“Do you make decisions easily?” That question stared me in the face and caused me to pause. I had not stumbled over any of the other questions on the personality assessment. The rest just seemed so easy and the answers quite obvious. So why this one?
My eyes teared up as the special needs young man stepped to the podium and began to pray. His eloquence and passion shone through the simple words he used.
It had been one of those weeks where several things in our home were breaking down all at the same time. The dryer quit working, our sink drain was overflowing due to blockage and our garage ceiling was showing signs of a leak in our attic. It was a week of problems and stresses on top of a full schedule.
It had been raining and gloomy for days. The girls and I played with every doll, conquered many board games and watched Doc McStuffins episodes too many times. We needed a break!
Watching my daughter climb up the stairs making her way to the zipline, I could feel my palms starting to sweat and my nerves becoming anxious. She would glance over at me as she made her way up each landing and I would wave and shout how proud I was of her. I could tell she was just as nervous, but unlike her Mother, she chose to face her fears.
One of my night time routines is to read stories to my youngest daughter and sing to her until she falls asleep. I try to set a soothing mood with soft lullabies.
My youngest daughter woke up full of excitement to tell me about her dream. She was beaming as she explained to me in detail about this rainbow mermaid that she had in her dream and she had to have it. I listened with enthusiasm but told her lovingly that we were not going to buy her the rainbow mermaid.
Tucked in the middle of the book of Jeremiah is a marvelous story of faith. Jeremiah repeatedly preached God’s word: Judah’s rejection of God would lead to their defeat by the nation of Babylon. He proclaimed Zedekiah, Judah’s king, would be taken captive, and Jerusalem would be destroyed.
My friend came to me asking for help. Her son’s illness and resulting difficulty had continued for years. She prayed repeatedly for his healing, but his condition remained the same. She was looking for answers to her questions and words of encouragement.
God calls people in every generation to proclaim His truth. Noah preached righteousness. Moses proclaimed God’s laws. Paul carried the gospel to the Gentiles. Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, and Billy Graham have boldly proclaimed the truth of Jesus to recent generations.
When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah quickly reminded God of his inadequacies. God gently rebuked Jeremiah and said, I am with you and will rescue you (Jeremiah 1:8). Jeremiah’s arguing ceased. He accepted his mission and moved forward.
God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, a voice of truth to a nation who desperately needed to listen to God. God’s call to Jeremiah was clear. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).
As I write this, people all over the world are preparing to say a final farewell to Billy Graham who died this week. In his long life, he preached to over 215 million people, presenting the gospel in 185 countries. Those who have studied his life, report that Billy Graham only had one message.
If you read the Bible you know quite a bit about how the world operates.
It was the spring of 2004. The kids were grown and gone and my newly-retired husband and I decided to embark on an adventure: experience an area of the country we had never lived in before settling down to our retirement home.
Though decades ago, that time has given us a deep appreciation of those who choose to spend their life on the foreign mission field. This past summer, however, something (actually, someone) happened that rekindled in us the lessons learned from that time in our life.
Many years ago now, our young family was newly transplanted to a large Texas city, and looking to put down roots. As anybody who has ever gone through this experience knows, finding a church home as well as the right doctor, dentist, hairdresser, auto mechanic (so on and so on) is a process that can’t be rushed.
God’s parallel of the water cycle to His word demonstrates its immeasurable worth. Both rain and Scripture originate in the heavens and are sent as a gift to all the earth. God’s word and rain both accomplish God’s purpose before returning to Him.
Hezekiah, king of Judah, was one of the few kings to earn the distinction of doing what was right in God’s eyes. His father, Ahaz, however, did not. Ahaz established idol worship in Judah, encouraging God’s people to sin.
Ladies, do you ever feel like life isn’t moving ahead? Like you’re stagnating? I seem to be stuck in that stage of life right now. I miss the excitement of new adventures and the passion of mission. It’s almost time for the current stage to end but not quite. A few things need to wrap up first. But it seems to be taking a lot longer than I had anticipated.
