I’m sitting here, letting Christmas music flow through the house, and sipping my hot tea, remembering what Christmas mornings were like as a child. We’d jump from our beds, not needing an alarm clock, and rushing down the stairs, we’d find lots of gifts under the tree, brightly wrapped in greens, reds, golds, and blues. Mommy and daddy would stumble down the stairs, wiping their eyes and hoping they could get some more “shut-eye” in the afternoon. After all, they…..
It’s the first day of Advent, and I decorated my live Christmas tree as a memory and honor tree. 2020 has been an incredibly hard year for everyone with a pandemic, a politically hostile environment, a struggling economy, the growth of racism, and a multitude of environmental issues. Add to these things social isolation like none of us has ever felt and you have a world depression of epic proportions. Every decorated tree limb stands for the people who have…..
I’m starting to decorate my home for Christmas amid the tragedies of COVID-19. It seems right to show the world that there is still hope, light, peace, and love, even while there is so much hurt in so many families. Maybe I’m sentimental, but I remember as a young teenager the caring and unconditional love shown to my struggling family after the loss of my mother. Our first Christmas after she passed left our home feeling so empty and sad. …..
Psalm 100, Verses 1-3: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. I can’t attend church today because I am in quarantine for a COVID test due to another student’s exposure to the disease. It’s on these Sundays…..
It’s 8:00 P.M. Wilmington, Delaware time; it’s 7:00 P.M. Shawano, Wisconsin time. I’m sitting here watching crowds all over our country, all over the world, dancing and celebrating the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the new presidential administration of the United States of America. I’m crying tears of joy to hear two God-centered people announce to the world what I’ve wanted to hear for four years. We need to come together as one nation again, heal our…..
I recently watched the movie, “Fatima,” which is the true story of three shepherd children who witnessed visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria, near Fatima, Portugal, between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917. Although Portugal’s borders were not over-run by other countries during WWI, many of its young men fought and died with those countries to prove their manhood. At the time, Portugal was trying to overcome its third world status by changing its…..
We are poor in spirit, Lord, and we look to Your Heavenly kingdom. We ask Your comfort for those who are mourning family and friends. As Your older children, we ask that our young will inherit a beautiful earth. May those who hunger and thirst for righteousness be filled with the Holy Spirit. Grant mercy to all medical personnel, public responders, and essential workers whose love saves. May all whose hearts are pure see God’s loving face. May all God’s…..
Today is Reformation Sunday, the Sunday where Lutherans celebrate Martin Luther penning his “95 Theses” or Disputations on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences in 1517 and nailing them to the front door of Wittenburg Castle Church in Germany. As more Sundays have passed, I keep looking to feed my soul with an understanding of why COVID-19 was born and how it has so devastated our world. I have found solace in different programs on U-Tube. Today, I was mesmerized…..
In these very difficult and troubling times, who are you turning to? Is it your spouse, your family, your friends and neighbors, or God? I strongly believe that our nation is in a depression of our minds, souls, hearts, and bodies. In seeking a leader who will truly carry us through all of our current problems, I think we have grabbed onto anyone or anything that will “fit-the-bill,” rather than the one power who truly will lead us, God. The…..
John Lewis, born February 21, 1940 and died July 17, 2020, was an American statesman and civil rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for 33 years from Georgia’s 5th congressional district. He was a public servant but so much more. He was a man of great grace, integrity, and honor, a man whose moral compass was his faith in God, and a man whose heart and mind sought to change systemic racism in America by…..