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UNEXPECTED
A week ago Friday our good friends were in a terrible accident – totally unexpected. Their wrecked car is pictured here. Driving home from another town anticipating to get home, unload their car and make plans for the evening they unexpectedly found themselves shockingly being pulled from their vehicle and taken by ambulance to our county hospital. Miraculously, according to the police officer on the scene and subsequent tests in the ER, they escaped death with no broken bones or punctured organs. In spite of the body trauma, abrasions, bruises plus ongoing pain they are alive and improving each day. They are praising God for His supernatural protection and grateful…
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Teaching Children to Live Love
Obedience is one of the universal things that both parents and teachers seek to produce in children. As Christians obedience done with a wrong motive may look like obedience to us but it falls short. When it comes to obeying God, the heart attitude is as important as the action. A simple observation of their actions will not be enough to prove Biblical obedience. Sometimes a child gets it right by accident. They didn’t intentionally decide to obey but circumstances were such that without thinking about it they chose the right action. There are children who obey for fear of the punishment and with resentment in their heart. Other children…
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Is our God Vain?
If a man or woman were to continually demand our praise, we would most likely attribute this desire to hubris. So, why does our God repeatedly direct us to praise Him? (e.g., Psalms 150). That is the right question!
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Give Thanks for a Little
"Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot." — West African Proverb I tore those simple words out of a health and wellness magazine a year or two ago and hung them on the fridge. After a while they started to blend in, feeling ordinary just like the other papers and cards and magnets cluttered around them. I'd glance at them occasionally, but their poignancy seldom stuck with me. The page hung that way for weeks, and even months, until I started reading Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts Devotional. The book’s challenge to count my blessings and daily write them down—until I reach one thousand of them in…
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Unhurried
The house sits quiet and still. The presents lay in the corner, waiting to be set in their places and hung on their hangers. The tree stands dim, hoping to be lit a few more times before it’s placed back into its box. There’s something about the pregnant pause between opening Christmas presents and ringing in the New Year that beckons us to slow down. There are no more gifts to purchase. There are no more hams to glaze or pies to bake. There’s no rush to pull down the tinsel or rearrange the house. This last week of December calls us to reflect on the way we lived in…
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Thanksgiving a time to reflect…
Thanksgiving a time to reflect…. Thanksgiving is upon us…and on this day many cooks, men and women, will rise early in the morning to put the turkey in the oven, make the pumpkin pie, and set the table with beautiful china and crystal in preparation for a celebration. Once the meal is ready, families will sit down at the table together and enjoy food, fellowship, and give thanks to God for all of His provision and the blessings He has provided throughout the year.