Spiritual Growth
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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…
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Why Not Today?
Ever heard God say that to you? Why does this question matter? It mattered to Paul as he wrote from prison in 2 Timothy 4:21, “Make every effort to come before winter…” He said it as well this in v. 9, “Make every effort to come to me soon...” During winter, travel in the Mediterranean usually ceased due to harsh weather. He desperately wanted to see Timothy before it would have been impossible for him to travel. And the end of Paul’s life was was coming fast. TODAY mattered to Paul. It mattered to the man Jesus healed in John 5:1-8 after 38 years of being disabled. Jesus asked Him…
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More Lessons From Hurricane Sally
I’m till processing and learning from our experience of riding out Hurricane Sally. This is the third, and probably (although I’m not promising) the last post on this. I’d encourage you to read the first two posts (Part 1: Peace Over the Storms, here and Part 2: My Cornerstone here) before you start this third post. Sometimes it takes a while to process an experience and see God’s hand in it all. I believe with all my heart God is sovereign and not one thing happens without His permission as well as His purpose. So I’m warning you, this is not a short post since I process God’s lessons partially…
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MY Cornerstone!
Photo by Joel Filipe on Unsplash As I write this series following Hurricane Sally, I’d love to encourage you to read the first post, Peace Over the Storms, here before you start this second post. When a building is constructed, it has what is called a cornerstone to make it secure and give direction to the building. It unites two masonry walls and is the starting place for construction. It’s absolutely essential, or indispensable, to the building. Personally, I am so grateful for the cornerstone in the 18 floor (we were on 16) condominium we were in while on vacation in Perdido Key when Hurricane Sally chose make landfall in…
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Peace Over the Storms
Normally, by now, during our extended time at the beach each fall, I’ve had a number of “beach lessons”. Until today (September 14, the day I began this post), this year I’d not had what I consider a beach lesson, although I’ve had lots of balcony Jesus time. This morning, this was the scene I watched as tropical storm Sally was about to become hurricane Sally. This is the third coastal hurricane we’ve experienced, but it’s not something we ever look forward to by any means! Waves were crashing and, yet, I felt safe sitting on the 16th floor balcony of our condo looking down at the churning water. All…
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6 Month Check Up
In January, I shared what I felt God had laid on my heart for the new year in Focus 2020 , but during the pandemic, the Lord has expanded my focus and built on what He had already been teaching me. These themes were added to my focus this year…prayer, preparing for the return of Jesus, and bolder witness in the mean time. My D-Group finished studying the book of Revelation during the quarantine. Our isolation, along with the culture of our nation in general, made me want to say, Come on back, Lord! But what He said to me was, “not yet, more need to know me.” And as…
