Trial
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Do You Need Courage?
Who knew, when Jennifer Rothschild began writing her Bible study Take Courage, on the Old Testament book of Haggai, how desperately we would need the messages of encouragement for tough times that Haggai preached! No one knew we’d be in the middle of a global pandemic, or that we would have such turmoil in our nation! But God certainly did. Perhaps you have faced difficulty, opposition and discouragement that causes you to question your purpose, especially as you reflect the 12 months we have just lived through. Maybe situations have not turned out like you thought they would, or how you wanted them to. Maybe you are desperately needing encouragement…
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Hold Loosely
Hold what loosely? I’ll get to that! God has taught me SO much over the last year. Retirement 4 years ago gave me more time with the Lord each morning than I’ve ever had before…and I have LOVED it! Retirement also has taught me how to live with my husband of 50 years full time…and it’s not all been pretty since it’s the first time we’ve ever lived together 24/7! You can read about that here in this post, Retired Together…3 Issues and 7 Tips. During pandemic, it’s as though retirement has gone to whole other level. Although we have made so much progress in learning to live together well,…
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Over the Nations
As I write this, we have come through one of the most frustrating and tumultuous weeks in our nation. How easy it would be to feel helpless and hopeless. How in the world did we get here? I cannot answer that question, but I can say this, God knows, He allowed it, and He will use it. I am reading and journaling through Psalms right now. One morning recently, I came to Psalm 67…right in the middle of the that difficult week. Here is that Psalm… May God be gracious to us and bless us;may he make his face shine upon us Selahso that your way may be known on…
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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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