Create a personal spiritual retreat using this FREE EBOOK.
For years my son picked up his grandmother Shirley from her senior apartment and brought her to church. Now Nathaniel is one of those strong, silent types and typically not too talkative before noon. One Sunday morning Shirley entered the church vestibule complaining that Nathaniel…
We may balk at entertaining, but Christ calls on us to practice hospitality. When I was in high school, a Christian group called Joy, Inc. came to sing at our church. Our family agreed to house a couple of group members for the night. And…
How do you manage stress? Picture these modern stress management scenarios. A young woman rushes into Starbucks, brows knitted, fists clenched tight and orders a Venti Mocha Latte, “Double espresso please.” A child chews on the eraser end of her pencil as she bends over…
How do you define a successful day? By how much you get done? This is my to-do list for today: Clean bathrooms Dust furniture Do grocery shopping Finish this blog post Some days my to-do list is longer. Some days it is shorter. But on…
This week I’ve needed to make an effort to rest. Somehow my husband came down with a summer cold and though I really tried to avoid getting it, I was unsuccessful. All week long I’ve been dragging around the house, sneezing and sniffling. My body…
The only reliable source of joy is in God’s presence. But how can we find that? A little experiment with three common objects helped me focus on God’s presence and find more joy. Lighted candle. Silver cross. Smartphone. What do these three items have in…
Solitude and silence are elusive commodities. But sometimes we need silence to hear God’s voice. When I was a young mom, the thing I craved more than anything was to be alone. An introvert at heart, I draw energy from time by myself with a…
Don’t you love watching little kids run? I mean they don’t run because they really need to up their fitness program. They don’t run because they are trying to get their 10,000 steps a day in a shorter span of time. They don’t run because…
Do you struggle to rejoice? Does the command in Philippians 4:4 make you wince? Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! I certainly have days when it’s hard to be full of joy. Hard to rejoice in anything. And what…