His deal: God is bountiful and faithful, according to His word
“What’s the deal?” I often ask when something’s happening that I don’t understand. Deal, an informal phrase for asking about a motive, problem, or situation. The meaning of the word "deal" in the Bible involves our interactions with God and how we treat one...
The Benefit You Reap through Faith, Wisdom, and God’s Grace
We’ve had a dry spring here at Vanaprastha; the vegetation would benefit from soaking rains. Thanks be to God, last week we received two inches. Yesterday, we benefited from our church community’s services and potluck at Trinity, our historical site in...
Nature’s fragile vessel doth sustain in life’s uncertain voyage
“Nature's fragile vessel doth sustain, In life's uncertain voyage…” Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens (Act 5, Scene 1) Timon’s words, spoken sarcastically, mean that our fragile bodies must sustain us through physical hardship and the pangs of love and loss....
In the beginning, the beginning of wisdom, the beginning and end
At the beginning of each week, I post reflections to my blog, being particularly inspired today due to God’s provision of much needed rain. Our weekdays end with Friday Happy Hours—recipes and stories posted on Substack—then Saturday and Sabbath. The Alpha and...
A day-by-day decision to seek wisdom, trust God, and choose life
Last Friday, Keith and I made a decision to let our newly adopted dog Lark off-leash, to give him freedom to explore. We’d prepared him for this moment. For ten days, I walked him on leash to familiarize him with the boundaries of our property, the sights, sounds,...
God’s Timing is Perfect and Fundamentally Different From Ours
It wasn’t that the timing was wrong, not exactly. But since we’d gotten used to having just one dog in the past several weeks, adopting another felt at best a little premature and maybe downright foolish. How were we going to find the time and energy to care for a...