One time I read a novel that featured a main character with a form of autism. Since I don’t ha...

Cute Idea—Bride’s Shoes to Match Her Bouquet

Mother of the Bride, here’s a great idea for the bride’s attire that will not only look stunning and fun on the big day but will provide a super cute photo op as well.

If your daughter has decided she wants a colorful bridal bouquet, why not suggest that she match her bridal shoes to one of the colors in the bouquet? Just think of the color possibilities and the sweet sizzle colorful shoes will create when they peek out from time to time. Or when the bride boldly flashes them just for fun—and fo...

Hairstyles For the Mother of the Bride or Groom

Mother of the Bride (or Mother of the Groom,) is it time to start thinking about your hair for the big day? I know you’ve got tons of other things to do too, but take a few minutes soon and consider how you might like your hair styled. You’ll be glad to check that off your list as well!

Let me direct you today to some sure-to-please hairstyles for the MOB (or MOG) featured on Martha Stewart’s website. It has an area devoted to all things wedding so you might want to check it out for other topics...

Radical Faith Prepares for Answered Prayer

“And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.” Philemon 1:22 NIV

Radical faith. The apostle Paul demonstrated it on numerous occasions, didn’t he? When he wrote the words above to fellow believer Philemon, he wrote them from prison—a place he frequented because of his bold displays of faith.

Being imprisoned didn’t dampen Paul’s faith as we might imagine. In fact, he made plans to visit Philemon based on his hopes of answered pr...

3 Tips for Working with Your Wedding DJ

Mother of the Bride, have you thought about special instructions for the wedding DJ yet? Whether your daughter and her groom have opted to go with a professional DJ for the wedding party or if a friend has offered to act as DJ, certain important aspects of the job need to be discussed ahead of time.

Here are three vital instructions to nail down with your DJ:

1) The pronunciation of the names of everyone in the wedding party. Prepare a list of with pronunciations and go over it verbally with th...

Let Your Life Provide a Well-Paved Path for Others

Pain. Grief. Weakness. Limitations. None of us welcome these unwanted visitors—especially when they take up long-term residence in our lives. Each one causes distress in its own way. And let’s be honest. We all do our best to avoid distress whenever possible.

We don’t like to hurt. We don’t like to fail or find ourselves unable to do certain things. But as we live in these places of pain, we grow and learn lessons. We develop a deep empathy for others experiencing similar sorrows. Each of our p...

God Gets in the Boat With Us

“Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.” Mark 6:51 NIV

Are you familiar with the boat story that took place after Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand?

When everyone had had their fill, Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat and go on ahead of him so he could have a private time of prayer. Later on that evening when the boat was in the middle of the lake, Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars because it was so windy. He decided to walk out on the water to t...