• Are you asking too much?

    Maybe I’m not the only one who has had lifelong struggles with various things- with circumstances I’ve asked the Lord to intervene, to fix or make better, or to equip me to bear more graciously. But the answers don’t seem to come, despite years and years of praying and working. But I continue to pray,…

  • 100 Year-Old Valentine

    My grandmother saved everything! This is actually a good thing for me. She had an amazing, adventurous life, but I never got the opportunity to really get to know her “in person” because she lived far away from us (she lived in metro-D.C., we were in Georgia). Our visits with her were few, and she…

  • A Life Well-Lived

    In the months approaching this half-century mark of my life, it has come to my attention with increasing frequency that we do not get any do-overs when it comes to the time that we are given to spend this side of eternity.  And, I will admit, I waste a lot of it.  I don’t like…

  • Advent: Why a Stable?

      This simple poem has a powerful message for me. I hope that it will encourage your heart, that it will help you to understand the depths of the love and grace and goodness that our Savior has for you. “Let the Stable Still Astonish”  Let the stable still astonish: Straw-dirt floor, dull eyes, Dusty…

  • Advent: When You’re Afraid

  • Advent: Bursting Your Christmas Bubble

    It’s easy to get the wrong impression about all this Christmas stuff. Watching round-the-clock sappy Hallmark Christmas movies, being mesmerized by inspirational Christmas stuff, lulled by the crackle of the fire, the smell of peppermint and other spices, the sweet sound of jingling bells…. None of those things is what Christmas is about.

  • Advent: Why A Christmas?

    There are lots of questions about Christmas. The whole thing seems to be clouded in mystery.

  • Advent: Love and Marshmallows

    Tuesday, December 20 (Suggested Reading I John 3:1) Every year around Christmas time, one of my favorite things to do is to make homemade marshmallows. They are fun to make, relatively easy, they taste really good, and many people find them to be a fun treat.  On the downside, they are pretty messy, and they…

  • Advent: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

    Monday, December 19 (Suggested Reading: Matthew 2:3-8) One year a local church gave out cross-shaped signs for members to place in their yards. The signs gave the date and times of the church’s Easter services that year- a great evangelism tool, right? Maybe not!

  • Advent: You Will Find Him

    Sunday, December 18 (Suggested Reading Luke 2:11-12, 16; Deuteronomy 4:29-31) Having been given the word that the Messiah was born, having been sent by the angel to find Him- the baby lying in a manger- how did the shepherds know where to look?