-
Time Management and Wise Living
As you head into 2020, how’s your schedule? Are you looking for things to do? Are your days full? Or are you feeling buried by the demands of home, work, and church commitments? Commitments in my life sometimes tumble on top of each. In fact, when an event occasionally gets cancelled by weather or sickness, I’m sometimes secretly thrilled at the empty space in my schedule. Once, when a planned lunch outing was cancelled, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even without the lunch, activity filled the day as I prepared for a dinner. I shopped, chopped mountains of vegetables, put casseroles in the oven and scrubbed dishes. As guests…
-
Refugee Story
My husband breathed heavily as he lifted me and our toddler onto the donkey. My husband’s brown skin, already white with dust, now reflected the moonlight. Our boy started to stir, and I glanced both ways, hoping the boy wouldn’t cry out and waken our curious neighbors. No one could know where we headed, which way we went. I didn’t understand the reasons for our furtive journey, but my husband said that our once safe situation had suddenly become dangerous. There was nothing to be done but flee over the border. Once we reached the more uninhabited areas of desert, I felt a sense of relief. My husband looked back…
-
Thanksgiving: Not Only for Giving Thanks
Canadians recently celebrated Thanksgiving, while Americans will be celebrating it later this month. Does your country have a specific day for giving thanks? While many Americans associate Thanksgiving with Pilgrims and Native Americans, it was Abraham Lincoln who made Thanksgiving a national holiday in the midst of the Civil War. In his October 3, 1863 proclamation, Lincoln spoke to a fractured nation and proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving. Not only that, he asked for prayers for “the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and…
-
Unfinished Tasks
Today my guest blogger is Eva Burkholder. She writes about the weight of unfinished tasks. Eva (MACE, Columbia International University) is a missionary kid, wife, mother of two sons and a daughter-in-law, former cross-cultural worker, and missionary member care provider. Eva and her husband of thirty-one years live in Richardson, Texas. She blogs regularly at www.evaburkholder.com. Look for Eva's devotional on the life of Mary, available later this year. I like to cross things off my to-do list. I use tear-off notepads and make lists and lists of what needs to get done today and in the coming days. My lists include unwanted tasks as well as life-giving ones. Then I…
-
World on Fire: When a Gunman Attacked in My Hometown
Some days the world feels aflame. Saturday, August 3rd, 2019, the news gripped me. People fled out of a mall where I worked during college summers. Police surrounded the area less than one mile from my childhood home where I played hide and seek and marbles. Blood puddled at a store built where I used to trudge through the desert catching lizards and finding rocks. And the gunman—he hailed from the area where I now live. So, this terror feels more personal. And when I hear his actions flowed from racism and anti-immigrant anger, I shake my head at the lies and brokenness behind this horror. I can’t escape the…
-
Immigration in 2019: An Unprecedented Opportunity for Believers
God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us—Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. Psalm 67:1-2 (NASB) Today famine, war, gang violence, sectarianism, and political power wrench people from their homes. They flee to save their lives or to escape imprisonment or abuse. Hoards of people flood across borders and live among those they once feared or even fought. The U.N. Refugee Agency has documented 68.5 million people displaced worldwide. Embers of hope glow among the coals of tragedy, though. The love of Christ compels Jordanian churches to reach out in love to those who once threatened them.…
-
The Talk: A Financial Road Map after Loss
So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely. –Psalm 90:12 (NET) When my father-in-law was about to pass away nearly eighteen years ago, he tried anxiously to explain his finances and how to access the files that would help my husband help his mother, but cancer had this special man and veteran in such a grip, that he couldn’t communicate well. Untangling the finances and getting things set up for his mother fell to my husband. As the one with more of a financial bent in our family, my husband found this experience and others have prompted him to prepare for and have The Talk…
-
Investing in Ramadan: Praying for the Muslim World
This past Monday, Muslims began their month of fasting during the daylight hours. The month of Ramadan falls from May 6 to June 4 this year, followed by a celebration, Eid al-Fitr on June 5, when friends and family will gather and celebrate the end of Ramadan. Ramadan, an ideal time to pray for Muslims around the world, also gives you an opportunity to tell Muslims you are praying for them. Many will be surprised and pleased that you know about their practices. These resources equip you to have an impact on Muslims through prayer and help you grow in your knowledge of them: Educate yourself about Islam and Muslims…
-
The Pursuit of Success, Part 2
Concerned for one of her elementary students, a young school teacher bought a coat for her refugee pupil. Her concern in action eventually became a ministry with her husband and a large staff that helps thousands of refugees yearly. Another woman continues to care for her disabled son as she has for more than 3 decades. Yet another friend is a refugee from an African nation who mops hospital floors to help support her family, while she continues to study in hopes of a better job. Another believer raises her children to serve God and others. Which of these women demonstrates a successful life? I believe all of them do.…
-
The Pursuit of Success
I’m delighted to see women using their gifts by serving in more prominent positions in public life. The UK, Denmark, Thailand, Trinidad, Iceland and Bangladesh all have female prime ministers. The 116th U.S. Congress includes a record number of women. Women serve in more diverse ways within the Christian community as well. As opportunities for women broaden, a batch of books geared toward helping women live up to their potential currently fills the shelves of book stores. Three of the five non-fiction hardbacks on the New York Times best seller list are written by women. Girl, Stop Apologizing, by Rachel Hollis, a pep talk for women’s success, is number three…
