2026 with gold confetti We’ve survived another year.  We’ve turned the calendar to 2026 and will try to remember to write it when completing our dates.  For me, the end of a year begs reflection.  Indulge me a few paragraphs to record what I’ve done, what I’ve learned, and what I am committing to with God’s help.  Maybe it will encourage you to take a similar look.    It was Socrates who said, “An unexamined life isn’t worth living.” The Bible makes it an invitation:   O Lord

I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. Ezekiel 37:5   God created life with His breath. He breathed His clean, pure, empowering breath and shaped lifeless clay into a breathing, thinking human being. It was this same breath that pumped tiny lungs and opened Jesus' nostrils to utter his first cry into this world. Our Creator God reversed the earth-to-heaven journey we will make after death and sent Jesus from Heaven to  earth all in a breath.  It was one power

Magi from the east came . . . to worship him. Matthew 2:1,2 The longest journey we ever made at Christmas on land was from Bryan, Texas, to Warm Springs, Georgia, where my husband's parents lived. It was 840 miles, which made it a two-day trip for our small family. But it was worth every mile to see family we didn't see as often as we wanted to. The Magi get the prize for taking the longest journey at the first Christmas. While no one knows exactly where the Magi originated

Yet I hold this against you, You have forsaken the love you had at first. Revelation 2:4 I know . . . that you are neither cold nor hot. Revelation 3:15 Christmas isn't a time for neutrality. No one looks forward to a low-key, gray-toned Christmas. We want color and excitement, music and laughter. We are anything but neutral about Christmas. Besides, neutral ity doesn't ask much. Neutrality means neither for nor against. It is a ho-hum response. If you're neutral, you're

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.  Luke 3:4 We have begun the Christmas season.  Are you already behind with everything you wanted to accomplish? Today, we need another message.  It is the voice of wilderness John confronting the emptiness that our push and rush produce.  He cries today using Isaiah’s words, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.”  This isn’t a call to decorate, overspend, or overwork.  This is a desperate plea to

picture by Howie R Thank you!  These two tiny words, with only five consonants and three vowels, are superpowers in our relationships.  They let another person know that you see them and value their contribution.  We don’t need a relationship with another person to say, “Thank you.”  The words themselves do not require intimate knowledge about someone. They only require initiative on our part.  When we receive some service or kindness, whether it is from someone we know or do

She came uninvited to the church leaders’ private dinner with Jesus.

Nothing makes us feel more helpless than when one of our family members suffers.  That's what the woman in today's story is facing..  Her daughter is suffering. (Matthew 15:22.)  Both Matthew and Mark tell this story, and both identify the daughter’s problem as demon possession.  While it could have been literally true, often people of this time used this label to explain what we call seizures.  For me, it doesn’t matter what the diagnosis was; I get everything I need to know

Where has she come from as she enters the Temple?  Home duties?  Family responsibilities?  She is a widow, a woman alone, unsupported.  We don’t know if there is a son looking after her, or perhaps she lives with her daughter’s family, as Peter’s mother-in-law did.  She walks to the Court of the Gentiles, the only place where women were allowed.  Does she even notice Jesus’ teaching?  Perhaps not.  She has one mission—to bring her offering.  She is used to the rich people who

Jesus was in Capernaum, where Peter and Andrew lived.  It was the Sabbath, and Jesus went with the brothers to their synagogue in...

She slips into the crowd unseen and pulls at her head covering so that her face is not easily recognized.  She wants to be one of the...

I’ve just finished an intense last week push to finish my manuscript on Sarah.  To say it depleted me is an understatement.  I was...

When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, he knew he was dinner.  He was no match for one lion, let alone multiple ones.  But what do...

Jonah, we know the story, but have you ever thought about it from the perspective of the big fish?

Counterfeits are not our friends. Whether they involve money or people, they trick us into feeling comfortable when we shouldn’t. So when...

Did you know that donkeys . . . are stronger than horses even though smaller?  have big ears so they can hear other donkeys miles away?...

My grandmother had some chickens and one rooster.  When he saw me, those beady eyes delivered an I-know-you recognition that was...

We make a big deal about Christmas and the coming of Christ with lights and gifts. And we should!  We celebrate Easter with...

Blustery, outspoken, can’t-sit-still Peter was doing what he liked least—waiting.  He wasn’t alone in the room.  Other disciples were...