Gaining a heart of wisdom
Since 2022 was my worst gardening year EVER, my enthusiasm for spring and another year of digging in the dirt seems completely unreasonable. After all, 2022 began with great intentionality--an early planting of peas and lettuce and lots of faithful watering followed by thorough weeding of the growing plants. Certainly, the plump woodchuck living under… Continue reading Intentional Gardening–and an Intentional Life–in Partnership with God
Sunday Scripture Friends had come to visit and to help, but I couldn’t have been more horrified if the people at my door had been bandits or kidnappers. Number one, I was on the couch. Number two, I had been sick for weeks and the house must have looked like a train wreck. (Fortunately, my… Continue reading Learning to Receive with Grace: Does My Help Really Come from the Lord?
Among the pesky distractions that accompany an online ministry are the hackers who invade and imitate, even going so far as to steal accounts for their own nefarious purposes. Of course, all I have to do is open my Bible or read a few missionary biographies to put my own ministry woes into proper perspective.… Continue reading How Will You Overcome the Challenges Life Throws at You?
There's nothing like a slow and careful read of a "familiar" text in the Bible to make me feel as if I've never seen it before. I'm working on 2 Corinthians 4 in the car, and the sticky part for me is, as usual, one of Paul's lists: hard pressed but not crushed; perplexed but… Continue reading What Does It Mean to Be “Fully Alive” as a Human Being?
When Jesus singled out Peter, James, and John to sit with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, his instructions to them were brief and straightforward: "Remain here and watch." He asked them to stay in a particular place and be on guard, to be awake and be with him. Mark 14:35-36 describes Jesus's pleading prayer… Continue reading How Can We Avoid Putting a Bandaid on Others’ Grief and Pain?
I printed maps for my students showing the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and colorful arrows tracing Israel's itinerary as refugees and fugitive slaves. I wanted them to see the utter impracticality of the route--and yet it was chosen by God on purpose, and Scripture tells us in no uncertain terms that God led Israel into… Continue reading Do You Trust God to Meet You in Your Wilderness Journey?
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
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?
Living Our Days 