The Mirror of Truth
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been spending less time looking at my face in the mirror. At first, it was because I did not want to see the wrinkles there. I’m not uptight about them anymore. I’ve accepted them as a normal part of aging. Why do look in the mirror less often? I simply […]
A Meditation on the Meaning of Faith
Compared to some of my past life experiences, I am not currently going through a tough time. Just the normal frustrations of aging. My poem, today, is a reflection of more difficult days. I wrote it with confidence and joy because I’ve discovered this: what felt like failure turned out to be success; what felt […]
Living in Jesus’ Presence
Many years ago, I read the little booklet “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. It stirred in me a deep desire to live my daily life with a conscious awareness of Jesus with me. I believe this is what Jesus was desiring for all of his followers in his prayer to […]
The “Law vs. Grace” Conflict
This greedy little squirrel and my husband are engaged in a conflict. Every morning John fills the bird feeder and scatters sunflower seeds across the deck for birds that prefer to eat it there. This squirrel not only gobbles up the seeds on the deck but also climbs up the pole into the bird feeder […]
A MOTHER’S DAY PSALM OF PRAISE AND PETITION
I HONOR YOU, GOD, AS THE DESIGNER OF MOTHERHOOD Father-God, I praise you for your mothering heart— The love which you have for all creation; You feed the sparrow and provide a cliff for the goat. You send the sunshine and the rain. You smile on children of every nation. Your heart delights in […]
Caring for Crushed and Broken Turtles
I don’t usually insert such ugly, sad, and “unpleasant” photos into my blog posts. However, I hope you will not quickly reject this post but read it to the end. I think turtles are fantastic creatures and tears filled my eyes when I saw this crushed and broken one–a lowly reptile but still beautiful in […]
COME to JESUS
I’m thankful for the office space I have in my home. On some days, I don’t take time to get dressed before I start writing. Neither do I bother combing my hair. Before I forget them, I want to quickly put down the words that are in my mind. Words of a song or poem […]
Run with Enthusiasm and Energy
I love this photo because it depicts the enthusiasm and energy we need to run the race God has set before us. (I, also, love it because that’s my grandson out front!) Sadly, after enthusiastically writing my blog, A Vision for Retirement, on March 8, I posted nothing for 6 weeks. I felt like quitting. […]
A Vision of Retirement
The picture John and I had of retirement is a little different than what we imaged it would be fifty years, ago. Back then, the thought of retirement was not even on our radar. My plan was, and still is, to never get “old”! Somehow, the years have slipped away and we are there. Retired? […]
Generous Justice
For the last few weeks, I’ve been attending a class in which we are studying Timothy Keller’s book, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just. It is an excellent description of God’s character, of what he desires, and how commands us to live. The theme is giving to others what they deserve. That means […]