Today's Musing is from Margaret Fowler. “… Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” —Luke 15:6b NIV We recently moved from Maine to New Hampshire. It’s a simple statement, but not as simple as it sounds. We had reached the point in our old age when we could not keep up a big garden and a big house. We heard of a place for sale across the road from our daughter Bethany. It was a sign from heaven! So, we sold our home and began the packing process. “Packing” is a simple word but a big job, especially when you are almost 90 years old. We happily moved into this lovely home, all on one floor for easier living, and now the job […] Read more »

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. —James 1:19-20 NLT “Can you please let me finish?” sputtered my husband, as I once again assumed I knew how he was going to finish a sentence and finished it for him. We both felt a bit exasperated. I wanted him to speak more quickly, and he wanted me to listen more slowly. Then God reminded me of the verse in James that totally backed up Ray’s point of view. I should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. My hurry-up attitude is not in line with what God […] Read more »

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. —Psalm 51:7-9 NIV A snowstorm greeted the new year in our small New England town, covering the bleak landscape under a blanket of white. I marveled at the majestic, flocked forest and pristine hills transformed from a dirty and drab setting into something clean and dazzling. It was extraordinary. I think God sees us this way, too––clean and dazzling after our dirty and drab sins are covered. Like a ruby beholder, an artist’s tool made of red cellophane that filters out the […] Read more »

But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And here will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” —Ruth 1:16-17 NKJV A new January has arrived, and with it, thoughts of beginning anew. The story of Ruth comes to my mind. The story starts with a mom and a dad and ends with a king. In the middle stands a woman of decided faith, the God she chose, and the redeemer who […] Read more »

Thoughts at Christmas Time Part Four of Four   Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” —Matthew 2:1-2 NASB It’s January 1, 2024. A new year has begun—and with it, the usual ponderings about how we should live differently in the days ahead. Whether you’re a “resolution maker” or not, all of us want to do better and live happier. That’s a natural human inclination. One of the best ways to make change is to study wisdom and what makes a person […] Read more »