When it comes to the disciplines of the Christian life, I feel like, by God’s grace, I’ve made some real progress these past couple of years. I’m no super-Christian. If I live to be 103, I’ll still have work to do. But God has worked in my life and helped allow some of these disciplines to really take off. I have a pretty good Bible reading habit, and a pseudo developed prayer life. But the area I struggle in the most is Scripture memorization. Actually, is it considered a struggle if you don’t even attempt it? That’s me. Lately, though, it just keeps coming up in things I’m reading or…
-
-
What Kind of Name Is Hephzibah?
Lately I’ve been studying the book of Isaiah. For those of you not super familiar with the Bible, it’s not a common study subject. It starts the section of the Bible that is primarily prophesy. Prophets were considered ‘seers’ or ‘pronouncers’ in Old Testament times. God used prophets to convey to both the His children (the Israelites) and surrounding nations what His plans were and how they were to live in light of the things revealed to them. So when the Holy Spirit started pushing me toward Isaiah, I had my doubts. I thought I was in for a bunch of boring curses on other nations and condemnation for Israel’s…
-
Spring Cleaning…More Than Just The Closets?
The weather warms up. Flowers start to bloom. Gardens get planted. Birds start chirping. All seems well with the world as we begin to thaw out from the winter months. Spring is finally here. Along with all the glorious things spring brings, the not-so-glamorous spring cleaning also rolls around. This year I started in big. I’d been reading up on books about minimalism and had lots of ideas. One lady I read went so far as to suggest eliminating any kind of wall art in an attempt to de clutter her house. I chose a few of her less extreme practices and kept my picures. I started tackling sections of…
-
The Eye Doctor Evangelist
It was that time of year again….time to get my eyes checked. I hadn’t managed my last contact order well and the remaining pair was getting painful…and I was wearing my glasses a LOT! I arrived at my appointment on the first day insurance would cover me for this year. As I’m sitting in waiting area, anxiety already building over the dreaded ‘puff’ test’, I overheard the tech and another patient. I don’t know what she had shared with her, but the tech proclaimed in a joyful yet understanding voice, “Girl, it’ll all work out. I know it seems rough right now, but God always works things out. Just hang…
-
Pray For Me? How To Love Others Through Prayer
“I’m so sorry to hear that; I’ll keep you in my prayers” “Of course I understand how difficult that is, I’ll be praying for you and your family.” Though impossible to tabulate, I would love to know the statistics on how many people follow up with prayer for the concerns of their family and friends. I know what those stats look like in my own life, and it’s pretty embarrassing. More times than not, I use these phrases as a ‘Christian’ kind of encouragement. An attempt to keep some Jesus in the middle of tough circumstances. But the number of times I actually engage Jesus on someone else’s behalf is…
