How are those New Year’s Resolutions going? Are you still on track? Or have you given up on some? I know making changes in our lives is much harder than just making a list. I struggle with keeping New Year Resolutions too. Today is part two of a three-part series about making SPIRITUALLY healthy changes in our lives this year. The best things we can do for our overall well being are spiritual. Let’s get started!…
Sunday Scripture
WHAT IS THE NATIVITY?
You have probably seen a nativity scene somewhere this Christmas. In a yard or church or even in your own home. Today let’s talk about what the word nativity means and the truths we can garner from the Word of God about it. Let’s also look at the customs of the day in the first century AD and see what we can find….
CELEBRATING IN THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING
I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving a lot lately. Not the decorations or how to get ready for Turkey day but the way this Thanksgiving feels. To be honest, it feels a little, well less! When you really get down to it our whole world feels a little less. Let’s talk about being thankful THIS Thanksgiving….
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
If I were born in a different age or place I don’t think I could have ever made it! I can’t imagine cooking every meal over a fire or sleeping in a room full of people with lice and chiggers and all sorts of other maladies! So how is it that I am here in this place for such a time as this?…
A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
When my children were very little I would get up early, often dragging myself out of bed unwillingly, and make a hot breakfast every school morning. And I would wake my kiddos up early too, but not as early as myself. Why? For breakfast of a spiritual kind!…
CARRYING FRIENDS TO THE THRONE OF GRACE
What do you do when illness or tragedy or troubles or anxiety or difficulties strike someone you know? It could be a friend, or family member, or even a person you hear about! Let me tell you a story about a man with a debilitating illness and how his friends helped him in a time of his great need… …
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE STUCK IN SPIRITUALLY DRY PLACES
On a study trip to Israel I learned many things! And even after a decade there are some lessons etched upon my soul! Here’s what I learned and being stuck in spiritually dry places from the hot dry holy land!…
WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
If you ask me what my favorite song is I would say Amazing Grace. It was not until I was 33 years old that I knew for the first time how amazing grace really was. I have always loved this song and can sing all the modern verses but I often sang it without any deep knowledge or meaning of the wonderful truths I was voicing. But when I was 33 an amazing thing happened that saved my life……
THE PROVERBIAL WOMAN ON MOTHER’S DAY
Happy Mother’s Day! Let’s look at the woman of Proverbs 31 and see if you might know her! Here is how she might look today… …
THE MEANING OF PALM SUNDAY
Today is Palm Sunday. It’s the time when we celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Many churches hand out palm branches. But what exactly is Palm Sunday? It’s meaning is rich and deep and so exquisite! Let’s talk about… WHAT IS PALM SUNDAY……
HOW ALL PEOPLE KNOW GOD
Have you ever wondered why we believe in a God, or should I say “THE GOD”? And did you know that every culture, country, tribe, race, and peoples ALL believe in a god? Why is that? How does God, THE GOD, manifest Himself to each individual and woo us to Him? These are all important questions to ask. Today we will just skim the surface of understanding HOW ALL PEOPLE KNOW THERE IS A GOD….
THIS IS LOVE
Valentine’s Day is coming up this week. I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. But I am a big fan of LOVE, true love! Today let’s look at the authority on this subject. The Bible has a lot to say about love! Let’s look at love and what true love really is and how it acts….
PEACE ON EARTH AT CHRISTMAS
Before I spent time in Israel I imagined Shepherd’s Field, the place where angels announced the birth of Jesus to lowly shepherds, like a big open grassy plain. A place of great beauty and open spaces like on a Christmas card. The picture below is of Shepherd’s Field today. It’s not at all what I imagined but then, most of what is true in the bible is not what most of us imagine……
WHAT IS ADVENT?
What is Advent? Today is the first day of Advent. Many Christians celebrate Advent, the time before Christmas. But what is it? How did it start? What does it symbolize and what does Advent mean for us today? Let’s look at this four week period before Christmas and learn the true meaning of Advent….
GIVING THANKS AT MEALTIME
This past week our family went out to dinner at a local steakhouse chain. You know the one that has free peanuts and two-steppin’ servers and plays country music’s top 40 and embarrasses birthday folk by making them sit on a big saddle! YEE-HAA! Yes, that’s the one! And something in that loud and happy restaurant got me thinking……
I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH
Thank goodness for Facetime! I can see my grandbabies every day even though don’t live close. At the end of the conversation, I often say, “I love you this much” as I hold hands out to each side as wide as they will go! I love them with my heart and soul! Did you know we are to love God “this” much too?…
MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE
Do you have a good memory? Or are you like me? I have so many things I am thinking of all at one time once in a while I’ll forget something. Today let’s talk one thing worth using your brain’s bandwidth to remember!…
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN!
If you were in dire trouble and needed to be saved by a superhero who would you pick to come to the rescue? I would pick Superman! Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound……
LIVING WATER
It’s been a decade since I spent part of a summer studying in Israel. It was a life-changing experience in more ways than I can tell! Studying in Israel was one of the best things I have ever done but going in the summer was insane! It was on a very long, uphill hike I learned a profound lesson! And I want to share it with you!…
A HUG FROM GOD
I remember that day so well! We had just moved into StoneGable. Mover’s boxes were piled high in every room waiting to be opened. And I could still smell fresh paint. Everything was new and beautiful and clean! Then why did I feel like the bottom of my world has just dropped out?…
BE A STANDING STONES
When I think of Israel in the summer, the color of the land comes to mind. It is so different than the bucolic farmland where I live. I think of the color of a bone a dried bone. Bleached by the sun and exposed. Beautiful in its own way. …
LIVING WATER
I studied in Israel a few summers ago. It was a life-changing experience, in more ways than I can tell! Studying in Israel was one of the best things I have ever done but going in the summer was insane! Our small group was always drinking water just to stay alive!…
A LESSON IN KINDNESS
There is the power of great change in kindness. It’s a gift we give the world. And it is ours’s to choose whether to give it or to let it dissolve inside of us and never reach out beyond our own hearts. Today lets talk about being kind!…
HOW TO HANDLE TROUBLE, PART II
In this life, we are guaranteed to have trouble and trials. It’s a part of life, but God uses our trials to do mighty things in us! This week we are still talking about what to do when trials come knocking at our door. One thing is for certain… they will!!! Here’s how to handle those trouble God’s way……
LESSONS FROM MY GARDEN
A garden can teach a person a lot about life! I am not a fancy gardener or one that likes to spend my days weeding and fussing. What I do love is watching my garden grow! Here are a few lessons from my garden……
FREE EASTER PRINTABLE
Decorate your spring home with this free Easter printable. Add grace and a reminder of the true meaning of Easter or Resurrection Day! He is RISEN, indeed!…
FINDING THE EMPTY TOMB
Resurrection Sunday has such a personal meaning to me. Yes, it’s always been special. Brunch, Church, Easter baskets, family, food. But ever since I made a pilgrimage to the tomb it has changed me forever! This is my story……
BRINGING FRIENDS TO THE THRONE OF GRACE
What do you do when illness or tragedy or troubles or anxiety or difficulties strike someone you know? It could be friend, or family member or even a person you hear about! Let me tell you a story about a man with a debilitating illness and how his friends helped him in a time of his great need……
THE BLESSING CIRCLE
Last week I attended a dinner for one of my favorite ministries HOPE INTERNATIONAL. One of the speakers said… “You are blessed to be a blessing”. And I was struck by the truth and weightiness of that statement. YOU ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING! Let’s look at what the word blessing means and how it applies to us… …
CELEBRATING THE 4TH WEEK OF ADVENT- JOY
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays are ways we all express greetings to one another during Christmas. But merry and happy don’t really adequately express the true feeling we should be experiencing during this season! Of course, it’s not bad to wish people a merry or happy Christmas but the emotion behind those two words fall so short of what God wants us to experience. Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Today, let’s ponder on the true meaning of joy at Christmas….
