Gaining a heart of wisdom
Scripture memory is one of the more challenging spiritual disciplines. Right now, I'm working on Psalm 27, and it's reminding me that there's another discipline that's even harder for me. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!You have said, 'Seek my face.'My heart says to you, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.'"(Psalm 27:7-8) I… Continue reading Speak To The God Who Has Spoken To Us First
It's only June, but already our calendar is filling up with summer plans. Conversations about beach days and family camping trips have me wondering when we'll fit in the more mundane but necessary tasks of weeding the garden and mowing the lawn. When we had four barefoot boys running summer wild here on the hill,… Continue reading A Life Lived in the Presence of the Lord
It's testing week here on the hill! My oldest grandson and granddaughter have been here with me to take their end-of-year standardized tests. Remember those forms with all the little dots to be filled in with Number Two pencils? Testing is a big deal1 because it helps my son and daughter-in-law assess their children's educational… Continue reading What to Look for When Times of Testing Come
Peeling potatoes for dinner, I was listening to music, a lovely arrangement around a poem by Robert Frost. Of course, I couldn’t help but sing along until... “BONG!” The clock in the living room began chiming the hour. The sudden dissonance stopped my singing, but not my enjoyment, because I loved that clock, and because I knew… Continue reading Delighting in the Reality of Temporary Dissonance
Happy Pentecost Sunday! I wonder how we would respond today to a reenactment of the original Acts 2 Pentecost scene, complete with rushing wind, tongues of fire, and unscheduled utterances in various languages. The Early Church was building the plane as they flew it. There was no "earlier church" to set a precedent for what… Continue reading The Sure and Steady Pilot Light of Pentecost
When he was dying of pancreatic cancer, author and New York City pastor Tim Keller made the surprising observation that although cancer was taking its toll on his body, he and his wife, Kathy, would never want to go back to the kind of prayer life or spiritual life he had before the cancer. Knowing… Continue reading You Are Here—Whether You Like It or Not
Mother's Day can be rough. A day intended to honor and encourage mothers sometimes spirals into disappointment or feeds our feelings of inadequacy. We compare ourselves to other mothers (either in our real world or in the tiny, square pictures on our phones) and conclude that everyone else is doing it "better," having more fun,… Continue reading Wishing You a Happy, Holy Mother’s Day
Ever since our oldest son was born, I have been inscribing my children's initials in the margins of my Bible next to verses that I have prayed for them. For a long time, there were four sets of initials, but then the wives and the grandchildren started adding to the family. Today, the count is… Continue reading The Greatest Gift You Can Offer Your Children and Grandchildren
Do you ever read something in the Bible and think, "Wow, that sounds a little over the top!" I am simply not capable of the emotional range of some of the more expressive prophets and psalmists, but, even more than that, I lack their depth of love and fervor of desire for God and his… Continue reading Love What God Commands. Desire What God Promises.
Here in Midcoast Maine, spring is a transitional season. We all know we're on the way toward something good, but it's sure taking its good old time getting here. And then, blink, and you'll miss it! Whenever I'm in transition, impatience tugs at my coat tails. Neither here nor there yet, I'm tempted to numb… Continue reading Stay in the Present Moment During Your Seasons of Transition
Living Our Days 