Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. —Luke 12:27 ASV It’s Monday and I’m looking at a rather large mountain of work. After just returning from a week away, the laundry itself is a literal mountain. Suitcases need unpacking and groceries need buying. Workmen were in the house in our absence, so there’s tidying to do and some rearranging. A blog to write, emails to answer, contracts to sign, mail and phone messages to return, and bills to pay. Then, come the unexpected requests: Could I lead a prayer group this week on Wednesday morning? Just 20 minutes or so. Would […] Read more »

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” —Matthew 5:43-44 NKJV To Bless: “to say a prayer asking God to help and protect someone or something.” (Macmillan Dictionary) I was angry. I’d been shot down for the hundredth time at the meeting I was leading. One lady clearly did not like me and was bound and determined to disagree with every single little thing I said. Our committee was getting absolutely nowhere and time was running out. Decisions had to be made, and I felt as […] Read more »

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. –1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT On October 14, 1974, exactly 45 years ago today … Ray Gamble kissed me for the first time. We had been friends for a couple of years and enjoyed being together. He had come to know Christ as Lord and Savior a few months before that special day, and I’d been thrilled that my friend who used to poke […] Read more »

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. —2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV Someone made me cry last weekend. I didn’t even know her name. She was the sister of a neighbor of mine. We were at our annual neighborhood block party, standing in the late afternoon sun, when she smiled at me and said, “Oh, I just have to say this. You are so beautiful standing there in the sunlight!” I blinked in disbelief. I’m not beautiful anymore, not […] Read more »