Since it’s spring break I took the afternoon off to go fishing with one of my daughters and her kiddos. It was a beautiful afternoon. We all had our fishing equipment and we tried several spots around the lake. My daughter caught a nice bass. She cast out, almost hit the walkway with the lure, jerked it into the water and boom she retrieved her prize! No one else caught a fish, nor did we even get a bite. Did the day turn sour? Did the sun quit shining? Did we run home with disappointment and agitation that she was …
You’re Dead And Yet Alive
We came home from the conference we attended and between washing clothes and napping we watched two old westerns. High noon was one of them. Kane, the just resigned as sheriff and married a Quaker, knew he needed to stand up to the man who was returning from prison on the noon train. His efforts to round up a posse at the tavern, and then the church, are met with fear and hostility. Some townspeople, worried that a gunfight would damage the town’s reputation, urge Kane to avoid the confrontation entirely. Others are Miller’s friends, and resent that Kane cleaned …
A Rough Patch?
It was just going to be a simple fix up downstairs in our open living area and kitchen. We looked at lots of flooring but there was that idea that we could just have the floors stained since we’re on a slab. That was a great idea. Until we began to pull up the flooring in the kitchen area. What we found was a rough patch of concrete that was flaking off. Because of this small area of trouble we would have to completely skim coat the entire downstairs area – over a thousand square feet. We went back to …
Rejoice!
“How my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For He took notice of His lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me.” These are Mary’s words shared in Luke 1:46-49. She was a young girl, probably 15 or 16 years old, and she was ready to marry a man who was righteous and good. These are Mary’s words after the Angel of the Lord came to her one night, a night that otherwise would have …
Constant Communication
Communication with my husband is interesting at this time to say the least. This couple who is used to morning and evening talks as well as all through the day is learning new ways to get our words understood. Body language is becoming more important as words don’t simply flow right now. We find that it’s important to focus on each other for health and healing. Oh beloved, whatever issues of life you are dealing with you can have constant communication available with the Lord. As you learn to rely on Him you will be getting your cues from Holy …
Hearts of Gratitude
In looking up the word “gratitude” from various sources, most of the definitions were very similar and what one might expect: thankfulness, the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness; a natural expression of thanks in response to blessings, protection, or love, etc… One definition, however, significantly stuck out to me: gratitude is a joyful commitment of one’s personality to God. Researching gratitude chronologically in the Bible, it took me a while to find it, which was surprising to me! Although we don’t see a “thank you” in the first few chapters of Scripture, …
Fall Devotions
Day 4 I lived in Houston, Texas for almost 8 years. The summers were so hot. That seems like not enough to describe them. I can remember walking outside and the heat and humidity being so high that it literally would take your breath away. You couldn’t do very many things outside because of the extreme temperatures and if you did you must take breaks often and make sure you drank lots of water to keep you from dehydration. It was so hot at times the power would go out in our homes due to the magnitude of power being …
Serve Others
Jonah ran from God because he did not feel others were deserving of God’s grace. God gives His grace to whom He pleases and asks us to serve others to show them this grace. He did not leave us without an example. In fact He gave us the greatest example, His own son. When Christ knelt at the feet of the disciples in the upper room, He did not grumble that no one else took the initiative. Instead, He willingly did the task of a servant even with crucifixion looming. He did not say look what I’ve done or am …
Measuring Up
The enemy uses the world to tell us lies that keep us from living the life of peace God intends for us to live. These lies are used by the enemy to pull us down and keep us from experiencing the peace God has for us. One lie the world would have us to believe is You’ll Never Measure Up. This lie is all about comparing ourselves with others. Just like the magazine covers tell us we need to have the perfect home, perfect job, perfect body, and perfect relationships in order to measure up to the world’s standards. I …
A Willingness to be Rejected
“So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 13:51–52 Acts 13:51–52 will not make sense to you unless you understand the context of the passage. These two verses of Scripture hold a principle that helps us understand God’s definition of freedom: godly freedom willingly accepts rejection. This is often a hard concept for women to accept. In general, women are pleasers. Women love to be loved and accepted. Women often go to great lengths to try to make everyone …
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