Beautiful

Shakespeare’s words paint a bleak and unflattering portrait of beauty. Here are other less-than-complimentary words and phrases frequently associated with descriptions of beauty: Temporary. Quickly fading. Only skin deep. Shallow. Trivial. Superficial. Empty. There are numerous others that could be noted. Growing…

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…

I Hear You

"So they come to you as people do, they sit before you [as] My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, [but] their hearts pursue their [own] gain.”Ezekiel 33:31…

You Know Better

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9 ESV How many times did I hear these words as a child? "Sherri Renee! You know…

Hopefully Devoted

"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works...and not be unfruitful." Titus 3:14 ESV Anybody out there old enough to remember the 1978 American musical film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? Set in the 1950s, "Grease" is the…

Enough Already!

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 ESV We, humankind, have a legacy of self-dependence, self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and self-assurance. Early in our history, God erased humankind, except for Noah and his small family, because man's pervasive self-centered…

So Beautiful

"Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7 ESV We were tired and ready to check in as we drove into the hotel's…

Great Expectations

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8 ESV We are born dreamers. We are always expecting…

Conversations

How frustrating to be party to a one-sided conversation. A conversation that, no matter what you started to say, was hijacked by the other person.   You walk away or disconnect from such a conversation, realizing you never had the opportunity to…

Finding Home

The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NIV We moved to Garland, Texas, in the middle of my third-grade year. I lived in that same house on Sweetbriar until I…

Words

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”  Proverbs 16:24 ESV First words. Sweet evidence that a baby is growing and developing. After several months of cute, unintelligible jabbering, it is beyond exciting when parents…

God of Details

"What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him?" Hebrews 2:6 ESV Over the past months, I have been repeatedly dazzled by the details of God's handiwork in creation. Whether driving along…

The Author

"This God—His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. Psalm 18:30 ESV Some of my earliest and fondest memories include the many times Momma read to me.…

Purposed & Prepared

"I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:11 In Chapter Thirteen of Numbers, God directed Moses to send twelve tribal leaders to "spy out" the land of Canaan—the land God…

Glass Flowers

"But You, O LORD, know me; You see me, and test my heart toward You." Jeremiah 12:3a Often called "Glass flowers, the Skeleton flower is a marvel of God's glorious creation. Scientifically known as the Diphylleia grayi, the Glass flower is a…