I was up in the wee hours last night. Now that my babies are teenagers, my mid-night awakenings are my own fault and not their hunger or restlessness. I walked to the back of the house where uncovered windows face the inky backyard, and I was amazed at how just a tiny bit of ambient light chases the darkness away. Regardless of how deep and long and wide the darkness, just a speck of light can reveal things hidden.
“Why do you love God?, the bitter woman spewed at my mother.
“I love Him because I know Him,” she answered quietly.
Spring cleaning has taken on a new meaning these days. Closets, drawers and attics have been reorganized. Our yards and gardens may be looking better than years before. Surely there is some comfort gained while our to-do lists dwindle. But some people are entering into a restless phase while this virus continues to take center stage in our lives. I have begun to sigh when I hear the morose acronym...COVID-19.
I was bogged down in my daily Bible reading. After I trudged through Exodus, past the victory of the plagues, the miracle of the manna and quail and the water from a rock, I sat mired in the details of the Tent of Meeting….the place where God planned to meet and fellowship with His people.
I listened intently as my distant relatives communicated stories about my parents when they were young. The previous day, my mother had shared some of the same stories. Hearing the stories from different viewpoints added details and richness.
A World War II veteran shared some of his experiences at my church. He recounted carefully maneuvering through a minefield with his troop. Terror filled the group as one of his buddies up ahead inadvertently stepped on a mine. This soldier knew he had no hope unless someone helped him. All he could do was stay extremely still, remain calm and wait. One wrong move would end his life.
Cleaning out the refrigerator can be a frustrating endeavor, tossing into the trash those uneaten leftovers or the bag of slimy lettuce or whatever that dried and shriveled thing used to be. Wouldn’t it be so much more cost effective to buy and prepare only the amount of food we needed with never any waste or spoilage?
Red, round, juicy home-grown tomatoes are my obsession every summer! They are far superior to their tasteless counterparts that are picked green and ripened by gassing, occupying the shelves in most grocery stores.
While cutting my son’s long, thick locks, I thought, I’m glad he doesn’t ride through the woods or he might get tangled up like Absalom. Do you remember the story?
In the little one stop-light town where we vacation during the summer there is a herd of deer that roam the yards, streets, even Main Street, and the parks much to the delight of everyone except some avid gardeners. As my little nephews excitedly exclaim, “Look there are mommy deer, daddy deer, and baby deer!” What a pleasure to watch them quietly move gracefully by you.
“Take my hand, Claudia, I will keep you safe crossing this road.” I cannot count the number of times my parents said this when I was a child.
Many “several years ago” when I had a hard body and long hair, I did some mountain climbing and rock climbing. During those times, I heard many climbers making pleas and promises to God such as: “Help me, Jesus! Lord, if you just get me off this mountain, I promise I will never do this again.” Sometimes during climbing the fear level on a Richter scale of 1 to 10 can be a 25.
Last month, while jeeping on an alpine trail at 12,500 feet altitude, I was astounded at the bounty of glorious flowers. There were natural-formed bouquets of golden sunflowers, delicate lavender blooms scattered among them, and an array of pink and white blossoms peeking around the rocks.
My professional background is in healthcare, and ever since my very first anatomy and physiology class I have been fascinated with the beauty, complex simplicities, and precision of God’s creation-----us!
Waiting is hard. The Bible is full of people who waited for God to fulfill a promise. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for God’s promised son to be born. Jacob waited for Rachel for 14 years. Moses and Joshua waited 40 years in the wilderness before God allowed the Israelites to enter the promised land. David waited 15 years to become king after his anointing.
The Lord led us to move to the Fort Worth area after living my entire life in East Texas. How exciting! What an adventure! Okay, Lord, lead and direct our path! It seemed so easy. Our house sold in one day. We began packing.
Have you ever taken on a project that felt impossible? You don’t know where to start. It feels overwhelming. There are too many steps in the process. Certain things have to happen that are out of your control in order to accomplish it
Spring! After months of gray skies, bare, spindly trees, and brown grass, green emerges. Flowers bloom, showing their beauty. Sap makes its way to the tops of trees, filling them with life-giving nutrients to come alive with fresh foliage.
God has called me to do a task. A big one. He’s confirmed it over and over, and yet, for the past two years, I have done all manner of things to avoid it. Why do I do this?
I play a little game with my son where I ask him how much I love him. He replies in numbers. The joke is that he usually says, “zero” or “one.” Then I correct him with the craziest number I can make up, which is undoubtedly unscientific, followed by tickles and laughter. There is no number that can express quantitatively how much I love my children. Though we play silly games, my son knows that I love him. He believes it. He trusts me, he trusts in my unfailing love.
