Rest for my soul
I am sitting on my porch, my muscles sore in a good way, and a big smile on my face. And dirt under my fingernails. This week I worked (more like played and dawdled) in my garden. Smiling also as…
Nourish your soul.
It is coffee hour on a summer Sunday—that time after church service when we sip coffee (or if we're brave, some unidentifiable fruit juice) and chat about the weather, the week's news, or if it's memorable, the sermon. Whatever we're…
Conscious of our treasures
Sister Lychen had a word of prophesy every Sunday in her Pentecostal Church. She'd stand up and say, "The Lord has revealed to me that I will be caught up in the clouds of glory." Every week, the same prophesy.Eugene's…
The gift of small wonders
I love Spring. Since I was a young boy in Southern Michigan, I have loved Spring. Snow was okay, but in Spring the world felt vibrant; animated and renewed, colors, fragrance, blossoms and the passionate chatter of birds. (And, it’s…
Breaking bread together
There are plans for the day or the week. You know, lists neatly compiled. Everything in its place. Each item awaiting that gratifying check mark.And then, life happens. And the list goes by the wayside. And something in our spirit…
Seeing the gifts in the present
A pious man heard God. “Tomorrow night I’m going to visit your home,” the voice told him.The man pushed aside his predictable hesitation, and rolled the dice in favor of belief. After all, it’s not often you get a personal…
Discover what we already have
Every December I like to read Garrison Keillor's story about a young boy who wanted a Lionel Train Set for Christmas.The father, of a family of seven, was in the hospital and unable to work. The mother, worried about money…
The gift of gratitude
A beggar sits on a box, just outside the gates of a city. The beggar cannot work and subsists on the charity of passersby. On this day, the beggar receives no handouts. Finally, one person stops, but to the disquiet…
Sanctify the ordinary
For children of all ages, C.S. Lewis's wardrobe has been the entryway to the magical world of Narnia--of emerald witches, talking horses, kings, and magic apples. But for L.R. Holmes of Camp Cottage, Gloucestershire, the threshold to enchantment is nothing…
Stay alive to this life
Sometimes air travel feels like a microcosm of our world’s heaviness and uncertainty. In other words, a place where we wonder what possibly may go awry.When I used to fly frequently, I remember times, let’s say, “on edge.”There’s a chunk…
