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Release Your Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes
The headline I recently read was this, “Sinkholes leave Florida neighborhood looking like cratered wasteland.” People of a Central Florida neighborhood are stuck in a nightmare after a dozen sinkholes opened, forcing the evacuation of a bunch of homes. Residents said the holes burst open as water started exploding into what looked like a geyser shooting out of a now-empty pond. Central Florida is sinkhole alley with porous limestone resembling Swiss cheese close to the surface. The holes in the limestone existed long before the neighborhood was built. Apparently, no one called in geologists to extensively examine the underlying soil and rock before all those houses were constructed. What strikes me is…
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Love, Life and Joy
Several years ago, I hosted a neighborhood Christmas luncheon. When I got out my decorations, I asked myself, “What message do I want to give to the women as they come into my home?” Decorating is work; I wanted it to be meaningful! Over the years, I had collected a bunch of odds and ends stuff—mostly things given to me by my mom, our kids, or found in the attics of houses we bought. Recalling a book I read years ago called The Gifts of Christmas by Rachel Hartman, I remembered the author had taken the parts of the biblical Christmas story and considered them to be gifts (music, wonder, love…). Then,…
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Christmas: A Joyous Birth Story
What brings you joy at Christmas? Of course, there are the usual answers: presents, fun decorations, and yummy foods. But looking deeper, what brings long lasting joy? While reading through the Christmas story recently, I was struck by how often the word “joy” (and its synonyms) appears. The fingerprints of joy appear everywhere, permeating the whole story. Consider for example: Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth— John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrives, and Elizabeth calls Mary “Blessed Among Women” (Luke 1:39–45). Mary’s Magnificat— Mary sings a song of praise to the Lord, proclaiming “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). The Angelic Proclamation to…
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What is Christmas Without a Christ-child?
The future of our world depends on steady hearts and strong hands from the next generation. The next generation always comes to us first as a child. The children we teach today will be the future leaders of our homes, our churches, our country, and our world. They are valuable even when many times they don’t feel that value. Christmas is a perfect time to emphasize the importance that God has placed on children. “The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation.” — Ray L. Wilbur, third president of Stanford University “Every child you encounter is a divine appointment.” — Wess Stafford, President…
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Savoring the Moment
"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man." Ecclesiastes 3:9-10 As I prepared to teach Ecclesiastes this week, I thought of this post that I wrote in 2010. What a wonderful trip our entire family took this month! Although we saw great sights and enjoyed good food, the highlight was being with those I love most. Perhaps revisiting some places I had seen previously made it easier to live in the moment, or maybe realizing that such…
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Delighting in the Lord
In different seasons of my life my vocabulary has been based on different lexicons. In college words like, “cool” and “oh man” and yes, even “groovy” were a part of my everyday language. As a young mom, I think the word “tired” was well-worn as it was the answer, excuse and explanation for everything I thought, said or felt. During my early career it was the term “busy” that came to my lips regularly. About a year and a half ago I entered a new stage of life and with it came a whole new set of standard phrases. My favorite, of course, is my new…
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“Mommy, put your phone down”
“Mommy, put your phone down.” My 21-month-old looks up at me, his small hand tugging at mine. His words sting a little—because I know he’s right. Far too often I’m working on my computer or looking at my phone. I’m flipping laundry or washing dishes. I ignore his gentle tug and peering eyes, pressing myself to get more done. I call it necessary multitasking. He calls what it is—distracted, busy, and disengaged. What if I—what if we—stopped for just a minute to see the good things staring at us? What if we put away our phones and paused in our to-dos to listen, laugh, and be led by little hands?…
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Keeping A Gratitude Journal
Some years ago Dr. Billy Graham was a guest on Oprah. I will never forget his answer to her question, “What are you most thankful for?” He said, “Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ . . . and the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful.” I loved that he took advantage of the platform to share the core of the gospel message, but also that he honored Oprah for making a difference in the culture by stressing gratitude the way she has. Millions of people have discovered the power of keeping a gratitude journal because of Oprah’s testimony of…
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A Mother’s Treasure
Recently Lynna and I flew home from Singapore, and, of course, we had to pass through security. We have gone through security in the toughest airports in the world: DFW, Kennedy, Heathrow, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, Paris, Budapest, Hong Kong, just about every airport that is on some high level of alert due to terrorists. Since we’ve done them all and had every innocuous thing taken from us that could possibly be labeled high risk, we had no concerns as we approached Singapore security. We should have been concerned. I sailed through in no time flat and then discovered Lynna pulled aside as an agent tore through everything she had,…
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The Birth of Christmas: While Sheperds Watch Their Flocks By Night
One of the things I love most about Christmas is the cards we receive from many friends around the world who tell us what’s happened in their lives in the past year. When I was a boy my mom used to hang all our cards on the door frame between our living room and our dining room and I can still see the progression of those cards on that door frame until it was totally covered. Lynna and I keep a large basket full of cards in our entryway, a constant reminder of those we love and miss. One of the greatest themes on those greetings is that of…
