Last evening after dinner, I sat down in my Lazy-Boy rocker to read a new book. Suddenly, there was a loud “swoosh,” and my Christmas tree fell to the ground. Ornaments went everywhere; the angel flew off the top of the tree. A bigger chaos I have never seen in my home. Apparently, one of the tree screws in the stand broke in half. Remind me not to buy Chinese products again. Thank heavens for good neighbors who came over…..
I would like to speak to two ideas I ran across this past week. One is finding the light in ourselves and sharing it with others. The second one is a collection of defensive weapons from the Bible that we can use when the culture around us tries to tell us who we are or what we are not. I read Michelle Obama’s new book, “The Light We Carry,” to discuss the first idea; the second idea uses quotes from…..
It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and I am so thankful for all that God has made possible in my life. My plans, dreams, and goals have been done with careful “baby-steps,” but God’s will for me has always been bigger. He is not contained by “limited experiences, resources, expectations, socioeconomic backgrounds, traditions, education, or culture.” (Unshakeable by Christine Caine) My heart and mind are open to His plans, and I will let Him guide me. I have not always seen opportunity where…..
A new version of the musical, “The Lion King,” has opened on broad way, and it is bound to surpass the musical of thirty years ago. Have you ever heard the story about how Elton John came to write the music for “The Lion King?” He is well known from his rock-n-roll beginnings in the 1970’s, but what most people do not know is why he stopped singing for a year. He had misused his voice so much by hard…..
This is Veterans weekend; it is my privilege to thank everyone who has served in the armed forces for their great sacrifices. America owes them a debt that all of us will never be able to fully pay back; it behooves every American to remember what the cost of our freedoms and those of people around the world has meant. Veterans left home in their early years for adventure and were willing to lay down their own lives to protect…..
We all have struggles, problems we do not quite know how to handle, or simply times when the clouds hide the sun’s bright rays. It’s at those times when we need to retreat to our prayer rooms, fall on our knees, and pray a prayer of tears. Whatever we bring to God in prayer, He will heal. Why do we work so hard and pray so little? The answer is we often feel God’s not listening to us, so we…..
There is a relatively new adage: “You are born into a family, but you get to choose your family of friends.” Proverbs 17:17 (KJV) says, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Families may not be able to help you like your friends can, because your friends aren’t your blood-family members. Friends often can see more clearly through situations and may do things better because they aren’t a part of your family. No one…..
Who is Clive Staples Lewis? You probably know him as the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Screw Tape Letters,” but did you know he called himself “the most reluctant convert to Christianity in all England?” He was an avowed atheist for most of his younger years, culminating in a slow conversion to the One whom he had ridiculed and vowed never to follow: Jesus Christ. He described Christ as an imaginary person, someone that weak people clung…..
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 – KJV) From the time Vincent Capodanno was a young boy in the Italian section of New York City, he wanted to be a missionary priest. His courage was tested eight times in Vietnam when he voluntarily went out of “the wire” with the Marines he was assigned to. He received…..
How many of us really care about our children, so much so, that we would willingly hide a child from a person or a group of people whose only purpose was to harm that child on the basis of their color, race, religion, creed, or other political issues? Over the years as a teacher, I have witnessed many children whose home life was atrocious, who got caught up in their parents’ violence, or were faced with living on the streets…..