“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11 Recently, I was listening to WCQR-FM (one of our local Christian music... Continue Reading →

“I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:17) I’m very thankful for the Pilgrims who came to America in 1620...I married one of their descendants. My beloved, Mark, is a 12th-generation descendant of Samuel Fuller, who was only 12 years old when he sailed the... Continue Reading →

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Romans 8:15) In 1999, my beloved husband and I journeyed halfway around the world to Siberia—to adopt a little boy named Alexei. Our lives changed forever. It’s a “God... Continue Reading →

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) Burned, bombed, belittled, beheaded. These are just a few of the awful consequences of claiming the name of Jesus Christ in countries where oppressive regimes or cultures reign. Yesterday, the first Sunday of November, was International Day of Prayer for... 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) Our mountains are exploding.  Those of us who live in the Appalachians (by the way, here in the South, that’s APP-uh-LATCH-uns) have been treated to spectacular leaf-peeping... Continue Reading →

 “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:38 I didn’t expect them to live. They were spindly, fragile seedlings—like green angel-hair spaghetti, less than an inch tall.  Our daughter, Elizabeth, brought them to us in little trays after carefully starting them in Indiana, launching the Lenten season of preparation for Easter... Continue Reading →

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ ” (Mark 1:17) Do you enjoy fishing? I’ve discovered people either love to fish or could care less about it. I’m on the former side, my husband on the latter.  However, my beloved Mark surprised me this summer with a... Continue Reading →

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) How do you describe being bone-tired? So fatigued you can hardly stand, much less put one foot in front of the other?  The British have a good word... Continue Reading →

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him....” (Colossians 2:6)          I looked at the treads on my sneakers yesterday…worn down to the next layer. They’re not that old, but after walking about four miles a day in them, my shoes are shot.          As Indiana Jones so famously quipped in Raiders of the Lost Ark, “It’s... Continue Reading →

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7) You’ve heard about pandemics of the past—bubonic plague, polio, smallpox, Spanish flu, and of course, now COVID. But did you know about another kind of plague, the one that killed more than four billion?  I’m referring to... Continue Reading →