At times, during a difficult season or storm, God’s promises are hard to remember, let alone to grasp and hold onto. On an early morning trek around the track, I jogged out from under tree cover and looked up, surprised to see a rainbow. Surprised because it hung in the western sky early in the morning, as opposed to the eastern sky in late afternoon, when most storms roll through leaving the color-filled bow. A dark cloud covered the very...
September 26, 2019
Grab Hold of God’s Promises
September 19, 2019
What to Do When God’s Ways Baffle Us
Life can be downright perplexing. And troubling. And complicated. At times churning with confusion, pain and sadness. Examining a situation, we shake our heads crying out, “Lord, this makes no sense to me at all.” We wrestle with the thing, turning the complex matter upside-down, inside-out and every which way, but cannot put the pieces together to reach any logical understanding. We reason until our brains ache with the effort. We devise a number of options for a situation to...
September 12, 2019
Your Checklist When Seasons Collide (Seasons Part 2)
Moving into a new season of life can be hard. (See Part 1: one-truth-to-survive-seasonal-changes) But moving into a new season with one foot firmly planted in the past season can be earth shaking. Somewhat like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust coming in contact, “grinding violently against each other, causing earthquakes and volcano eruptions”. Sound familiar? Um, yes. More often than not, seasonal transitions are not cut and dry, but involve one foot planted in both seasons. Two memories bubble...
September 5, 2019
How to See Yourself through God’s Eyes
One of the marvelous treasures in a hard is the consistency and beauty of how God sees us. His view of us stands untainted, not swayed by how we feel, by others perceptions, or by our performance. How we feel about ourselves in a hard situation or season makes dramatic shifts. The reflected image we see in the mirror morphs with how much sleep we get, the weather, what someone says to us, how we are treated, and a myriad of...
August 29, 2019
Where is God When we Suffer?
Many hards we face go beyond circumstances and relationships. Sometimes the hard resides in our mind. Unanswered questions nag our spirit. Riddles and puzzles swirl and entangle us. Four times, from four sources, a hard question has crossed my recent path. Why do good people suffer? Or this version: how can a God who is love allow suffering? The news reminds us daily of a world full of pain. But perhaps more poignant weighs the personal suffering we witness and...
August 22, 2019
One Truth to Survive Seasonal Changes
On a recent morning jog, passing through a wooded stretch, a hint of autumn washed over me. There was a slight chill to the air and a morning shower created a musky dampness, leaving the air smelling of decaying earth. An overnight windstorm had prematurely tugged leaves from their branches and scattered them along the pathway. And the heart skipped a beat as the realization hit, though still mid-August, fall lay just around the next bend. The urge pressed in...
August 15, 2019
Dealing with Repeat Offenders
Some days a hard develops just showing grace to rude strangers. To be forgiving to an acquaintance being “all about me”. To tolerate a slight from someone we respect. But. A real hard ensues and intensifies when needing grace and forgiveness, again, for one close to us. For one we have walked this journey with for years. Whom we know well. Who knows us well. We face the hard of showing grace when challenged with “another”. Another display of selfishness....
August 8, 2019
The Devil is No Gentleman
Reasons pile on reasons why hards exist. We’re impacted by consequences of poor decisions we, or someone close to us, make. Accidents and acts of nature produce great hardship. Disease and results of living in a decaying world make life difficult. Ugliness exists from sin remaining in our own, and other’s, hearts. But make no mistake. As followers of Christ, we have an enemy. He is real, determined to make our life hard, and he is no gentleman. Satan: opponent...
August 1, 2019
3 P’s When Children Disappoint
“A little child steps on our toes. But as they grow older, they step on our hearts.” This shared truth when our kids are little people, bouncing through summer with bare feet, sticky popsicle faces, and easy giggles doesn’t penetrate our understanding. But as they grow and stretch their wings out from under our guidance and protection, we begin to feel the ache, torment, and sorrow of watching a child’s bad decisions and actions. This can range from poor choices,...
July 25, 2019
Victory in One of Life’s Daily Hards
One of the every day hards in life is managing time. Time for all of our tasks and all of our people. The desired priority at the top of our list, in permanent ink? Time with God. Which happens to also be the top priority on our Enemy’s attack plan, which he executes with vengeance and consistency. He hates to see us sitting at the feet of Jesus. He despises when we pour over God’s Word. Satan knows our fervor...