Disappointments plague our life paths. We experience varying degrees from different causes, but we all carry them. Walking along unaware, they creep up as silent shadows, until we are overtaken. Other times, we receive warnings of impending trouble, but before we react and redirect, we find ourselves caught in their grip. Or they come as split-second calamities flashing across our path, and we stare in horror at the destruction left behind....
February 21, 2019
How to Deal with Disappointment
February 14, 2019
How to Abide with Intention
Abide: to remain, continue, stay, dwell, reside. When we abide with someone, we are more than aware of them. We fellowship with them. Settle down in overstuffed chairs sharing thoughts and feelings, finding comfort with each other. Jesus desires this intimacy with us. (John 15:4-5, John 15:9) The Message says “remaining intimately at home in”. Did that sink in? Jesus, the Creator, Lord of Heaven and Earth, desires an intimate, abiding relationship with you. He wants to make His home in you,...
February 7, 2019
Feeling Overwhelmed? Plug In.
Life can be overwhelming. A condition ushered in by half-cocked escorts of varying personalities from the craziness of daily responsibilities, to an unforeseen turned corner, to a rogue wave crashing in, knocking you to the deck, leaving you breathless and disoriented. We have all become jugglers, keenly aware of how many balls we can keep moving through the air with sharpened toss-catch techniques. Then out of nowhere, an unexpected ball is hurled into our juggling loop, the wrong size and...
January 31, 2019
How to Respond to Hurtful People in our Lives
We choose many things in our lives. What we wear to our chosen place to dine. Where we hang out. How we earn a living. But there are many things we do not choose. The weather each day. The family into which we are born. What crises and troubles befall us. Our tribe gathered this past week-end for a celebration. Posted pictures depict faces full of love and laughter. But each smile represents individuals with very different stories, living through...
January 24, 2019
2 Words Chock-full of Power
Two words. Linked together, they explode with power, providing ocean depths of hope. Two words spinning dark and impossible, into obtainable light and victory. Two words holding endless potential for reconciliation, healing, renewal, a future. Two words waiting to fill your hard with peace and even joy. These two words? But Jesus. The first almost insignificant word means “on the contrary; except; still; unless; yet”. It’s often glided over in a sentence, unacknowledged as the springboard to big transitions. However,...
January 17, 2019
Firefly Graces
As we traverse the first year anniversary of my husband’s open heart surgery, we are flooded with memories, many unpleasant to recall. Yet, we remain overwhelmed with how God’s grace covered us from the first twinge signaling something amiss, to four months later exiting through the rehab door for the final time. Grace: the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God. Blessing: a special favor, mercy or gift bestowed by God. Those months filled to the brim with...
January 10, 2019
How God Bridges the Darkness
Adversity in our lives can grow us desperate for a touch from God. In moments of certainty that the ground is breaking apart under us and will swallow us whole, we cannot take another breath, let alone another step, without some assurance He is with us. A health crisis. We had not received a “save the date”. No pre-released schedule of events marked the path before us. It snuck up behind us and knocked the wind out of our lungs...
December 20, 2018
Someone Good is Calling You
For our last time together this year, let’s mull over one more of Jesus’ emphatic “I am” proclamations. Today’s links us to the season as we enjoy our creches, each one depicting shepherds. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know Me – Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – And I lay...
December 13, 2018
The Best Bread Ever
As we edge closer to the day set aside to celebrate the coming of Christ, we peek into the manger and wonder, “Who are you, Jesus?” And He answers us. All through the Scripture we are told who He is, but most powerful are the words of Jesus Himself. Today we are pondering a second emphatic statement He made: “I am the bread of life.He who comes to me will never go hungry,And he who believes in me will never...
December 6, 2018
The One Light You Need
During advent, let’s ponder four emphatic “I am” statements from Jesus. Four things that establish this babe in a manger was set apart from all others born before and after Him. Understanding and embracing these proclamations help us walk through hard things in life. The first “I am” to consider is Jesus declaring, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, But will have the light of life.” John 8:12 What an astounding...