“Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones …” —Exodus 20:24-25a (NIV) I’ve read the Bible quite a few times, but I still come across verses that surprise me. These verses with their instructions not to “fancy up” an altar … definitely one of those surprises. Had I ever read them before? I must have. However, these verses come at the tail end of a chapter that lists the very notable Ten Commandments upon which even our […] Read more »

Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. —Psalm 33:20 NJKV High winds, wetter snows, melting snows, ice storms, power outages, dark days and foggy nights, wildlife stirred by warming temperatures, and back roads now dotted with weight limit signs … and mud! All marks of the back side of the beautiful New England winter. March is a month of not doing a whole lot other than waiting out late season storms, dodging the infamous pot holes, slogging through mud, and longing for the buds to begin. It does have its beautiful side … no black flies yet, and the Maine state bird, otherwise known as the mosquito, is still nowhere to be found. The honking of returning Canadian geese […] Read more »

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. —Psalm 63:3-4 (NIV) The rushing water roared as we approached the rapids. My heart became a drum, beating to the rhythm of the river. My mother was seated in the front seat of the inflatable kayak, her life jacket scrunched up around her chin. I paddled, trying to keep the nose of the kayak pointed forward. “Hold on!” I shouted. Like a roller coaster, we dropped over the rocks and were ushered into the middle of the foamy water. But I couldn’t keep the boat straight. We turned slightly and capsized. Everything dumped into […] Read more »

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. —Hebrews 9:27-28 NLT It’s been a full day of work and laundry, phone calls and dog walks. I’ve checked enough items off my “to do” list for the day and am indulging in a little Facebook scrolling. An article catches my attention, and I stop to read. It’s about a man named John Harper. He and his little girl were on the Titanic traveling to Chicago where he […] Read more »