“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 Last Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., we hadn’t heard of COVID. It’s been a long, wearying year since then. For some families, it’s been devastating. Loss of loved ones. Loss of finances, freedom, friendships. Our hospital is close to maxing out on COVID patient... Continue Reading →
“He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” Psalm 147:4 My grandfather used to say that skies are bluer in October and November than at any other time of year. There’s less humidity and fewer floating particles to separate us from the vastness of space. The same holds true for nighttime views.... Continue Reading →
“I will sing a new song to You, O God…that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style.” Psalm 144: 9a,12 Peculiar things are happening at our house. Footsteps creak along the upstairs floorboards at all hours of the night. Food is disappearing from the refrigerator and... Continue Reading →
“And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” Daniel 2:21 On my husband’s desk is a charming antique clock from the early 1800s—a “beehive” pendulum clock that hasn’t run properly for decades, especially since we don’t... Continue Reading →
"Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17 In our Middle Earth landscape in East Tennessee, summer greens have given way to autumn gold. Maples have turned bright red and orange, gingkoes and tulip poplars are... Continue Reading →
“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.” Proverbs 19:20 If you’re on this great journey called parenting, you know the milestones along the way. If all goes according to your plans, you and your kids survive together through first steps, potty-training, first day of school, teenhood, driving, going off to college... Continue Reading →
“Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:47 It’s fall, y’all! The trees are finally turning beautiful colors in our neck of the woods, which prompted a trek last week at Bays Mountain Park with two of... Continue Reading →
“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17 I am so blessed to have “ordinary” friends. There’s not a billionaire among them. No royalty either. No rock singers, sports celebrities, or movie stars. No monuments anywhere dedicated to them. They’re simply people who have befriended me over the years in our... Continue Reading →
“Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’” 2 Chronicles 20:15a Civil discourse in the United States is all but dead. There are occasional whispers of calm, measured rhetoric, but it’s quickly drowned out by megaphone ranting. With stress from the bad news and... Continue Reading →
“[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a Over the weekend, the Holy Spirit nudged me. Three times. About love. My husband and I attended an outdoor funeral—an unexpected, tragic death of a young woman. The pastor spoke of how her life was marked by genuine... Continue Reading →
