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What’s Ahead?
Ok, we’ve turned the calendar to 2021. So what? What now? Will life “go back to normal after pandemic?” We do not know what is ahead, but we can choose to answer “so what” by how we enter this new year, even if it doesn’t yet include ditching masks for ever! Even if we still do not have a job, or family gatherings, or great health, or…… For a number of years I have sensed God giving me a theme, verse, or word to focus on for the year. Sometimes it’s just because of where I am in my life, although this past year my focus came from a topic…
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Blessed New Year!
I am sure most of us are praying for a different year in 2021 than we had in 2020. But what a perfect time to think about the things God has done THIS year! Yes, among COVID, hostility, politics, loss, cancelled trips and church services, and many other disappointments, there is SO much we can be thankful for. Even with the Christmas day bombing in downtown Nashville (and 3 days without cell or internet service at our home!). Praise that only the bomber was killed and only minor injuries for a couple of police. Shout out for our Nashville police for protecting so many from harm that day, especially as…
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He Is The Light!
Are you facing darkness right now? Are you struggling to see the light you long for? Even the short winter days can become discouraging, not to mention the year 2020 filled with so much turmoil! Interestingly, the shortest (darkest) day of the year is just a few days before we celebrate Jesus birth! I started O Come O Come Emmanuel, an advent study, right after Thanksgiving. This week the focus was the light Jesus brought to the world. Can you even imagine how dark the world was as God stayed silent for 400 years! Complete darkness! Because of sin. Since the garden, people sinned and couldn’t figure out a way…
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For the Christmas Season
This week I am sharing some helpful blog posts for this time of year. Christmas 2020 may look different for most of us this year. Many are dealing with a variety of situations and concerns. May these posts encourage you as well as provide practical help for making this Christmas all about Christ! If you have some tough relationships that sometimes overwhelm you, Perhaps you or those around you are struggling with grief this year…for any kinds of reason or loss. Check out this post from Josh and Christi Straub Finding Hope Through Grief | An Advent Family Experience from LifeWay Voices. One last one for this week that I…
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Christmas Urban Legends And Other Fun Stuff!
Let’s have a little fun about some things we may believe Scripture says about the birth of Christ. Perhaps you already knew all these, but if not, it helps us discern between things that are in the Bible and things we assume are there! It’s a challenge to us all to study the Bible personally to challenge other worldly “legends” and un truths! These posts are brought to you by Facts and Trends! CHRISTMAS URBAN LEGENDS: NO ROOM AT THE INN CHRISTMAS URBAN LEGENDS: SHEPHERDS AS OUTCASTS CHRISTMAS URBAN LEGEND: THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE And … 10 HILARIOUS CHURCH CHRISTMAS FAILS YOU HAVE TO SEE And one last one……
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SO Much to be Thankful For
2020 has brought many surprises and unexpected lifestyle transitions. At first it was not too bad. For most, extra time at home became a treasure to those whose lives were hectic. After a while though, virtual school and zoom meetings became a bit tiring. Not being able to eat out whenever you wanted and having to wear masks everywhere became tiresome. Watching church on line was a blessing for sure. Staying in bed longer and worshiping in pjs wasn’t too bad…at first. But after weeks of this, I LONGED to be back in corporate worship. And zoom life group was a life-saver to our women’s life group, but we SO…
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Sneaky Snakes
I don’t like snakes. Not any kind. Doesn’t matter if they are poisonous or not. To me a snake is a snake! And I certainly DO NOT want one in my house. When our girls were just babies and my husband Pat was a Texas state trooper, I was home one night, with him on the interstate 20 miles away (and NO cell phones). The girls were in bed. When I walked into the den, I saw a small worm-like varmint crawl under a chair. My next thought was, “Worms crawl differently than what I saw. That was a snake!” Hysterical (and in my nightie), I climbed on my desk…
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He’s In Our Boat!
The banner photo above looks lovely, inviting, serene, peaceful. I would love to be in that boat pictured here. But what about the boats that are in the middle of a storm, waves crashing over the sides? I would volunteer to jump in to the boat for that ride! I recently started the Angie Smith Bible study, Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus. One of the miracles of Jesus that I studied was one I’m very familiar with. But reading it during the 2020 season we are experiencing, just days after this crazy election, it was a reminder of what I really do know…but needed to consider once more.…
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Who Are You Becoming?
I recently read Ellen Vaughn’s biography Becoming Elisabeth Elliot. Having had the privilege to meet Elisabeth (who was known as Betty in her younger years) when she spoke at a women’s event, in the late 1980’s, at my former church in Texas, I was interested in how she became the wise woman of faith she was. Perhaps you know her story of mission work in Ecuador. Her husband and 4 other missionary men were speared to death by an unreached tribe of warriors to whom they were trying to share Christ. Elisabeth was a young woman with a baby when this occurred. When I met her upon her arrival at…
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I KNOW I KNOW!
I read Psalm 16 today, a beautiful testimony of David about his God, his Refuge. It took me back once again, to my Hurricane Sally experience. If you’ve read my previous posts (Part 1: Peace Over the Storms, here, Part 2: My Cornerstone here, and Part 3: More Lessons from Hurricane Sally here), you know I said, I THOUGHT the last one was the final in that series. Well, I guess it wasn’t! Processing this experience just takes time. In Psalm 16 (feel free to stop and read it, it’s short), David claims God as his Lord as he prayed for protection. He mentions relying on God’s counsel at night…
