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Better to Have Loved & Lost?
Think about a time when you wholeheartedly loved someone and felt adored by them. As you think about that person––spouse, parent, boyfriend or girlfriend, sibling, child––how would you describe that love? What emotions or feelings come to mind? I think of: expectation, joy, excitement, purpose, belonging, peace, contentment, hope. As human beings, we cannot live healthy, abundant, prolonged lives without love. We are created to love. We long for love. We will do crazy things to show our love. But at some point in our lives, we will all lose love. What then? · A husband sits silently, mourning the end of 50 years with his beloved bride. · A…
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How to Have the Best Moments with Your Family During the Holidays
Sometimes the best moments in our lives happen to us out of the blue. We don’t plan them or seek them out. We go in without any expectations and we don’t try to force anything to happen. These special moments just show up—unexpectedly. So how can we have more of these moments with our families during the most stressful time of the year? I love the holidays. I find great joy in gathering around a table with my loved ones, reminiscing about God’s faithfulness throughout the year. I get excited about all the holiday season stuff, especially the food! I don’t like the drama that comes with it all.…
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Memories, A Legacy or Lifeline?
A popular storyline recurring regularly recounts the tragedy of a person who loses their memory due to some tragic event. Then, beset with amnesia, the hero searches for what has been lost and the story unfolds. Remembering and recovering becomes a victory. In a similar way, the devastating illness of Alzheimer’s robs a person of their memories and devastates those who love them. Losing the lifeline of memories becomes a living heartbreak. Memories represent the legacy of a life and become a lifeline . Yet as I was reminded by a young pastor some years ago Jesus knows we are a forgetful people. He instituted a special meal to jog…
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Quiet and Simple Christmas Moments
If you’ve watched “Jingle all the Way” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know it’s about a Dad who waits till the last minute to get a son his most desired Christmas present. But even if you haven’t seen it, you might identify with the urge to drool over the newest gizmos and gadgets. And we don’t stop with gifts. We want the biggest tree, an Elf on the Shelf with creative pranks, memorable Jesus moments, and the award for brightest Christmas lights. I love Christmas and holiday traditions. I really do. But I took a moment to reflect recently on some of my most memorable Christmas moments, and the results were…
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The Blank Pages in Our Bibles
Have you noticed how many blank pages you can find at the back of your Bible? I don’t know why Bible publishers put them there, but I think we can put them to good use as a place to record milestones and aspects of our journey to maturity. Record the results of a “treasure hunt.” Over several years, as I read through the Bible, I drew a box around every name and title of God I found, and then wrote them in the back of my Bible. What a great way to worship Him now, to just read through His names to tell Him how wonderful and magnificent He is!…
