Okay! Pencils ready? Today we mark some text! Grab a green colored pencil or pen, your Bible, and a notebook, and let’s get started! If you don’t want to mark directly in your Bible, you can print out the psalm in your favorite translation, or you can print this ESV version to use. Personally, I like marking in my Bible, because I can always go back later and review what […]
Read More →Category: Encouragement
Stop Seeing, and Start Observing
Sherlock Holmes is famous for his keen observation skills. He once admonished Watson, who was marveling at his abilities, “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.” Do you have a hard time concentrating when you read the Bible? Do you find yourself not even wanting to read the Bible? Do you read it, but feel like it’s not changing the way you think and live? You might need […]
Read More →Six Different Kinds of Disobedience (and the Root Problem)
My wife and I are launching on a new Bible study. We’ve often tried to read through the Bible from beginning to end in a year (sometimes we make it, sometimes we don’t), but this time we’re reading through the Bible looking for insights relevant to parenting. I’m already excited about what we are finding. You notice new things when you’re reading with a different perspective! Israel’s early history as […]
Read More →The Rock That Doesn’t Move
I get to go to the beach next week. I get to sit and read books. And maybe once in awhile I’ll get up and go for a walk. And when I’m not doing that, I’ll just sit and watch the waves go in and out along the shore. Once a year we take that kind of vacation — the kind where you just stop and take the time to […]
Read More →In the Furnace
Who of us doesn’t know someone who is suffering deeply? Who has lived a life free from trials and pain? We surrounded by pain and suffering. I thought about this fact while my husband and I enjoyed a few days on the coast this summer. We had visited one of our favorite glassblowing studios in this artsy beach town, and after watching the artists work, we ventured further south to another […]
Read More →Lessons from a Honeybee
I always have to keep my eye out for bumblebees when I pick flowers in the garden. Sometimes a hard-working little fella doesn’t make it home before bedtime, and he sets up camp on the colorful cushion of a zinnia for the night. He’s not always real happy about me shaking up his campsite. The honeybees are a little more easy-going. They’re so busy working, they don’t have much time […]
Read More →A Prayer for Our Children — and Ourselves
I wish I had noticed more fully a prayer of Paul’s while we were raising our six children. I would have memorized it. I would have prayed it — every day. I can still pray it — for my adult children, for myself and my husband, for my grandchildren, and for my fellow believers in Christ. Paul is writing to the believers in Philippi, his beloved, his joy and crown. He prays for them as a […]
Read More →Leading by Example
I was recently trying to decide what to talk about for a devotional at the bridal shower. The bride works for one of my favorite grocery stores. Perhaps you’re fortunate enough to live near one of the 418 Trader Joe’s in the world. I decided to do a little research about this chain of stores. For several years Trader Joe’s has ranked first or second as consumers’ favorite grocery store. (Who wouldn’t […]
Read More →Too Fast.
Do you have little children — you know, those charming, unpredictable, exhausting little ones that always lead people to say, “Oh, they grow up so fast. Enjoy these days while you can”? I remember sweet white-haired ladies and elderly gentlemen saying those sorts of things to me while our six young children and I all marched through grocery stores or poured one-by-one out of the van. Those comments were so […]
Read More →Less Is More.
I’ve had a garden every summer for the past thirty-five years. It’s generous to call some years’ efforts a garden. Different years meant different babies newly arrived or still in the works during garden seasons. Babies were born in April, May, June, August, September, October (of different years, obviously 🙂 ). Those years were a bit more challenging. I called the gardens of those years my treasure hunt gardens. Go out and […]
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