Leslie's Little Devotional

Last night before I went to sleep I was spending time with the Lord. Typically my nighttime devotions are spent going over my day with the Lord.   However, last night I felt led to spend the time in praise. As I lay there praising Him I was struck by how small and even inadequate my praises seemed. I wondered if I should get up and stand or maybe fall to my knees. Was laying there praising Him enough? Tears rolled down my cheeks as I offered words or praise. I, a mere human, was talking to Almighty God. I confessed how inadequate I felt to Him. What words are even close to enough to praise the One who spoke the world into existence? How can you articulate how awestruck you are by the One who parted the Red Sea? Thank you is such a small offering to the One who left Heaven to come to earth to pay the highest price for my sin. Being a person who loves words, I lay there composing praise to the best of my ability. I praised Him with psalms of my own making. As...

One of my favorite movie quotes is from Hope Floats. Roger Stevens, the writer of the screenplay wrote these words that inspire me. “Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.” These words have especially been on my heart and mind this week as a chapter of my life has come to an end. As some of you may know, I have had the great joy to be employed as a fitness coach at the local Curves. Sadly, our club will close permanently tomorrow. Curves has been such a blessing in my life. My journey there began in 2004. Shortly after joining, I became employed there. Over the years I have been blessed, encouraged, and inspired by the close-knit community that is Curves. Gail Bartz-Levin, the owner and my dear friend lovingly created this family of women she affectionately calls her “Curvettes.” Together, as a community, we ha...

                I love all things Christmas. The celebration at the Manske home begins the day after Thanksgiving and continues throughout the month of December. One of our many traditions is to watch dozens of Christmas movies. Included in the list is the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the story. After all, we know that Rudolph went down in history! Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer reminds us that even “misfits” have a purpose in this life.                  Being a misfit is something we all can identify with. This is especially true in the church. Our pastor often refers to all of us (including himself) as a “glorious mess”. I couldn’t agree more.   The church really is a collection of misfit toys.   Seated in the congregation each Sunday are dozens of “Charlie in Boxes”, wate...

We have a saying here at the Manske household. That saying is, “two of the happiest events in our lives were when our children were potty trained and when they learned to pump the swing themselves.”   As a mom of 5, I have changed more diapers than I care to number. I’ve also spent countless hours at the swing set, pushing, giving underdogs, and singing songs. Sometimes I thought my arms might fall off from pushing a swing for hours at a time.  When we moved into our home, we were expecting our 4 th child. While in the purchasing process of our home we came to the property for the inspection and a very pregnant me took our three girls outside to play while my husband accompanied the inspector. As we explored the yard, I realized that the swing set had 5 swings. Little did I know then, that we would fill all 5 swings. In the past 17 years, we’ve spent a lot of time at that swing set. I’ve pushed little ones in the baby swing, pushed toddlers on the “big kid ...

I opened the door expecting to be greeted by the tantalizing scent of fajitas that had been cooking in the crockpot for hours.  Instead, my husband met me at the door with a big smile and said, “We’re going out to dinner tonight.” Without a word I followed him to the kitchen to find a cold crockpot full of meat and seasonings. The crockpot was set to low but I’d neglected to plug it in. Now, six hours later, the contents were uncooked and unfit for use. The waste frustrated me. I spent the money to purchase the ingredients, took the time to assemble them, and then became so distracted that I forgot to plug the appliance in. The cord was lying there on the counter, inches from the outlet. The outlet was working and ready to provide the power and the plug was capable of receiving the power. Unfortunately, I just never connected the plug to the power. This incident not only provided me with a night out with my family. It also provided me with a very practical example of the i...