I had an apple tree and an idea: I’d make apple butter from the harvest. It turned out so tasty, I decided to can it. I’d never canned preserves, so I asked help from a friend who assured me of the ease of canning: Fill the jars, screw on the lids, and run them through a cycle in your dishwasher. ...
Day 2: Some Days I Feel Too Small
Post #2 in 40 Days in the Shade of God’s Care Psalm 3 O Lord, I have so many enemies…against me. 2 So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” There are those days. Days I feel small in this big world—days the enemy says I’m too small. Too small for God’s notice. Too ...
Day 1: The Key to Refresh Your Weary Soul
In a series of upcoming posts, I am extending an invitation to 40 Days in the Shade of God’s Care. I hope this rejuvenating journey brings new dimensions of refreshment and joy to your soul. Day 1 - The Key to Refresh Your Weary Soul Psalm 1 Oh, the joys of those who …delight in the ...
The Rocks that Amplify the River’s Roar
I hadn't beheld such beauty in a long time. This was a new hike. Gary and I enjoyed it together. The mossy rocks and cedar groves were breath-taking, but it was the surprising sound of a rushing creek that called for our attention. Long before it came into sight, the distant roar ...
Your Grace Finds Me
I entered the back of the auditorium. The band played a familiar song, but the vastness of God's grace, captured within the lyrics, gripped my heart in a brand new way. It's there on the wedding day There in the weeping by the grave site There in the very breath we breathe Your great ...
A Surrendered Hideout
Trees have offered boundless hiding spots and shelter since the beginning of time. They have served as a fortress to playful children, lovers, and convicts alike. Jesus addresses the misuse of their timber in Matthew 7 when He asks us, " Why do you see the splinter that is in your brother’s or ...
When a Light Shines Into Our Darkness
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2 (NIV) Do certain dates mark a time in which God shined a bright light into your deep darkness? Today is such a day for me. It's this day, 28 years ago (January 7, ...
Never Beyond Repair
I spent a couple of hours recently in the office of an orthopedic surgeon with a hamstring injury that had developed into a chronic inhibitor of fun. One of the first questions the doctor asked me was, "When did this injury occur?" After recounting the original sports injury in 2004, the doctor ...
Curing a Self-Centered Soul
I hate to admit it, but selfishness seems to be an effortless rut in the road of my life. It requires no strain for me to think far too often of myself, to grip too tightly to my time, my resources, and my life. Maybe that's why the impromptu visit with my friend impacted me so deeply. She called, ...
Always Good
Covering her left eye, she ran into the house, her long braids whipping hard across her back. Hunting for her mom, she cried out, "Mom, I've got something stuck in my eye.” It appeared to be a small white fleck, stuck firmly to the outer corner of her eye. This stubborn irritant wouldn't ...