Thanksgiving is just a few days away and so I’ve been thinking about gratitude a lot lately. What is it? When should we show it? What does God say about it?
Just last week I learned that the Hebrew word for gratitude means “to recognize the good.” I love that! don’t you?
Paul wrote the Thessalonians, Read more…
Have you ever felt like you were walking a tightrope through life…just trying to balance everything and not fall into a pit? I have. Let’s think about this story…don’t give up…read to the end!
“Blondin” was the stage name for Frenchman Jean-Francois Gravelet. He was a fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired young man who migrated to the United States with a troupe of acrobats employed by Master Showman P.T. Read more…
A few months ago, I was in the airport headed to New Jersey. It was a typical rush, rush, rush morning. Grab the bags, trudge through traffic, hunt for a parking space, follow the herd, wade through security, dash to the gate.
Folks aren’t usually very friendly in airports. Eyes look straight ahead. Purposed feet slap the floor. Read more…
It was one of my favorite trees. And it was dying.
We live on a lake, and my dying tree was truly a “tree planted by streams of water.” So how could it be dying? How could branches right in the smack dab middle of the bushy green be turning into kindling? It didn’t make sense.
I called an arborist to come out and take a look. Read more…
I sat on the floor playing a card game with my young son. It was shaping up to be one of the best summers ever. Steven was savoring every minute of the long hot days, our Golden Retriever, Ginger, had delivered seven adorable puppies, and after years of negative pregnancy tests and doctor visits, I had a new life growing in my womb. Read more…
I sat by her bed.
Her hand swollen…full…unmoving.
Feet that danced just a few weeks ago now stilled. Arms that lifted just a short time ago now limp. Words that spilled easily just a moment ago now halted. How could life seep away so quickly, right before my eyes?
Mom was ready. But I wasn’t. Read more…
Have you ever prayed about something, but didn’t really expect God to answer…I mean really expect it? I’ll admit I have. Sometimes I’ve prayed because I knew I should, but doubted God would truly answer.
That same thing happened to a bunch of Peter’s friends. (Acts 12)
In the early years of the church, King Herod had many Christians murdered and many more put in prison. Read more…
I wrote this devotion a while back, but I needed a reminder of what I learned that day. This New Year, wonder if you do too.
I set out to tackle a task I had put off for many years. I didn’t really want to do it at all. It was the job of cleaning out my ministry storage closet. Read more…
I love Post-It Notes! Yellow, fuchsia, turquoise, buttercup, and magenta. From full-page mega notes to tiny little strips, sticky notes have saved me from embarrassment, kept me organized, and helped me memorize. Mostly, they have served as visual reminders of information, events, and appointments not to forget.
But visual reminders of things not to forget didn’t begin with Post-It Notes. Read more…
The fog was thick. I was late. My husband was tense.
It was a Friday morning, and my husband, Steve, was driving me to the airport for a speaking engagement in Kentucky. We were one of a parade of cars inching our way down the highway, feeling our way through the curtain of grey. With squinted eyes, white knuckles, Read more…