Experience It

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22 ESV The completed employment application I held in my hand looked Greek to me. That’s because it was. Greek. New Testament Koine Greek. I recognized it because my…

Belonging

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone...." Ephesians 2:19 We want desperately to belong—to be accepted, to fit in, to…

Drifting

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1 ESV Our family loved the times we picnicked on the shore of Lake Waxahachie (TX) and later drifted in inflated inner tubes…

Ask For A Mountain

"Now therefore, give me this mountain.... It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said." Joshua 14:12 We returned late yesterday from our almost two-week vacation in Oregon. I spent time…

Potent Prayer

The rocker creaked gently as my grandma moved back and forth. Her early morning chores were completed. Each family member had eaten the breakfast she had prepared according to their preferences and time schedules. Everyone had headed off to work or school;…

Sandpaper People

"And we urge you...admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all." 1 Thess. 5:14-18 ESV We sat in Panera Bread, sipping coffee and playing catch up. At the mention of a mutual acquaintance, I immediately expressed…

Shattered Pieces

It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern. Isaiah 30:14 NIV I stared with disbelief at the…

Chosen

  “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14 ESV "Today, we're playing dodgeball!" Cheers and groans were the mingled response from my gym classmates. Cheers rang out from those athletically equipped. The ones blessed with coordination, a sharp eye,…

“Mostly Dead”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5 NIV The two bushes pictured above were "rescue bushes" saved from…

Margin-Living

Every day, I will bless You and praise Your name forever and ever. Psalm 145:2 ESV Margins. The blank edges surrounding the printed words on a page call out my name. I hear questions such as "What do you think of what…

Flutterby Lessons

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 ESV The atmosphere radically changed as we stepped through the protective barrier into the glass house. The five-story, 15,000-square-foot tropical habitat housing the United States' largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibition was a…

Your Playlist

"Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Psalm 77:6 What’s on your playlist? I’m not talking about your playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, YouTube Music, or whatever playlist platform you favor.…

Eyes On Me

“My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.” Psalm 25:15 ESV “Eyes on me.” “Eyes forward. Look at me.” “Not on the person beside you or behind you, eyes on me.” These and…

Broken

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 She was perfect - absolutely beautiful. She was exactly what I had desperately wanted for Christmas that year - a doll…

Hallow Or Hollow?

“Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God.” 1 Chronicles 22:19 Spring is coming. Sunshine dispels the gray clouds of winter, buds begin to sprout on naked branches, flocks of migrated birds return to familiar nests, and heavy…