Thoughts

Most days I am fortunate enough to see my grandchildren head out the door to their daily activities. They pack, with mom’s help, their supplies, their lunches, their special items, an extra jacket or whatever into backpacks and lug them to the door. It gets interesting when they start to get into the car with […]

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Have you felt knocked around lately? When I was a child, I loved those inflatable punching toys. Each one was decorated with a clown face and stood about 2 ½ feet high. The bottom was weighted. I could punch it, and it would rock, but it always bounced right back to the upright starting position. […]

Thanksgiving evening, and it has been a beautiful day. My heart is full. The past two years have been challenging. It seems a little impossible that two years ago I had never heard of COVID. During these two years, I have rejoiced at births and sorrowed at deaths. I have moved into places and […]

Last week I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very blessed day (apologies to Judith Viorst and Alexander). I realize that those terms are contradictory, but they accurately describe the occurrences. After work, I went home. I needed a nap; my head hurt, but I planned to go to a prayer meeting that night – […]

I know what it is like to be in one location while my heart resides in another, to live torn between two places. My husband travels for work, often requiring us to set up housekeeping away from our established home. He lives there, and I move between the two. So, I find myself busy with […]

Memories. What an amazing ability God has planted in our brains to recall the past! Sometimes we see this as a blessing and sometimes as a curse. God can use my memory, though. He brings scriptures to mind at just the right time when I am faced with a problem or a temptation. He helps […]

God seldom wraps His gifts in the manmade fineries of this world. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Photo – Autumn Gift, Beth Mims

I looked down at my hands today and saw my mom’s hands. The same crooks and wrinkled skin. The same spots gradually appearing. Knuckles growing larger. I’m not terribly sad about this, because her hands were good hands. Her hands were kind. They sewed clothes and carried meals. They volunteered at school and made costumes. […]

A little girl tried to get her mother’s attention to share some information, but mom was busy talking with a friend. Repeatedly, the child tugged on her, but mom’s hand signaled “wait”. Finally, exasperated, the girl placed her hands on her small hips and, just before she stalked away, said, “you is not my prabwem!” […]

So many times in childhood, my mother instructed me to ‘be still’! “Be still and listen.” “Be still and try this on.” “Be still and eat your food.” “Be still – quit squirming.” She usually needed me to be still to allow her to accomplish a task or meet an expectation, but the instruction was […]

God built change into the very DNA of creation. Today, I feel it in the slight cooling of the morning air. I see it in the pastel colors of the sky that brightens a little later each day. I notice the sprinkles of color that dot the trees along my walk, and pumpkins are making […]

At one point I thought the bulb was a dud, and I almost planted another plant in the pot. But I kept watering and watching and fertilizing and tending and waiting. The waiting part was hard. The plant grew so tall that I had to put it in a bigger pot and stake it, and […]

They say – Where is God? God can’t help you. God says – I am your shield and your help in trouble. Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 46:1 They say – Be afraid. Focus on the danger. God says – Blessed are they that put their trust in Me. Psalm 2:12 They say – Invest everything in […]

Sorrow shrouds our hearts. In recent weeks, we have lost friends and co-workers and others we know have lost family to this plague called COVID. Every day seems to bring new suffering….life changing, devastating, carrying us to the precipice of the pit of grief. We struggle to cope and to breathe. We question, we wonder, […]

The dad walked confidently along the rough path, his daughter holding one hand and his small son the other. Rocks littered the roadway and great boulders sometimes blocked their way. Where water seeped from the rocks, the trek became even more treacherous. The boy stumbled and began to cry. Dad held out his hand to […]

In my impossible situations, I must remember that I serve the God of possible. For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: Jeremiah 32:17 Photo – Impossible Beauty, Beth Mims

It is not unusual for old songs to come to mind while I am driving. Songs that helped shape my life and carry me along on the journey of faith. That is what happened this morning when I began humming a tune published around 1972 by Bill and Gloria Gaither. In a time when it […]

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Nothing is lost or without purpose in the life of the believer. God, the Master Redeemer, claims each broken piece – each pain, each sorrow, each success, each failure, […]

When I allow my preferences and personality to filter God’s commands, my preferences become an idol. When I allow my opinion to supersede God’s word, my opinion becomes an idol. When I allow my reputation to keep me from standing for my Lord, my reputation becomes an idol. When I allow the goodwill of friend […]