I saw him in church only once. He attended that weekend with his wife who was a member of our congregation. All I remembered about him was that he was young and handsome, and maybe a bit arrogant. I learned later that while he was working on a roof, a wind gust caused him to lose balance and he fell … [Read more...]
A Joyful Heart
It’s an attitude of gratitude that’s been passed down through several generations. Grandma raised Mom with it, Mom raised me with it, and I’m doing my best to raise my daughter with it. Call it seeing our cups as half-full, finding the best in every situation, or looking on the bright side. We aim … [Read more...]
The Empty Tomb
When you think of something that’s empty, it’s often a negative thought: an empty cookie jar, an empty wallet, an empty gas tank, or an empty house. But with Easter just past, I’m reminded of something else that’s empty—and I’m glad that it is—the empty tomb. The fact that Jesus’ tomb is empty is … [Read more...]
Valentines
Valentine’s Day is filled with thoughts of love and adoration. You can just imagine that someone very romantic established the day and maybe even sent out the first lovely Valentine’s card … but history tells us that the day was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD in remembrance of the … [Read more...]
Who is in Charge Here?
I just put new pages into my daily planning notebook. I look at those pages and realize how quickly they fill up and expire. I’m guilty of planning parts of my life for months at a time. Sometimes I get ahead of myself. We are expecting a second grandchild in several months and I have been … [Read more...]
A Gift For You
I couldn’t believe that she had tried to end her on Christmas Eve. “Why?” I asked myself on the way to the ER. “Why at Christmas?” I didn’t know her well at the time. She’d been attending the church my dad pastored and I’d been away at college. Dad asked me to come to the hospital with him to … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Pie Shortage
The day after Thanksgiving, my brother Dave went to town in search of a pumpkin pie. Because he and his wife had spent Thanksgiving in the ER with their sick daughter, they’d only grabbed some leftovers at his in-laws late that night before heading home. “It sure would be nice to have a pumpkin … [Read more...]
Seasons of Change
Maybe it’s seeing the colorful leaves changing. Maybe it’s feeling the briskness in the air. Maybe it’s smelling the aroma of pumpkin cookies. Or maybe it’s watching the squirrels burying nuts. I love autumn! It’s definitely my favorite season. In a way, I’m surprised at this because I don’t … [Read more...]
My Journey With Jairus
I thought I knew Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue who pled with Jesus to heal his dying daughter. I remember hearing his story as a child on Bible story tapes, studying it in Bible classes at college and seminary, and even listening to a friend's summary of his Ph.D. dissertation about the … [Read more...]
Hitting the Window
It seems that I discover most life lessons when I’m not looking for them—when something happens out of the blue that makes me stop and think. One such lesson came today. I was standing in the kitchen when I happened to look out our glass sliding door. Whack! A little goldfinch hit the glass hard, … [Read more...]