-
In The Dark Valley of Waiting: Hope Comes With the Good Shepherd.
When life’s adversity thrusts us into a valley, shadows loom large and darkness creeps in. Despair can threaten to undo us, and doubts about God’s goodness can overwhelm us. Here, in the valley of despondency, the Good Shepherd whispers, “Don’t be afraid. I see you. I am with you. I will protect and comfort you. You are mine!” As a child, I never liked being left alone in the dark. In my darkened bedroom, ordinary objects seemed larger and often took on frightening forms. A simple lamp or doll on a shelf, strangely, became a large, ugly monster. Legs that hung out of the covers or dangled over the side…
-
Living Fully Present: Hope in Uncertainty When was the last time God led you into a waiting room? A waiting room without physical walls—a place where adversity and faith meet. Here, you are given the chance to embrace God’s character, yet somehow anxiety and overwhelm flood in, and all you can think about is solving your problem to ease the pain, remove the heartache, or erase the trouble. I am familiar with God’s waiting rooms, as I am sure you are. It has taken me years to realize that when God calls us to enter, He is extending a sacred invitation to spend time with the Divine. It is here…
-
God of All Comfort: Chemotherapy Reflections Part Two
This past week was the week of hair loss, hours of debilitating headaches, nausea, insomnia and the realization that I am on chemo. Yet this has also been the week of celebrating the joys of getting-to-do the mundane. Preparing a meal, creating an online shopping order, addressing Christmas cards, washing and folding a load of laundry, wrapping a Christmas gift, making annual cheese balls, dipping chocolate pretzels and making peppermint and almond bark. As the week continued to progress, the good began to outweigh the days of laying low. For this I have been grateful! Yet in the not so good days, I have found that during this holy season…
-
Despite Covid I Have Jesus!
It is day nine of Covid. There is not a creative thought in my head. I am weary. When there are no words to write, it is the Word of God that gives me hope. It is here among these pages of truth that God tells me that I am not alone. He is enough. It is here that I find rest, renewal of heart and mind; as the longing to be Christ-like rises to the surface and spills out upon my blank journaled page. Today, these words spill out as scriptural affirmation and a prayer to God. Right now because of Covid, my health has failed, and my spirit…
-
Stability in an unstable world
The offering of hope For many, this Christmas season has come with conflicting emotions. Past Christmas traditions have been snatched from us through this pandemic. A season of friend and family gatherings has left us wondering how to create community, despite continued distancing. In a world that may feel unstable, shifting and currently unreliable, we find ourselves looking for something steady and sure. We have grown tired of fake news. Our souls are longing for truth, for real news. The hope of redemption God’s great plan of redemption offers to all who will receive it, the gift of hope. As Christ followers our hope is planted upon the rock-solid foundation…
-
Courage to Risk
Today I risked! My children’s story is now in the hands of an editor. The Bella Project has been seven-plus years in the making. When Covid hit, I decided to pick Bella back up, and see her come to life by putting watercolor to her simple sketches. It has been exciting to see the progress over these past eight months, as I have steadily plodded along, putting corresponding illustrations to the words of her story. But…just hours after hitting send on my story, I felt like my spirit plummeted. Have you ever felt this way? You finally move forward on something you feel God nudging you to do, and then; BAM!…
-
Social Distancing brings an odd push and pull of emotions
Living close to the Savior is not a place of clamor, confusion and clutter. It is a place of quiet rest despite the storm clouds that come rolling in. They may look like they are going to take us under; but Jesus Christ is the only One who can calm the angry waves. If you remember, the disciples looked at the waves that could sink them while the Master of the sea, Jesus, was asleep in the boat. Through all that we are going through Jesus offers His children the gift of Himself, the gift of hope and the gift of perfect peace admit the uncertainty of Covid 19. Jesus…
-
Social distancing provides the provision of prayer
This morning I was thinking of the importance of prayer during this outbreak of corona-virus. We may not be able to get together with each other, but we can pray. We can pray for our community, national and local leaders, church leadership, families, the elderly, parents who are struggling financially because they can’t work from home, parents with school age children who are now at home, loved ones whom we cannot travel to see; pray for those living in nursing homes, sick in hospitals, nurses, doctors and those incarcerated. PRAY! The list is endless of who we can pray for. Nearly daily I receive a message from a young teen…
-
Beneath His Wings
FOR THIS I HAVE JESUS NO MATTER HOW STEEP THE HILL I CLIMB NO MATTER HOW SWIFT THE CURRENT I SWIM NO MATTER HOW ROUGH THE ROAD I WALK OR SWIFT THE BREEZES OF THE WIND NO MATTER HOW STILL THE SILENCE IS NO MATTER HOW THROBBING IS THE PAIN NO MATTER HOW MANY TEARS THAT FALL I KNOW THAT JESUS KNOWS MY NAME. NO MATTER HOW DEEP MY LONGINGS ARE NO MATTER HOW EMPTY IS MY SOUL NO MATTER HOW MANY PRAYERS I PRAY OR CRIES TO BE MADE WHOLE NO MATTER HOW WIDE THE CREVICE IS NO MATTER HOW FAR I FEEL FROM HOPE…
-
The Secret Sanctuary
Enter into the Secret Place Have you ever longed for a secret refuge, a place of your own? That perfect spot where you could tuck yourself away from the world so you could pray or be alone with your thoughts – unnoticed by others. As a young girl I would often watch my oldest sister quietly leave the house and disappear around the curve in our country road. I would watch with mystery, wondering where she was going. Funny how I never thought to follow her. Somehow my heart knew this was her alone time. Years later I asked my sister where she would go and what she would do…
