Gaining a heart of wisdom
Bread dough the color of molasses yielded to the pressure of my working fist. Fold, press, turn, repeat, and soon I lost count of how many times I had kneaded the fragrant lump. With the recipe calling for three hundred repetitions, I began to wonder... Three hundred? Really? Switching to the heel of my hand,… Continue reading Create the Right Conditions for Spiritual Growth: Trust the Recipe
One of the best features of the church I call home is the perpetually shifting hats I get to wear. Recently, the flu sidelined several of our families, effectively gutting the Sunday school. I teach the ladies, and since the mums were all home with their sick kids, I got to teach the only healthy… Continue reading On What Are You Basing Your Value, Your Hope, and Your Being?
My first few substitute teaching gigs in the fall always generate a bit of anxiety--butterflies over the unknown, anticipation of challenges, always the possibility of conflict. To my great surprise, on my first day of school, as I inserted my key into the car's ignition, the words of Isaiah 12 rushed into my mind, and… Continue reading Give Thanks! Sing Praises! Solid Disciplines Foster Strong Habits
Now that winter with its "firm, business-like cold"1 has arrived here in Maine, bare branches open up the landscape for a good view of the horizon, but the sun does little to mitigate the monotonous gray or the hard-as-iron ground under my feet. I'll admit that most days I take to the basement exercise bike… Continue reading Do You Ever Wonder if God Has a Reason for Your Suffering?
I'm reading through the Bible again this year and working hard to pay attention to the BIG story. Genesis has started my year with one narrative after another, most of which any Sunday school child could retell, but my reading will be richer if I can bear in mind that all the little stories are… Continue reading What Do Biblical Stories Teach Us About God’s Heart for Women?
Depending on what time zone you're in and what your reading habits might be, there's a good chance that, if you're reading this post on a Sunday morning, I'm either getting ready to go to church, driving toward the church we call home, or actively engaged in Sunday worship. For our family, church attendance is… Continue reading Sunday Worship: 5 Arguments in Favor from the Writing of C.S. Lewis
What do you want in 2023? Most of us will come up with a long list of things. Possessions, jobs, relationships, goals--hey, it's a new year, and hope is in the air! I wonder, though, if any of our things have any resemblance to the things God recommends to us in this collection of Scripture… Continue reading The Crucial Question for Beginning a New Year: What Do You Want?
In this new year, it's time to sing blessing over our loved ones and over the year. It's time to be a blessing and to live blessed by remembering the generosity of a faithful God whose promises are solid and whose power is absolute. The words we say (and even the words we think) are… Continue reading Happy New Year Blessings for You and Your Loved Ones
I'm reading through the psalms again. Again! Funny how the Bible's prayer book keeps reverting to mundane words on a page as I hurry my way through this spiritual discipline with other tasks taking up space in my brain. Some days, however, the words and the Spirit find their mark, and I really do find… Continue reading Reset Your Pace to Walk with the God Who Leads You Beside Waters of Rest
Advent Series Part Three: Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6) Both my grandsons have been created in the express image of their fathers, which amounts to a temperamental salad bar of sensitivity, willfulness, and a worldview that sees all of life as a multiple-choice quiz--and all the answers are "None of the Above." This shared understanding has… Continue reading The Importance and the Blessing of an Understanding Father
