Peace: Reflection

This year, I have had to adjust my own expectations for Christmas. Our youngest daughter is getting married. So, while others are thinking Christmas decorations; I'm trying to help a daughter with wedding decorations, long distance. This Christmas has been anything but typical. While we put the tree up as usual, I have found myself enjoying the carols more this year. Because of the finances involved in paying for a wedding, we have had to scale back what we are buying for Christmas. Since I have not had a lot of time, I have not made Christmas cards, which I love. At first, I was feeling down because it didn't "feel" like Christmas. So God reminded me that Christmas was really about a baby in a manger; not about gifts under a tree. Christmas this year has been a reminder for me to focus on Jesus and not on the things that we usually zoom in on at Christmas. Yes, God has given peace even in the knowledge that this will be the first year without our youngest daughter "home" for Christmas; peace that whatever presents we receive will be enough and peace that Christmas will be great even IF I don't get the cards done.

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Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid. I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road. I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

Just A Word of Praise!!

On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away. On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road. It was no big deal. We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home. Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat. Yikes! I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire. A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped. As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer. He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire. My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is. I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.” I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him. Within a few minutes, he had it hooked up and running. As it turned out, I was using it properly,

Inspirations

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