We have been blessed with a house on a good-sized lot, and since the first year we lived here, I have had a vegetable garden and some fruit-bearing plants. Fruitful? Indeed! Beautiful? Hmmm…maybe not so much. For a while. I have been asking God to give me what I needed Read more…
Apart from our standing with God through Jesus Christ, our future is always uncertain. These days that’s a little more apparent than usual. The financial world, governments, corporations, neighborhoods are all shaking in the face of an adversary too tiny to be seen with even a powerful microscope! Fear has Read more…
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 1 John 3:16 Digging into this verse (mine for 2020), I uncovered a small idea that I am beginning to explore: the Greek word translated life is Read more…
Caution tape surrounds my house today, and there are the sounds of drills, hammers and work boots on my roof. After what seems like too long a time, our solar panels are undergoing the process of restoration. For the last few years, they have faithfully converted our abundant sunshine into Read more…
I love Psalm 107. It’s just so…comforting, I guess. It starts with the command to express thanks to God for His enduring faithfulness. What comes next are four scenarios of people in trouble: –trouble because of what God is doing to bring them out of exile, –trouble because their rebellion Read more…
Recently a reader suggested that my posts were written looking for sympathy. At first it stung a little, but it did prompt me to look at my motives. I have some choices of how to respond when someone challenges me. I can bristle and rebel and say “How dare you Read more…
This day has been a pain in the back. Literally. I have been sitting with a sock of heated beans against my lower back all morning. I don’t know what I did to it; I just know it hurts to bend, reach, stretch and, worst of all, walk! Actually, there Read more…
By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. –I John 3:16 It was a bright, chilly morning near the base of Cat Peaks in Usery Park. Fifteen or so of us had made our Read more…
O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us today. Jesus came to show us the Father. Everything true about Jesus is true about the Father. To have Jesus born in us…means we are never far from His Read more…
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. –Luke 1:38 With only a few days till Christmas, my schedule feels even more full than normal. Regular household work competes with parties and decorating, and the rivalry generates chaos. Just after I Read more…