“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 →
“The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me—a prayer to the God of my life.” Psalm 42:8 As I write this, the late-summer sun drizzles its last rays down a glassy goblet of sky behind darkened trees. Up swells the concerto of nocturnal creatures beyond my screen door—birdsong, froggy ribbits, and canine... Continue Reading →
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23 Among the casualties of the coronavirus pandemic is the shuttering of churches. The decision to close has good cause. The gathering of people in close proximity from all parts of... Continue Reading →
“And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:4 I’ve been a writer and teacher for decades, so you’d imagine it would be easy for me to author a book. Ha! Not so. For years, God kept after me to write A Crocus in the Desert: an instructional, encouraging prayer... Continue Reading →
“And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:12 Magnolia. The very word drips off the tongue like sorghum molasses on hot cornbread. It reeks of characters in Tennessee Williams plays, and it dredges... Continue Reading →
"...walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." 1 Thessalonians 2:12 Want to go on a “day hike”? Look around your area for a new park or forest to explore. You shouldn’t have to go too far to find some whisper-quiet woods, a grassy plain, or a riverside walkway. With the... Continue Reading →
