Apr 22
When this novel coronavirus invaded our globe, it was such a stark reminder of my long-ago cancer diagnosis that I actually said to myself: Now everyone will see how it feels to have your world fall apart right before your eyes. For the past thirty years, my life has been divided into B.C. (Before Cancer) …
Mar 25
Don’t wait. Not a minute. Not a second. Instead, praise God now. If you and I wait to praise God until after something earthshaking and amazing happens, we’ve got the wrong order. Praise comes first. Doubt that? Consider the classic praise story in the Bible–this scenario (in Acts 16) where Paul and Silas, bound in chains in …
Feb 19
What are your fighting against these days? Cancer? Addiction? Depression? Discouragement? Or what are you fighting for? Your marriage? A wayward loved one? Improved finances? Restored health? Well, as the Brits like to say: Seriously. Keeping calm in the face of impending disaster actually is a recurring message throughout the Bible. As the Israelites …
Jan 23
Fear is your enemy’s weapon. He uses it skillfully and often to great effect. Fear and its offshoots–worry and anxiety–are like a wildfire, encroaching on every area of your life and leaving destruction in their wake. Fear eats its way into your emotions, robbing you of the peace and rest God intends for you. Fear …
Jan 08
Here’s what I know about the New Year …. If your heart is beating, you have a purpose. It doesn’t matter if it’s a broken heart, grieving heart, sad heart, lonely heart, full heart…any kind of heart. If it’s beating, God has a plan for you and a purpose for each and every beat. Friend, …
Nov 13
Illness helps you sort out who your real friends are. Often people you never realized cared for you step up and provide incredible support. And then there are those on whom you counted but they fail to come through for you. My friend Kristie expected to get some words of healing and blessing when she …
Sep 11
I distinctly remember the last time my family and I went tent camping…and why we never did again after that experience. It was the summer of 1983 and my pastor-husband convinced me that it would be fun for our daughters and me to join him on the youth group camping trip. So I packed up …
May 22
I’m pretty sure the only thing “small” about Mother Teresa’s life was her stature. Nearly 50 years of sacrificially serving the “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for” hardly seems to qualify as doing “small things.” But there’s certainly no doubt that this diminutive nun, honored in 1979 with the Nobel Peace Prize, was …
May 08
Have you ever prayed a desperate prayer? You know, the kind where you cry out to God because there is absolutely nothing you can do to “fix” the situation? I’ve prayed plenty of those. I remember a time I was trying to get to the grocery store for some needed supplies before a snowstorm hit. …
Apr 10
My grandchildren never seem to tire of playing hide ‘n’ seek. They love scurrying around to find a “a really good place” while admonishing my husband and me to “keep your eyes closed!” Eventually 4-year-old Abby yells out “Ready!” which makes it pretty easy to follow the sound of her voice to her not-so-hidden special …
