Summer has arrived…at least for today. It is wonderful to have everything growing and blooming again. Whatever it is like in your neck of the woods – happy Saturday! Thanks for stopping in! Read: Habakkuk 3:17-19 I admit, this is a daunting scripture. The writer, Habakkuk, lived in a climate of social injustice. He cried …
Out of the Chaos
Inspiration for living outside of the chaos.
Waiting: to look forward expectantly, to stay in a place of expectation. I await the arrival of my second granddaughter. It occurs to me that even though there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of babies born every day, not everyone is waiting for the arrival of a baby. In the same way, not everyone waits for …
Read: Micah 7:7-8 Micah was confident and it inspires me to be courageous. If you take time to read the whole chapter, you will see that he lived in tumultous times. And yet his confidence wasn’t in what he could see or even the people closest to him. His hope was in the unchanging character …
Read: Psalm 40:1-3 The psalmist is in a bad place in a pit of despair. I have been there and I bet you have too. But what do we do when we feel our feet sinking into the mud and mire? What did the psalmist do? The psalmist “waited patiently for the Lord to help …
Change. We pray for change. We dread change. We desire change. Change happens when we seek it and when we avoid it. It’s a part of life. Some change is desired; other change is avoided. This change in our lives is celebrated! Our youngest daughter is getting married in September. We couldn’t be happier about …
There are times when I feel anxious about life. The future looks difficult and uncertain. Today is riddled with despair. Despair about the “what ifs.” And I don’t even always realize they are there. It’s like bugs on a hot summer day – buzzing around, making noise, distracting me. Read: 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:1, 7 …
This morning I sat down to read, opening to 2 Timothy. I am preparing for a sermon I will preach in a couple of weeks, so I read with extra attentiveness Paul’s words to his friend, Timothy. Read: 2 Timothy 1:1, 12 It strikes me that Paul lived with the end in mind. He was …
The strategic planning exercise we participated in at Ashland University challenged me. I had done the same type of activities in other settings, but our instructor simplified it for us. He suggested the process to get from where we are to where we want to be includes three elements: Daily Diversion: We were challenged to …
There I sat with a colossal mess! Dave came home and I sheepishly told him that I understood if he was upset. There was no blame coming from me if he was. And I led him to the chaotic mess in our backyard. And he loved it! Not the mess so much, but the idea …
A few years ago I attended a conference at Ashland University in Ohio. The presenter gave us a strategic planning exercise to develop our spiritual lives. His first admonition: begin with the end in mind. Soon after we moved into our house, I decided I wanted a fire pit area. Dave was home for lunch …
Out of the Chaos 