“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” —Matthew 13:44 NLT
It’s not like I didn’t want to have a daily time of Bible reading. I did. It’s not like I thought praying on the run when I remembered it in emergencies was the best way to develop a rich prayer life. I didn’t. But how in the world was a busy mother of two children under the age of two supposed to find time for that?
… for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. — 1 Peter 1:6b-7
I’m typing this particular Musing in the waiting room at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. My beloved daddy is here.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. — Psalm 139:16 NLT
I’ll never forget her. I came down the stairs, still a bit groggy with sleep, into her welcoming kitchen. She was busy at the stove preparing a big breakfast for me and her other guests, and she was smiling … through some tears. She’d lost a son several years before, and the memory of him was still fresh (could it ever not be when a mother loses her child?).
I grew up in the grunge era.
Grunge was characterised by a subculture turning away from the slick, lavish, extravagant styles of previous eras. Although it very much started as a small pocket of society it became more and more mainstream as bands like Nirvana started to dominate the music scene. Grunge took a sort of diy approach to music, fashion, design, and entertainment, often it all seemed a little thrown together and muddled through.
If the 90s passed you by or you weren’t even born in the 90s you might be wondering what on earth grunge has to do with discipleship?
By any standards, I have had an amazing career in business. My path is unique and when I reflect over the past 20+ years, I am in awe of the journey I have been on. This is not to boast, as I feel like I have been given opportunities and had doors open when I was completely unqualified to do the job. By the favor and grace of God, I moved up the organizational ladder.
Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! — 1 Chronicles 16:9-11 (ESV)
I don’t know about you, but for our family when summer hits, everything changes. For as long as I can remember, since my husband is a schoolteacher, summertime has been a time for slowing down and recovering from an intense year of activity.
Writing a book and writing a book people will read are often two different things. Writing is a craft. It takes practice, and it takes skill, but it takes readers to make it worthwhile. One of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is writing as if they will never write another book. As a result, they cram in all the information they can along with every entertaining story they have.
When someone you love dies it feels like your warm blanket has been ripped off and you are standing in the middle of a winter storm. That’s how I felt when Bill woke up in Heaven. I was glad that he was no longer suffering. I was rejoicing that he could now walk and breathe and swallow. His glorified body was whole and he was healed.
Faith, hope and love are intricately linked. Faith is believing for the impossible. Hope is a confident assurance of a good outcome. Love is the sense of belonging and knowing that we are a family. Hope is hard to hold on to when someone you love seems determined to keep going in the wrong direction. That was our oldest daughter during her teenage years.
