EnglishââGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.â Psalm 107:1 NIV (The Holy Bible, New International Version 2011) Françaisâ<<Dites merci au SEIGNEUR, car il est bon, et son amour est pour toujours!>> Psaume 107:1 PDV (La Sainte Bible, Parole de Vie 2017) Españolâ<<Den gracias al Señor, porque Ă©l es bueno, … Continue reading Give Thanks!
One of my climbing red rose bushes last year developed a really thick stem with huge prickly thorns for practically its entire length of about four feet. That started me to think about the thorns we are enduring in our daily lives which have been turned topsy-turvy in 2020 and 2021 as we react to … Continue reading Enduring Thorns
There are times when life can become overwhelming. The sense of not being able to shoulder alone what is being thrown at you is very real for all of us at one time or another. It may be the loss of a loved one. Or losing oneâs job. Struggling with health issues. Betrayal of a … Continue reading Carrying Each Other’s Burdens
This may be the season when you find yourself with extra green tomatoes on the vine in your garden, or you see them at your farmerâs market or at your grocerâs. If so, here is an easy recipe for Sizzling Southern Fried Green Tomatoes, just the way I made them for my children when they … Continue reading Sizzling Southern Fried Green Tomatoes: Tingle Your Taste Buds (Recipe with Photos)
During the fall and winter monthsâor anytime, for that matterâtaking a little extra time to prepare a special treat to eat can help take our minds off things that may be challenging in our lives. Here is a favorite recipe of mine for Sweet Potato Pie. Sweet Potato Preparation: 2 cups cooked sweet potatoes drained … Continue reading Maybe It’s Time for Sweet Potato Pie (Recipe)
Most everyone loves chocolate. If that includes you, you are in for a surprise at how easy and delicious todayâs Magic Chocolate Cake is. It has a texture somewhere between chocolate cake and chocolate brownie. The recipe comes from a vegetarian cookbook called The Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond. She says it is magic because … Continue reading The Magic Is in the Mix (Recipe with Photos)
From time to time Iâve watched a few of the PBS episodes called âStorage Wars.â These are about abandoned rental storage units all over the U.S.A. opened up for on-site auction sales of the contents. Whether the unit contains junk or âjewels,â it may represent our desire to acquire more and more. Along with that … Continue reading How Much Stuff Is Enough?
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish author of novels, plays, and poems. In 1808 he wrote the poem âMarmion: A tale of Flodden Field.â In it he cleverly and skillfully pointed out the risk of telling falsehoods with the couplet: âOh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive.â Just as with … Continue reading The Tangled Web We Weave
We see it all around us: cars stolen, vehicles broken into; valuables stripped from a home or shop through break-in and entry; packages snatched from a front porch; retail merchandise slipped out of a store; someoneâs identity information used in a fraudulent manner; take-overs of personal, corporate, and governmental online systems through hacking. The list … Continue reading I’ll Just Help Myself, Thank You!
Little girls pluck the petals from a flower and dream their way to the colorful last one. âHe loves me. He loves me not,â they repeat. Middle school boys exhibit awkwardness when that certain someone is close by. Youths and adults seek companionship and intimacy. Everyone wants a love that will last a lifetime. The … Continue reading Faithfulness Within a Sacred Union
Genesis, the first book of Moses in the Holy Bible, tells us that God created the first man Adam from the dust of the earth and the first woman Eve from one of Adamâs ribs. We are also told that these first persons in the world were created in the image of the God who … Continue reading Disregard for the Image of God
Whether your mother and father are your biological parents or others who raised you, they are the reason you have life. Of course we know some did a better job at loving, protecting, and nurturing than others. It hasnât been very long since my youngest adult child said to me, âMom, thanks for giving me … Continue reading Those Who Gave Us Life
Although the term R&R has varying interpretations in different situations, a basic meaning is rest and recreation. Now, we all know what ârestâ means. But wait a minute: how did you pronounce ârecreationâ in your head as you were reading? Did you say [RECK ree A shun]? Or did you say [REE kree A shun]? … Continue reading Making Time for R&R
What a person is named or called is a sensitive issue for many. What Mom or Dad thought was a unique and lovely name for their newborn may later cause that child to be ridiculed. A guy who is a âJr.â may feel he can never be the achiever his Dad was. Some love nicknames. … Continue reading What’s In a Name ?
Todayâs snippet blog post presents what I call the Second Lighthouse Lamp of a list of ten spiritual directives which anyone can use to give meaning and direction to life. The first was acknowledging and worshiping One God. The second, which we are looking at today, instructs us not to create and then worship the … Continue reading Creating Our Own Gods
The directives which are the basis of the Judeo-Christian tradition of reverence and worship of God, and also believersâ conduct, are found in the early writings of the Holy Bible. However, even those raised in this tradition sometimes are conflicted between wanting to do what they have been taught is ârightâ and feeling constricted by … Continue reading Ancient Lamps Still Operational in a Modern World
Just as the beams from the lamp of a lighthouse cut through the nighttime sky to guide sea vessels safely to shore, so the Bible--Godâs Holy Word--provides lamps to help us navigate this journey we call life. Todayâs blog post begins a new snippet series. Each entry will be a 'lamp.' And each lamp will … Continue reading Lamps to Help Us See Our Way Through Life
EnglishââDo to others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31 NIV (The Holy Bible, New International Version 2011) Françaisâ«Faites pour les autres ce que vous voulez quâils fassent pour vous.» Luc 6 :31 PDV (La Sainte Bible, Parole de Vie 2017) Españolâ«Hagan ustedes con los demĂĄs como quieren que los demĂĄs hagan con … Continue reading A North Star Worthy of Following
I don't know if the number or the monetary value of your Christmas, Hanukkah, or other Winter Holiday presents is different this year than in years past. Perhaps your financial situation is insecure due to the ramifications of the spread of the Coronavirus. Maybe you are feeling down that you cannot provide those holiday gifts … Continue reading Family and Friends Are the Best Presents
A few years ago one of my daughters gave me a gorgeous ceramic piece which had been crafted by an artist friend. It was strictly decorative, not utilitarian; which is fine because art can serve the purpose of lifting our spirits, causing us to reflect perhaps introspectively, or encouraging our minds toward how we might … Continue reading Imperfect But Still Beautiful
As I was video-chatting with one of my grandsons recently, my casual conversation drifted to a time in my marriage before children. I told him I had had my first full-time teaching position in the adjacent community of Jeffersontown, or known by most of us as J-town. And my husband was working as a machinist … Continue reading Special Delivery
Spring 2019 was a wonderfully fulfilling time for me. I had been working several months on giving music and mini-drama to a formerly tucked-away lyric which told of the birth and life of Jesus in a way understandable to children. I enlisted the music director at my church as my proof-reader and advisor as I … Continue reading A Musical Score Written in God’s Time
EnglishââGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.â Psalm 107:1 NIV (The Holy Bible, New International Version 2011) Françaisâ<<Dites merci au SEIGNEUR, car il est bon, et son amour est pour toujours!>> Psaume 107:1 PDV (La Sainte Bible, Parole de Vie 2017) Españolâ<<Den gracias al Señor, porque Ă©l es bueno, … Continue reading Give Thanks!
If thereâs one good which may come out of these terrible times of COVID-19, perhaps it is the lessons we have learned about appreciating more those parts of our lives which were snatched away from us. As workers and students, we probably complained at some point about the job we had to go to or … Continue reading Lessons Learned Through Loss
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to smile more? Laugh more? Seem happier? I remember a first cousin of my mother named Allie who always seemed to have a giggle ready to overflow from the smile on her face. Whenever I was in her company, no matter the trite conversation that was going … Continue reading Happiness Is Contagious
Has the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly plunged your home, your neighborhood, your world into a cold, dark, unfriendly place to be? Whereâs a light to navigate your steps from one place to another? Psalm 119:105 says Godâs Word provides that illumination which not only lets you see where your feet are right now but shines a … Continue reading An Encouraging Word in Any Language!
Maybe in these times of our COVID-19 pandemic you are beginning to feel hopeless, or at the very least anxious, about the future. If so, let me ask you this question, âWhat work are you doing?â Naturally, I donât know your circumstances. On furlough from your job? Laid off from your job? Unable to work? … Continue reading Work Brings Hope
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