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Today is the day to remember His sacrifice borne for me, His blood shed for me, His body broken for me.   Today is the day to remember His love poured out for me, His hands pierced for me, His head bruised for me.   Today is the day to remember and give thanks.   “I will declare thy name unto the brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee” (Psalm 22:22, KJV).

“And Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him.” [i] because the crowd chose another? because the religious leaders were jealous? because the people were afraid? because no one understood who He was? because His disciples were confused? because Pilate had the authority? No. because I needed healing because I had sinned because I had gone astray because He loved me because of me . He was scourged for me.     “ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and ac

During this week of the cross, I think about the people who surrounded Jesus during His last days and last moments. I always spend time reading the chapters in the gospels that describe His last days on this Earth as the Son of Man, and I think about His interactions with these people. As we move toward Resurrection Sunday, the cross is always on my mind. I remember that before He rose, He suffered. Before He ascended to His Father, He was persecuted. Before He celebrated the

We keep a compost pile where we dump our food scraps each day. We mix in leaves from the yard and a little dirt, stir it around periodically, ensure that it stays damp, usually from the rain, and wait for nature to run its course. The result is rich soil that we can use in flower pots and flower beds. Along the way, opossums and raccoons get some nighttime snacks, a few potatoes grow from the scraps, and other interesting things happen. Overall, the compost pile is a great ad

My husband and I went out on the Gulf of Mexico several months ago in search of grouper and red snapper.  After snagging more than enough fish for the likes of us, we headed in to dock the boat. As he slowly floated us toward the dock where he would refuel, he instructed me to catch the lines to secure the boat to the dock.    I gingerly stepped on the side of the boat and thought, “This is okay. I can do this.” The boat continued to move forward/sideways into the tight spot,

How do you live if you are not afraid of dying?   In Hebrews 10:38, the author quotes a line from Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith.” We have heard that verse before, probably quoted many times. We flick it off our tongue from memory, but do we really think about what it means?   Beginning in that verse, we see an interesting sequence in the book of Hebrews. First, the statement. Then, in chapter eleven we see example after example of people who lived by faith , not

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14, KJV). When a chapter begins with a death, you get an inkling that you may get additional bad news in that story.   The twentieth chapter of Numbers begins with the death of Miriam, Moses’ and Aaron’s sister, and it goes downhill from there.   The children of Israel are well into the wilderness of Zin at this point. The

Dust, destruction, noise, debris all describe the environment that surrounds renovation. Our family should know. My husband is busily renovating a large portion of our daughter’s home. What a mess. But it is a mess working toward something beautiful, something better than before.   So, she is willing to wade through the rubble, deal with the dust and the inconvenience, wear ear plugs when the noise is too much, keep the children busy, and generally stay the course while she a

Not long ago, when we were trying to avoid all the gunk going around, we ordered some tonic that was supposed to help build our immune system. It is full of good stuff that supports health and well-being, and even though it didn’t taste the best, we took it each day. I think it helped. I’m sure it didn’t hurt.   Some days, I feel like my spiritual system needs some immunity from the rhetoric that is shouted from the media that surrounds me. Some days, I need to fill up on wha

Today is the day that Wrapped in Grace launches. I am pretty overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by God's goodness. Overwhelmed by His grace. Overwhelmed by His faithfulness. Overwhelmed by the fact that He has brought me on this journey. This song that I wrote several years ago has been circling through my head, so I thought it appropriate to share it on this special day. I pray that you are overwhelmed with me by Jesus. Overwhelmed by His majesty, humbled by His grace I stand in awe

My soul is wrapped up in You, Lord.

In the rushing of this world around us, turning every day; running when we should be walking, trying to find our way. Only one road leads to happiness. Only one road leads to peace. We find that road before us when our senseless strivings cease.   We must wait on the Lord - resting in His promises, listening to His Word. We must wait on the Lord. He will strengthen our weak hearts. He has promised to do His part, when we wait, wait upon the Lord.   We live our lives our lives

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer, Precious treasure of my longing heart. You are the One who paid my ransom. From Your side I never wish to part.   What joy I find within Your presence. What peace You give my troubled mind. Your comfort settles me and keeps me. You are good, and You are so kind.   Your judgments, holy, true, and righteous. Your statutes stand complete and sure. Your word endures forever perfect. All You are enlightens, ever pure.   I know that You will sav

If ever there was a time that we need Your joy, it is now – as the darkness presses down, and the enemy’s arrows fly. When evil raises its destructive head against Your people, let us remember the joy of the Lord is our strength. We will rejoice in Your mercy and sing of Your grace. We will dance in the power of Your goodness and SHOUT of Your holiness. For You alone are mighty to save. You alone are worthy of being exalted. No enemy can defeat You, and we shall NOT be moved.

This world comes at us fast and furious.   New technology. New gadgets. New expectations. New laws. New taxes. New ways of doing things. Updates to phones. Updates to banking. We just get used to a system, and the system changes. At work and at home we live in a constant state of upheaval. There seems to be no place of rest.   I hate to plug in my phone at night, because I'm afraid it will look different when I wake up.   Some days I feel the frustration building in my soul,

St. Simon's Island, Georgia Tonight, a tiny sliver, almost missed behind the trees, appeared.  I’m always surprised by the sight, amazed at its delicacy. My favorite phases of the moon that appear just before or just after the new moon are the waning and waxing crescents. Those are the scientific names. In our home, though, we call them the ‘fingernail moon’, thus dubbed when our daughter was four years old and noticed the crescent for the first time. We agreed that the name

Harry S. Truman State Park, Missouri My dad was a happy man, but he took his life and his responsibilities seriously. He worked hard, and he taught us to be accountable in life.   Outings often found us in the woods or in areas around lakes and water. In Florida, that means weeds and snakes and alligators. Early in life, we were taught to look where we stepped and not to run carelessly through high weeds or to jump over rotting logs, a favorite resting place of snakes. Instea

Everywhere Jesus went He touched people.   As I read through the ninth chapter of Matthew, I kept a list of his encounters.   He got off the ship and was immediately met with a people bringing him a paralyzed man. He forgave the man and then healed the man.   He left and passed Matthew collecting taxes and called him to follow.   Along the way He debated with the Pharisees who seemed to swarm around Him like mosquitoes. They didn’t stop Him, but they were always there biting

The second chapter of Mark relates a story that has always challenged me.