We are in full on Christmas mode, aren’t we? Traffic is worse than normal. Stores are more crowded. Children are making wish lists. People appear to be completely hurried. Anxiety about what to buy for loved ones and how much to spend on them is running high. We all know how commercialized Christmas has become, and yet every year we fall into the ...
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, ...
I grew up with palm trees overhead and flip-flops on my feet every single Christmas. Florida doesn’t exactly celebrate “the changing of the seasons,” which might explain why I will pull the car over just to get a picture of the leaves changing and clap my hands at the first snowfall. For eighteen years, I experienced summer year round. This has ...
Christmas is indeed on its way. The good news is that we don't have to be ready for it. Our halls don't have to be decked. The cookies don't have to be baked. The gifts don't have to be wrapped. We don't have to go caroling. And we don't have to stress because no matter what we do or do not get done, Jesus is still coming. Ready or not, God ...
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, ...
I savor those first few moments of the morning before I emerge from bed where I experience no pain. I lie still and pray for healing, hoping today I might feel normal again. I roll out of bed and do the stretches recommended by my physical therapist, but so far they’ve made no difference. Before my coffee is done percolating, the burning begins ...
I don’t buy a new purse very often. My last purse was falling apart before my eyes, so I caved and bought myself a new one. I picked a very plain, pretty grey one. Not too big, not too small, just perfect. As soon as I got it home, I transferred only the essentials over. I didn’t want it overflowing with stuff I didn’t need. I wanted to keep it ...
Have you started singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” yet? Admittedly, I’m a humming machine right now. The sights, sounds, and nostalgia of the holiday season have drawn me in, and my senses are celebrating from the simple pleasures. As I snuggle in my cozy blanket on the sofa, candles flicker on our kitchen table, twinkly white ...
Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, ...
Our family got some terrific news last week. It was the sort of news that called for hands-in-the-air praise on the town square. But I was so reluctant to share the good news with the people who had prayed for us most earnestly, the ones who sent daily kind words and Bible verses over texts, the ones who came to the house to pray. Here’s ...
