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Those shots are blanks. They roar at us or past us, but they’re blanks. God’s mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is above the heavens. I may feel wounded by the shots of those blanks, but I mustn’t think they’ll destroy me — I must take those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Continue reading Drawing a blank Through our lives we have experiences that are etched on our hearts and minds — experiences that shape our thinking, shape our reactions, shape our responses, shape our decisions — maybe even shape our initial theology or lack thereof. If these etchings were recorded on 3×5 cards, in time we’d have quite a card file full, wouldn’t we? Events and experiences, lessons and influences all recorded on cards make up our individual card catalogs. It’s interesting to me, every now and then, to come across a card I realize has had a profound impact on my life and Continue reading the suicide option 
I’ve been mulling over the thought of seasons ending in various stages of bloom. It was below freezing through the night and this morning and as I look out the windows of my warm home, I see all around, summer is falling to the ground. The trees are losing their leaves, many fewer on the trees today than yesterday… more all over the lawn and field. The roses, hydrangeas and other flowering plants are losing their beauty, ending in various stages of bloom. The wood burns hot in my woodstove… wood cut from huge trees that still had more life Continue reading Seasons End In Various Stages Of Bloom I’m in the midst of an overwhelming project: I have thousands of pictures to sort. Earlier today I was standing next to a table lined with boxes into which I’m distributing the thousands of pictures. It never seemed like we took a lot of pictures. At the time. What I remember of the early days was buying film and flash bulbs, taking pictures during special events and occasional pictures of our children’s milestones or accomplishments. And those quick get the camera adorable poses. We’d get to the end of a roll of film and put the roll (along with the Continue reading Thousands of Pictures to Sort Daily Devotionals: potentially instructive, potentially destructive. Isn’t it interesting what the Lord uses in our lives to speak to us? He speaks through His Word, He ministers to us through teaching, poetry, testimonies, music, His creation; He works in us through joys and sorrows, hardships, grief, loss, trials, and countless other ways. He blesses us with all of these things — though we often miss seeing His signature it at the time. He blesses us with all these things — if we’ll receive them with that recognition. Do you have or read a daily devotional? I’ve had mixed opinions Continue reading Daily Devotionals Do you ever feel like your feelings or your emotions are in a spin cycle — as if life’s experiences or circumstances are spinning out all your feelings or emotions? Sometimes my washer spins so long I wonder how in the world there’s any moisture at all left in the clothing or the towels or whatever. That’s how some days feel to me emotionally. Sometimes. Emotions completely spun out. I remember feeling like that when I had babies and children to care for each day — only it wasn’t emotions, necessarily, it was energy — Continue reading …feelings in the spin cycle In the wake of the breaking news stories in the last couple of days, it’s hard to fathom the depths of evil consuming our nation. The enormity of this may well be underestimated, and the trail of money on a spiraling street paved with innocent blood may well be staggeringly more than can possibly be imagined. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10.31 Surely judgement has come on America when a nation will slaughter its own babies for great profit under the guise of research. Continue reading Dark Days Have you ever imagined your life as something completely different than it is today? I don’t mean doing different things or changing jobs or whatever — I mean, living in a home that is a completely different type of home than you’ve been accustomed to living in all your life. Tiny houses. I’d never thought about living in a tiny house — not me personally, anyway. I’ve thought about what it might be like for someone to live in a tiny house — I mean, I do love browsing Pinterest, you know. But lots of what Continue reading Tiny Houses For the last fourteen years, I’ve had a day where I’ve stood between two days, looking back and looking ahead. Today is that day. Fourteen years ago when I looked back at that “yesterday” and ahead to that “tomorrow,” I didn’t know that I would come to call it my Bookends Day. I didn’t know at the time that a final chapter had been written… that the baby born on June 29th would be my last living baby. And when I looked ahead to “tomorrow” that day, I was amazed that my first baby would be twenty Continue reading Yesterday & Tomorrow I’m mulling over a Kelly Crawford “quiverfull” article I read yesterday. It so resonated with me (as her writings often do) and brought to mind several related labels and names. One thing that came to mind almost immediately is the number of times recently that I’ve wanted to distance myself from a particular word, practice, inference, organization, person, product, etc., etc., when any one of them failed or turned out to be different than I thought or understood them to be — or when my personal definition or application of a particular word or practice didn’t/doesn’t line up Continue reading Labels and Names |
