“The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you,’” Luke 1:28 NIV The young Mary startled at the angel’s appearance. She hadn’t received notice of Gabriel’s impending arrival. Her mother never instructed her on how to entertain angels. Mary simply had no idea what to do!…
How to Love Our Neighbors
Thumb hovering over the icon, I paused. I was fearful of opening this Pandora’s box of social media. With so many differences of opinion, the messages got messy, even mean. But God’s message is clear: love one another. But how? I Corinthians 13 details the how of loving one another well: Be patient. Be kind….
When Thanksgiving Isn’t a Feeling
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 NIV Soon, those of us in the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving. We remember what the Pilgrims did, thanking God for seeing them through their first year here in their settlement. They…
The Promise of Happiness
“But are you happy?” A question often heard, asked by well-meaning friends, colleagues and family who genuinely care. What is happiness? And what exactly does it mean to be happy? Dictionary.com defines happy as “delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing.” Happiness is a “quality or state of being happy; good fortune, pleasure,…
Trying to Remain Thankful
“Lord, I know Your mercies are new every morning,” I thought while creeping down the stairs in my exercise attire, “Help my eyes to see those mercies today.” My heart knew those words are true. My mind fought to see evidence of such. Have you too, struggled to remain positive, even thankful during this time?…
(Back in the) Habit of Thanksgiving
“Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.” II Corinthians 9:15 “What is a Thanksgiving Box?” our youngest daughter asked our oldest. “It was a decorated shoe box we would fill with strips of paper outlining what we are thankful for. We’d fill it all year long and then open it on Thanksgiving Day.” Our…
Shut In, Not Forgotten
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” It was January in Michigan, cold, dark, and stormy. As a young foreigner, I felt the weather matched my disposition. I was…
Booster Shots for Faith
“A shot? Seriously?” asked my then twelve-year-old daughter, “I thought I was finished with those.” “This is a booster shot, ” I explained, “It will help ‘remind’ your immune system that the bacteria which can cause tetanus is already known as foreign to the body and therefore should be attacked. If the immune system does…
Trusting God in a Pandemic
Quarantine. Riots. Mandated social distancing. It’s been six months! Lord, make this end! Today, please! I can’t do this anymore! Not the first time in my life I prayed these sentences. Twelve years ago, I uttered the same prayer. I was a cancer patient. After four months of hard chemotherapy, I had four treatments left….
Choosing Spiritual Health
With over 30 trillion cells, the human body is amazing! And just as astonishing is the fact that our bodies utilize the foods we consume to rebuild, refresh, and renew each of those cells! Our bodies are a constant work in progress! We have learned, if we want to operate at peak performance, we must…