Valuing the Second Half of Life’s Same-But-Different
Five people, four generations, two in the first half of life, three in the second half. The last picture I have of my mother, with me, my daughter, granddaughter, and elder sister. Christmas 2019. Six weeks later, Mother passed away at the age of 96. …for...
Who’s the I about to disrupt the world, bread & water, worship?
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to disrupt, but would you heal my demon-possessed daughter? She’s suffering so much.” That’s how I wanted to picture the scene of the Canaanite woman and Jesus in Matthew 15:21-28, which Pastor explored in his message yesterday. Reading the...
God’s Shift as Protection, Faith Test, and Season Change
We all experience times of shift—literally and metaphorically. Have you ever wondered why? Sometimes, it’s the shift, change, or move from one season to the next. Sometimes, it’s a faith test designed to shift us. And sometimes it’s for our...
What we can afford, what we cannot afford, and God’s afford
“We can afford that,” Keith said when I asked him about possibly having to re-drill the wells for our geothermal system. Afford as in bearing the cost. With the drought, one of the wells seems to have gone dry. The deep well that provides water to the...
What Phase are you in: Growth, Flower, Fruit or Seed?
A phase is part of a cycle or course of development, as seen in Scripture, ourselves, and in the vegetation surrounding us. Remember the story about the cherry seeds that germinated in planters we kept on our deck in Alexandria and transplanted here...
The Route to Meaning, through the Wilderness, to the Cross
There’ve been times in my life when I thought the route I’d chosen was a good one. Sometimes it was, thanks be to God, but sometimes it wasn’t, and in that case always because of that “I.” The “I” who thought she’d found the route to meaning in this world—all by...