Just because the calendar says it’s mid-January does not mean I am done with Christmas! It’s not just because the beautiful decorations will have to be put away. I didn’t put out much of the knick-knackery I have. My decorating was simple and very purposeful this year. I wanted to Read more…
I did not do self-control well last night after coming home from an afternoon and evening of being used to disciple, challenge, encourage and comfort. My weight has crept up again (Thank you, yummy Christmas goodies.) and I have a doctor’s appointment this week. Last time there were congratulations. This Read more…
During a lively question-and-answer time that included the subjects of heaven, hell, the New Jerusalem, and why it wasn’t creepy for all those who belong to Jesus to be His Bride, the Lego platform on my dining room table was adorned with all the yellow bricks, eaves and flats I Read more…
So…I asked for a way to give order to my days, and attempted to make a to-do list that matched my calendar slots. I made a plan. I asked for instruction in what to celebrate in preparation for Christmas. He said, “My plan.” So, I set up the manger and Read more…
When I think of a plan, it might be a blueprint for an addition to my parents’ house, it might be a calendar grid populated with menu ideas, it might be a flow-chart for ministry processes…but these things are all comprehensible, human-brain-sized, linear, and chronologically time-oriented. Recently, I have been Read more…
Some humans are innately organized…and then there’s me. And my life is full of things that change, shift and move without consulting me. The nerve! My weekly calendar is a large presentation board populated with sticky notes…because they often need to be rearranged. Family emergencies, household disasters, memory failures, car Read more…
Following Jesus every day in the everyday is sometimes a glorified housekeeping job… There are enough different uses of the word “house” in Scripture that when, as a New Testament believer, I encounter Old Testament passages about God’s house, I have to ask the Holy Spirit for understanding about what Read more…
As the okra plants reach the height their genes call for, they start to blossom and put out fruit on secondary branches, lower on the main stem. This makes the hunt for fruit like a Where’s Waldo puzzle. I can’t just reach for the top of the plant to snap Read more…
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! James 2:12-13 I ran across this in my reading today. Talk about a puzzle! Judged Read more…
Last week I wrote about taking hold of our thoughts so that we are in calm, joyful agreement with what God tells us in James 1: that difficulties are what is needed to shape us to be like Jesus. But why does it take hard things to make that happen? Read more…