God is in the middle of granting one of the desires of my heart, I am in the middle of a recovering from a shoulder replacement…a surgically induced five-weeks-in-a-sling sabbatical. One of the things that usually happens on a sabbatical is that normal income-producing work is suspended. I don’t have 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…
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…
No, I am not dead. I have, however, been buried! Directing the drama portion of our church’s vacation Bible school meant two weeks of 14-hour days, then another week of 10 hour days, followed in less than a week by a long-weekend camping trip with a dozen teens. Whew! Great Read more…
Sitting in my recently restored quiet space, I saw my little flock of chickens pecking at the greens whose abundant leaves lean against the garden fence. They love the greens, and their beaks don’t reach very far. It’s a reasonable arrangement. A few days ago, however, the fence was left Read more…
God designed and planted the first garden to meet the needs and satisfy the desires of His image-bearers. In it was every tree that was beautiful and fruitful. The gardener in me sighs longingly at this phrase. To grow artichokes for the beauty of them does not deny me a Read more…
She was old, though not as old as she seemed. The years of stress and cigarettes had stripped her of beauty. Macular degeneration had robber her of most of her sight, small strokes were diminishing her ability to remember, and what she did “remember” became suspect, and cancer was already Read more…
It started at 6:19am. A text message arrived, “I need prayer.” I was taking advantage of the opportunity for a little more sleep, actually having a weird dream, so I was glad for the “interruption.” A friend with troubling health conditions was having a rough time prepping for a test, Read more…
(A shared journal entry) O Papa-God, so many things and people to pray for! The girls in my small group – those who come and those who don’t. My failures in following up with those girls. The young men I disciple to lead worship. My failure to contact a potential Read more…