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 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 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 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 Read more…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied. — Matthew 5:6 God uses famine to satisfy His people. We know so little of famine in our country. Droughts that cause crop failure are limited in their effect because our transportation system is so vast Read more…
I have chickens. Hens, but no roosters. That means that they lay eggs that will never hatch into chicks. It got me thinking about fruitfulness. . . I wonder if they produce those beautiful, extra large, brown speckled eggs expecting them to hatch. I wonder if they are disappointed when Read more…
This morning I opened the door to the chicken tractor expecting the usual squawk and dash from my tiny flock. None of them moved a muscle. No one made any noise. It was later than normal, and they were abnormally quiet. I lifted up the roof to check on them Read more…
The bedbugs are dead. As far as I know… Now it is the rats. And the need to bring our 60+ year-old house up to code… Now we are looking at more demolition, reconstruction, permits, bids, furring out, filling in, reconfiguring, rewiring, inspections, more waiting, waiting, waiting… So many more Read more…
The bugs are dead. My shelves are empty. Many things are washed, dried and put away. A small pickup load has been taken to a local charity. The process of letting go of things I don’t need, want, or love is going to be a long one. Most of my Read more…
The battle I reported in last week’s post still rages. (Not that I really expected it to be over…) The good news includes: I am remembering to set boundaries around my house morning and evening, to armor up when I sit down to the Word each morning. (Maybe I should Read more…