Have you seen all the hype about the releases of new phones, video games, etc.? People guess about release dates, and news is made when information about the product is leaked. People line up, maybe even camp out for days, to get the latest and greatest.
I live in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Yep, you guessed it, surrounded by pine trees. The school district I attended from Kindergarten through graduation is even named Pine Tree Independent School District. I have to admit, I love the pine trees. I love walking in the woods, and I love the smell of these evergreens.
I watched my husband and our daughter paddle out into the surf in a kayak. They moved through the water to look at the array of fish under them. At times they stopped paddling, but they did not stop moving. Sometimes they drifted further away from where they wanted to go. It required intentional effort to move in the right direction. To go where they wanted to go, they had to pursue it. Just drifting was not going to be enough.
Doesn’t everyone have it all together? My house is clean. I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish at work. My attitude with my husband has been perfect. I have excelled in parenting and disciplining my children.
I’m not sure what made me say it, but as I started to speak, I knew it was right.
“We are about to pray over our meal. How can we pray for you?”
Have you ever had a conversation that helped you reframe a current circumstance? Recently my husband’s comments about a difficult situation provided me much-needed perspective.
They tried everything they could to reduce her fever. Witch hazel. An ice bath. They knew a doctor was the best decision to save their daughter’s life. With no phone and no vehicle, they did the only thing they could.
I’ve heard the story so many times I can see it in my mind.
My grandmother’s chili simmered over the campfire. My dad and his brothers, fishing in the nearby stream, noticed movement in the trees. A bear with a fondness for beef sauntered toward the fire.
My family recently visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum where we took a self-paced tour guided by iPhones and earbuds.
My older daughter was given a cell phone when she started getting involved in a lot of drop-off events. When we gave her the phone we also included with it a set of rules that we expected her to respect and obey.
Zechariah had a vision from the Lord. It was set up similar to a court setting and standing on trial was Joshua, the high priest. Zechariah saw the angel of the Lord and Satan standing next to Joshua ready to accuse him for his wrong doings.
My six-year old daughter was in the bathroom staring in the mirror with tears rolling down her face. She was torn with emotions of fear and courage trying to wiggle out her extremely loose tooth.
I love singing worship music while in the car listening to the local Christian radio station or at church during worship service. I just love to sing!
Ladies, put yourselves in the shoes of Jesus’ closest followers in the forty days between resurrection Sunday and His ascension. Think how absolutely amazed on one hand and bewildered on the other you would have felt. He was alive! He was the Messiah as the prophets of old said! There would indeed be a kingdom of God on earth! But He would be leaving—it would be up to you to testify to the world about this kingdom. Oh yes, and I have promised you a gift from the Father; only you must wait for that gift (Acts 1:1-10).
While snow may be a dirty word in Texas this year, it’s not really the snow per se. Think how beautiful your backyard looked blanketed in white as the snowflakes drifted down. If only the freezing rain and sleet and hail and temperatures that dove to minus six had not lingered for all those days.
I don’t know about you ladies, but when life’s distracting noises bombard my senses I best regain my equilibrium in the wonders of creation. There, the voices that declare God’s glory ring loud and clear.
The endless cacophony between Job and his four friends is over and God essentially tells Job to be still: who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” Indeed! And with that the LORD beckons His servant Job (42:7,8)—servant having the connotation of the one I trust, who worships me (Strong’s)—to come in close: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). You see, Job had to step away from his circumstances to know the One who was in control.
With the 2021 record Texas snow over, the big meltdown had begun and I had cabin fever. Caution! Caution! my brain said—those brittle bones should not slip and slide. So I stepped out on the back porch to take it all in. The crusty layer on the garden wall, sparkling like jewels in the brilliant sun, creaked and groaned, reluctant to shed its coat of white. The drip-drip-drip off the roof chimed in, running down delicate icicles, down-down-down to oblivion. Birds added their bit of harmony in their clamor for the remaining holly berries bared of snow. All quiet; yet all so alive.
My grandson loves to say the prayer before a meal. He finds it humorous to say amen, but then say, “Oh wait, I’m not finished.” Then he starts “praying” again. Of course, while doing so he looks around to see if we are looking and laughing at him. His parents finally have to tell him he can only say one more thing because he likes to go on and on.
