All in Encouragement
At first his eyes were wide with fright as he hid behind our little hinny, a cross between a male horse and a female donkey. His odd head and tail confused me when he first showed up in our pasture. His owner retrieved him multiple times, but finally just gave up since this odd-looking animal had claimed our hinny and her pasture as his home.
Wow! I guess it’s not a weed!
I’d sprayed it, trimmed it with scissors, even mowed it multiple times…yet it persevered. Regardless of how I mistreated it, this intruder sent tendrils upward, outward and onward while it clung to the bank of the pond. Now, in a different season of the year, an abundance of tiny pink blossoms brought delight to that same muddy shoreline.
I could hear Mother’s soft giggle at Aunt Annie’s small country funeral as the soloist sang, “In the Garden.” Mother’s dementia had claimed her speech, so her giggle blessed me. Then, when her alto voice joined in on the chorus, my heart overflowed! As Daddy patted her leg and told her to stop singing, I whispered, “Aunt Annie would love this. Let’s let her sing.” And did she sing—all four choruses! That was the last time I heard my mother speak. It’s now a treasured memory of her praising His name.
“Oh no, that baby turtle is way out in the middle,” I cried. “It should swim closer to shore where the water is shallow!” My granddaughter and I watched that hatchling paddle onward toward the deeper water. I feared for the little turtle until I realized, “No turtle ever worries about how deep the water is!” God designs turtles to swim, and this baby swam toward the deep water with confidence.
I watched from the front row as the man lit himself on fire and danced around. Yes, he was a stunt performer doing this at a beachside show.
Yet I wondered what made him do it. Whatever the hotel paid him, I couldn’t imagine that it was enough to justify walking on fire.
I love spending time in nature because I can see God’s creations so much clearer.
As we approached these domes by jet ski, I thought these domes might be part of some ancient ruins. Turns out, their history doesn’t go back as far as I thought.
Luna was “ours” for about a month.
We found her meowing just outside our door.
This wasn’t the first time we’d seen Luna. Sometimes she would lay around our porch. She had a collar, and we knew she had a family — just down the street.
Wow! The children of Israel had made it through the Red Sea on their exodus out of slavery and Egypt. What a spiritual high!
What did they do in response? They trusted in God, they sang, and they praised him.
A popular affirmation parents use with their children these days goes like this, “Way to be a problem solver. Great job solving that problem yourself.” While one cannot debate the value of problem solving and thinking for oneself, God asked the Israelites to do just the opposite – let him solve their problem.
Have you ever just flat out found yourself down in the dumps? I have.
That is exactly how the children of Israel felt in the early chapters of Exodus. Their unbearable circumstances of slavery led them to despondency.
“Shiphrah” and “Puah”, I stumble over the pronunciation of their names, but they, on the other hand, did not stumble when it came to obeying God. They stood firm.
After the funeral, we all converged at my uncle’s house. Casseroles lined the counter. Dishes filled the sink. He’d become accustomed to cleaning up the kitchen since my aunt had gotten sick. As he started covering bowls with aluminum foil, he recounted the last few hours of her life.
How often have you seen a pastor stand in the pulpit and praise God that the parking lot fund didn’t make its goal? Instead, the church (through its well-meaning representatives) will too often wheedle, cajole and extend deadlines until the money is in. No wonder outsiders draw the conclusion that God is out for “our” money.
How long has it been since you really thought much about honor or purity or excellence? And how do such words as these translate into actions that can be lived out in our cool, careless culture?
In these strange and unsettling times, who has not experienced an anxious moment or a fearful thought? When we turned over our calendar to 2020, could we have imagined what the New Year had in store?
The truth is, I am a “regretter” We regretters have nets that we can cast wide and deep to dredge up something we said or did a week or a lifetime ago, then we fret and regret , chew and stew. Trust me, such a mindset is not the product of a sensitive conscience or a tender heart. Such foolishness comes from a particularly insidious form of legalism that believes that the kingdom of God is dependent on our flawless performance rather than God’s power through us.
My husband’s new hobby is gun collecting. He is fascinated by old guns as well as the new ones. He watches shows to learn more. One show highlights the history of weaponry. It is interesting to see how weapons evolved over time. What was a cutting edge sword or gun one day is soon eclipsed by a more advanced weapon. Generally, those with superior weapons have an advantage in warfare.
Lord, I don’t want to go back there, but I’ll do it if you will help me, I prayed in my car. Our Sunday morning class had been invited to join a burgeoning ministry at the local emergency shelter. Once a week, several ladies from the class brought activities and small gifts for the girls at the shelter. Some of the staff and girls were engaging while others looked at us with suspicion.
