I am so glad you visited. I hope that you will drop in regularly and come to consider me a friend. First, introductions: My folks called me Christi; my classmates called me Chris; my given name is a call to be a follower of Jesus: Christine means Christ-like! It reflects my parents’ deep desire for me (and themselves). Even without Read more
Nehemiah’s job it is to see to it that no one poisons the king through his wine, tasting every goblet that is offered to the sovereign. (This is some high level security clearance, as well as a high risk job, and his boss is not even a Jewish king.) In response to the news that his people back in the Read more
The LORD bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26 I never thought about this blessing being for me. The thought of God smiling at me — I guess that’s what it means when His Read more
One of today’s scripture passages reads: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” —2 Corinthians 1:14. My first response was to ask wistfully if I smell enough like Jesus for this to be true. Then I realized that this is a Read more
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13 (ESV) Meditating my way through John’s gospel with the folks at Lectio 365, this verse caught Read more
For years I have fought them! Those pesky little critters that ruin the grapevines! They suck the juice out of the leaves and leave behind a fungal infection that pock-marks the leaves and eventually destroys them. Since the leaves are the food-making factory for the vines, you can guess the result: pathetic fruit production. These are vines that, in years Read more
We finally got around to watching “Amazing Grace” this week. It was an utterly satisfying film. It depicts some of the life of William Wilberforce, who was the primary force behind banning the slave trade in the whole British Empire in 1833. After 66 years of pushing, pulling, and risking his life, he died three days after the Abolition of Read more
It was a land barren, desolate, nearly without life…needing comfort. Many places that could be described as desolate are at least beautiful, colorful, or interesting. This was a waste-land: flat, sparse, featureless, dry, dull-looking. This was a place we just wanted to get through as we traveled over 4500 miles to Minnesota and back for our grandson’s wedding. It was Read more
I have been sitting in the post-resurrection passages during this time of year known as Eastertide. (Thanks to the folks at Lectio365.) Today we were in John 21:15-19. One of the things that caught my eye was the way John see-saws between the two identities of the fearful, forceful, flaky fisherman who was declared to be “the rock” of the Read more
In the year since my last post, I have had my other shoulder joint replaced. It was six weeks in an immobilizer, which looks like a cross between a hockey goalie’s gear and a medieval torture device, designed to hold my arm in the appropriate position until my bones grew around the new titanium mechanism that will allow me to Read more
So…her phone is on the fritz; her ride-share doesn’t show up; she forgot to put a birthday letter in the mail. Any of these is enough to make her frantic; to have all of them come down at once is enough to make any of us frantic! “Why?” is always the question. Why is this happening to me? Why is Read more