This week, I found myself in the horse pasture, gathering apples. Our horses are blessed to have a couple of apple trees and one peach tree in their little pasture, and we are blessed that they don't eat them all. Apple picking was not high on my teenage children's list this beautiful September day. Wishing […]
A few years ago, I had a season when weakness seemed to stalk me. I felt unsuccessful and drained—spiritually, mentally, and physically. The project I was working on had demanded all my creative energy and left me raw. I had put myself "out there," fully exposed and vulnerable, and yet the work wasn't finished. In […]
August of 2020 seems so long ago, but I'm revisiting a post from back then because it was such an uncertain time. As I face some new unknowns over the next month, I want to remember some things I learned during that first year or two of Covid. I remember spending more time outside and […]
I felt the tug of the strong, Outer Banks current on us and I knew we were in trouble. My daughter and I had been enjoying the rough surf with our new boogie boards on our first full day at the beach. I failed to notice the lone, yellow, caution flag hidden between our hotel […]
It's the day before VBS, folks. My mind is occupied by thoughts of crafts. I will be eyeballs deep in kids, clay and paint this week. Our Vacation Bible School director says it every year. "It's the Lord's Vacation Bible School. If He wants it to go on, He will provide." Every year He does provide […]
Pierre, Jean-Baptiste-Marie, Nativity Romans 9:3-5 “3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the […]
Advent Joy isn’t shallow or sentimental—it is rooted in the appearing of Christ. When Scripture speaks of Christ being manifested, it means that God has made Himself clearly seen, known, and encountered in order to save. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…” — Titus 2:11, ESV The Child in the manger is the […]
Where do you long for Christ’s Peace to enter your story this week? Or have you given up hope for that? Perhaps it would be good for you and me to remember Jesus' words about the kind of peace He gives. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the […]