Gaining a heart of wisdom
My joyful sunflowers have bowed their heads in the garden, waiting for the long winter to begin, but I have picked my last tomatoes and green beans, dug up the beets with my grandkids, and all the pumpkins and squash can sit on the deck for a bit longer while we wait for the first… Continue reading The October Book Talk Where We Are Celebrating Abundance!
Sunday Scripture Maybe it's because we're just two now in a house that still feels made for six.Maybe it's the tiny snatches of news I listen to, ominous pandemic predictions and sadness around the world.Whatever the reason, I've been lighting our window candles in 2021, a practice I have always reserved for Advent, but which… Continue reading For the One Who Feels Lonely and Dreads the Coming Darkness
The Montauk daisies in my front yard were covered in small white buds, a sight so improbable that I had almost missed seeing them. You see, the plants had been an utter failure in their first location, and I had, initially, had high hopes for the sunny spot near the rock that looks like a… Continue reading How to Keep Persevering When the Work Feels Hard and Horrible
I've made some pretty big mistakes in my life. Usually they have ended up costing me time, but sometimes my errors have cost money, too. Almost always, they have resulted in wasted effort. Frequently, error arises from the unknown. If I don't check the weather forecast, I won't know there is frost on the way… Continue reading What to Do When You Thought You Got It Right, But You Got It All Wrong
Hope has become one of those words that might show up on a couch pillow or stenciled onto a wall hanging. We’ve domesticated the word, taming it until it’s become a floating, sentimental abstraction: "Faith, hope, and love... now you may kiss the bride." The truth is that hope is our lifeline, but we do… Continue reading The Peril of Hoping in Hope and the Solid Joy of a Better Hope
Have you ever wished you could hear God's voice, out loud and in the room? If you were God, how would you go about revealing yourself to humanity? In 2021, you might choose to go live on all social media outlets! In his tiny epistle, John is clear that, even though we cannot hear God's… Continue reading How’s Your Hearing These Days? Can You Discern the Voice of God?
Who would imagine that biblical lists could be a rich source of spiritual insight? It's really tempting to just skip over them, but lately, I've come upon a better plan. Rather than skipping over the lists as if they were somehow “extra,” what if we viewed them as a string of beads to finger and… Continue reading The September Book Talk Plus a FREE Printable to Guide You Into Scripture Meditation
Sunday Scripture My three married sons have chosen wisely, smart women who love God and love their husbands well. Therefore, my grandchildren have wise mothers who limit screen time and access to junk food. Humans, both big and small, develop an appetite, an acquired taste, for what's-good-for-them when what's-good-for-them is what they are given. As… Continue reading 4 Strategies to Help You Develop an Appetite for Reading the Bible
“Hey, do you think you can get this stain out, Mum?” He handed me his T-shirt, still warm from his body, and I assured him that boiling water would make short work of blueberry juice on cotton. As the kettle boiled and the water poured and the steam rose from the kitchen sink, I thought… Continue reading What Does Hope Look Like? (Meditations Over a Stained T-Shirt)
Sunday Scripture "Bam, how old are you?" My oldest grandson's eyes sparkled with pleasure over the edginess of his question, although I'm sure he knew I'd answer without hesitation. "I'm 58," I said because my September birthday hadn't happened yet. "You're younger than Grammy!" he reported with surprise. "You don't LOOK younger than Grammy! Your… Continue reading God is Not Distant or Untouchable. You Can Draw Near to God.
