I was really upset with her. I don’t need to tell you the details because I want you to fill in the blanks yourself. I was really mad at _______ for ________. I’m not worried about you not having anything to put in those blanks because you’re human. We’ve all been really irked at someone for hurting our feelings, hampering our plans or a whole lot worse. Read more…
Chris, one of my friends, was in a seminary class when someone raised his hand and asked the professor: What is your best advice on how to be a good pastor?”
“Empathy,” the professor replied. “Have empathy.”
Then Chris raised his hand. “How do you get empathy?
With a trace of sad knowing in his eyes, Read more…
If you’ve ever felt insignificant…this one’s for you!
One summer my family and I traveled to Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. One of our goals was to see as many unusual animals as possible. For us that was anything other than a dog, cat, or bird.
During the entire trip, we were on the lookout for moose, Read more…
I want to tell you a funny story today. One that taught me a great lesson. Here goes…
Fourteen exhausted, sweaty teenage boys plopped down on the bottom step of the gymnasium bleachers—my son being one of them. The assistant Junior Varsity basketball coach paced back and forth, lecturing them on the error of their ways. In the style of Sergeant Carter addressing Gomer Pyle, Read more…
He called it a dune buggy. I called it a death trap.
My friend, Harry, invited me and some of my friends for a ride over beach sand dunes in his big wheel jeep. I like sand. I like rides. Sounded like fun. It was not.
We buckled in and Harry revved up the engine. We did not ride over the sand dunes; Read more…
Has anyone ever scolded you with the words, “Shame on you”? If they have…don’t receive it. I’m here to today to tell you words God wants you to hear: “Shame off you!”
I remember as a little girl, hiding under the covers of my bed, trying to shut out my parents’ yelling and screaming in the next room. Read more…
A sign was posted on a telephone pole by the grocery store: “LOST DOG with three legs, blind in left eye, missing right ear, tail broken, and recently castrated. Answers to the name of Lucky!”
Perhaps you feel just about as “lucky” as that lost dog. Hobbling along. Impaired vision. Broken tail. Well, you get the picture.
There was a woman in the Bible who also felt like she was out of luck and had nothing to give. Read more…
Have you ever heard someone say, “Just go with the flow?” Let me tell you a story about why that’s not always a good idea.
I met my husband at a Bible Study in college and quickly learned that he was a very frugal, industrious, and resourceful young man. On our first date, he came to pick me up in his ten-year-old Volkswagen Beetle that he had purchased for $725. Read more…
Most of the time we Christians talk about not being afraid of this or that. After all, the Bible says various versions of “fear not” over 300 times. But today, I want to talk about something we should be afraid of. Let me start by telling you a story about when my Golden Retriever dug up a tree. Read more…
I sat on my back porch, wrapped in my fuzzy worn robe—the one that’s twenty years old that I just can’t seem to get rid of. The birch trees waved “good morning,” and the newly planted gerbera daisies stretched their faces to the sun…just a bit higher than the day before. Then I heard him. The rooster.
ER-er-ER-er-ERRRR. Read more…