So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. ~1 … Continue reading →
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. ~Psalm 68:5-6 NIV After my horse Frank’s mother died, he was very lonely. He needed a new family. Frank and his mother had spent ten years together and formed their own family unit. Now, she was gone, and he was alone. He moped about for weeks and seemed to lose all interest in life. When let out of the … Continue reading →
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. ~James 1:27 NLT Their faces told their stories. Some had adapted well, but loneliness ate at others. Some resided there because family members didn’t want to care for them. Doing so would have inconvenienced their lives. Others had outlived all their family members and had none to care for them. And still … Continue reading →
Carrying My Children’s Rocks I remember my kids giving me things to hold for them when they were little–among them, rocks in my pockets. They found little rocks they thought were special. Whenever I unloaded the rocks in my pockets and the other treasures they’d entrusted to me, I smiled. These provided little glimpses into their hearts, things I got to carry to make their life more joyful or the journey less of a struggle for them. Responsibilities As they got older, … Continue reading →
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. ~1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT For many years, they have been one of my favorite foods—one that I should leave alone except on occasion. Then the health-kick bug bit. Well, a moderated bite, anyway. French Fries … Continue reading →
Frowning and biting his lip, my two-year-old grandson shoved the round block into the triangle shape on the lid of the shape sorter bucket. He shoved, twisted, banged, and whined. But nothing would make the round block go through the triangle-shaped opening. Knowing the block was supposed to go into the bucket, he finally took the lid off and threw the block inside. He looked at me and grinned. Watching my grandson try to fill the hole in the bucket … Continue reading →
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ~Mathew 7:7-8 NIV The Hunt at Easter Easter morning is always an exciting and bustling time within our household as my granddaughters search for Easter eggs. Parents have cleverly hidden these goodies, and the girls must search diligently to … Continue reading →
All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the Lord. They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle, for the performance of its rituals, and for the sacred garments. ~Exodus 35:21 NLT While I am no architect and would be all thumbs, or at least whack my thumbs with a hammer, were I to try to build anything, there are times when I feel called to create. One time in … Continue reading →
But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. ~Luke 5:16 NLT The Boredom Be bored, be creative, be busy. There’s something to be said about that. By today’s standards, my cousin and I were bored country boys. We lived before technology had crept in and covered so much of our every waking minutes. We, however, still needed something to do, like some of my grandsons who live in the country and are not allowed much screentime. So we dreamed … Continue reading →
In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ~2 Chronicles 29:3 NIV When my daughter was a child, she brought anything that broke to her father to have it fixed. It didn’t matter what it was. My daughter had a refrain, “Give it to Daddy; he can fix anything.” She trusted he would mend whatever she placed in his hands, and she still does. … Continue reading →
