Scripture: “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV). Although my parents were poor, they managed to keep the magic in our Christmas celebrations. Not so my lordly older brother. While I remained blissfully unaware of Santa’s true identity, Mickey smirked at my childish ignorance. He even persuaded our mother to let him […]

Scripture: God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! (Ephesians 3:20 MSG). In December 1942, I was seven years old and a firm believer in Santa Claus. My one request that year was for a toy piano like the one my friend owned. I wrote […]

Scripture:  But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23 AMP). It’s hard to watch the news stations, even […]

Scripture: A man who has friends]must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV). Thanks to my incredibly efficient daughter-in-law who arranged an affordable flight, I was able to go visit my dear friend Debra Westergaard last week.  While we’ve only known each other for about three years, no sisters […]

  Scripture: “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. . . No man can tame the tongue.” (James 3:6, 8 NKJV). I recently read an article about a man who killed a rattlesnake, only to be bitten by its severed head. Evidently, snakes can meter how much venom to inject, but this one, […]

COOK, EAT, AND WASH DISHES Scripture: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV). One of my mother’s unforgettable stories was about a lady whose mind gave way when she considered the endless repetition of her life. One day this woman threw […]

Scripture: Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT). I was not yet school-age when my family moved to Rolla, a tiny town in southwestern Kansas with one stop light, two blocks of shops, and several dirt streets lined […]

Scripture: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). About a year ago, our local movie theater showed an animated portrayal of The Pilgrim’s Progress. I had read the book when younger, but the visual scenes—and possibly my own maturity—made it much more meaningful. In my morning meditation, the […]

Scripture: “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”—Isaiah 53:6 NLT Our Bible study class has been talking of how God compares us to sheep. Inept creatures, they will follow anything—a piece of paper blowing in the wind or even a predatory wolf. […]