He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Sludging through the snowy street under a gray sky, I tried to conjure up something to be grateful for. A squirrel scurried on a branch above. Thank you, God, for that reminder of your creativity. A leftover leaf clung to the bare branch, a vestige of the prior season, unwilling to let go. Thank you,... Continue Reading →
Cheryl (pseudonym) and I glanced at the wall clock in the Sunday School room. Fifteen minutes to go until the parents would return and retrieve their charges. In toddler time, that can feel like fifteen hours. We had completed our story time, our snack, our singing and free play. The craft was done and the... Continue Reading →
"Don't be like the other nine!" Mr. Olchesi used to say that repeatedly to the first graders in our Sunday School class as they stared at him, tilting their bewildered heads as my dog does, clearly annoyed that their snack time was delayed. Mr. Olchesi would then bow his head and say a prayer of... Continue Reading →
Laura (pseudonym) was a beloved kindergarten teacher at my school. She had a quiet, confident demeanor and she taught with heart. One colleague said of her, "If you spit in Laura's face, she would still smile at you." Everyone loved Laura, including me. Then one day I discovered what Laura and her husband did every... Continue Reading →
I was sifting through the mail when a familiar looking envelope caught my eye. At first I thought it was a letter addressed to me, but then I realized it was MY letter being returned to me. A birthday card I had mailed just a week earlier. It was addressed to Anna, a bed-ridden 90-year... Continue Reading →
We Christians are fond of saying, God really showed up. We love to share our God sightings. My personal sightings include the time I was walking to a podium, my heart pounding thunderously, and suddenly I lay eyes on my college speech professor sitting impossibly right in front of me. I had not seen Dr.... Continue Reading →
The loan officer hands me a pile of documents with yellow post-it arrows indicating where I am to sign. He hands me a pen. Now I don't know if this is a thing - or my own unique phobia. But I actually get nervous signing my name when others are watching. My signature disintegrates to... Continue Reading →
My niece and I have a monthly challenge of memorizing a Bible verse. We started this practice in early March, on the eve of the pandemic and just prior to her son's boarding a plane for his deployment to the mountains of Afghanistan. Her son is now living in a remote tent village where worries... Continue Reading →
"Every day my mother would name out loud 3 things she was grateful for. Toward the end of her life, it became increasingly difficult to identify her 3 ... but in the midst of tubes and pain, she still managed to give thanks to the God she had followed all her days." Grace (pseudonym) shared... Continue Reading →
"Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine. Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food. Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls. Yet I will exult in the Lord. I will... Continue Reading →
Life comes at us in waves. Sometimes the waves bring the loss of a dear friend, finances in jeopardy, or an unwanted diagnosis. People glibly tell you, God will not give you more than you can handle. This is false theology. The Bible says that trials are coming and they are more than we can... Continue Reading →
My mother's closet was as fastidious as she - blazers on one side, slacks on the other, and on the shelf, rows of purses and hats (floppy Florida hats, the pinker, the better.) Most everything carried a designer label. After mom's memorial service, the women of the family had eyes for her closet. I was... Continue Reading →
James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." There it... Continue Reading →
When the sun is shining, when relationships are sailing, when CostCo has restocked its Kirkland pinot noir from Oregon - that's when I am all-in with God - praising, humming, brimming with spiritual contentment. But when life takes a turn, or as someone recently put it, "When life throws garbage cans in your path," my... Continue Reading →
God, I pray with expectation that you will... I used to think prayers like this were presumptuous, even manipulative. He is God after all. But then I got to thinking... Jesus criticized those who doubted God's miraculous power - "Oh ye of little faith" he called them. And when Jesus did perform a miracle, he... Continue Reading →
