Gaining a heart of wisdom
When Paul the apostle and prodigious letter-writer wanted to describe the fruit, the resulting bumper crop, of a life lived for Christ and controlled by the Holy Spirit, the first word that flowed from his pen was love. (Galatians 5:22) He lists eight other virtues in quick succession, but love gets top billing once again… Continue reading The Greatest of These is Love
We laughed at his European knickers and the idiosyncracies of his speech and manner, but it was the early 80s! Any sort of multi-media education was sufficiently novel to meet with appreciation—especially at a conservative Christian college. Therefore, Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? video series left its mark on my brain. "How Should… Continue reading When the Question You’re Asking is, “How Do I Respond to this Mess?”
Do you ever stop and think about the why behind all that you do? Especially if you are involved in ministry, what motivates you to keep on working? Is it duty?Pressure from others?Habit?A desire to look good, to be thought well of? Or do you serve God from a heart of love?What motivates your obedience… Continue reading What’s the Temperature of Your Love Relationship with the Lord?
“Ouch!” I yelped as a two-year-old elbow made contact with my arthritic hip joint. The volume of my outburst left me feeling a little silly. After all, while unexpected, was the jolt of pain really that intense? Well, actually, it was, but certainly not painful enough to declare my lap off limits to my squirrely,… Continue reading Holding on by Heart: Is Loving Really Worth the Risk?
Sunday Scripture On Saturday, I filled the bird feeder, and before I had time to close the front door behind me, an enterprising chickadee had already landed for a late breakfast. Soon, the front yard needed air traffic control to regulate all the landings and take offs. And those honking Canada geese that pass overhead… Continue reading What Makes the Birds Seem So Much Smarter than People?
This week at my house, love looked like a plate piled high with cheeseburgers. Love resulted in a wheelbarrow loaded down with winter-broken limbs from our back yard. It showed up in new rocker panels for the truck we use in our mowing business--installed by a handy son. Love reached from screen to screen when… Continue reading What Does Love Look Like?
"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV) Fervent love is a choice, and it comes with effort. The word fervent means "to be stretched," and has also been used to describe a runner, straining toward a finish line. Some versions render the… Continue reading Sunday Scripture ~ 1 Peter 4:8
The snow is flying sideways like rice at a wedding, and I'm reading Lore Wilbert's blog post about marriage. She writes: "'We don’t treat our home like it’s the place where we can ‘be real,’ as though every other relationship in our lives deserves the fruit of the Spirit, but at home we can drop… Continue reading Timeless Words About Love for Your Valentine’s Day
“It’s pizza night!” Any Friday. Even every Friday. My boys never tire of those words. A bowl of popcorn, a favorite movie, and a few square feet of mozzarella magic, and it’s going to be a great evening. No question about it. In a family of four boys, food is currency, and pizza is the… Continue reading Big Pizza Love and the Recipe that Makes it Happen
It was a day like any other day in the life-long ministry of Zacharias the priest. With Elisabeth’s goodbye kiss still warm on his cheek, he went about his business, reporting for duty in his scheduled commitment to serve in the Temple. It was a day like no other day when the honor of entering… Continue reading A Day Like No Other Day
Living Our Days 