Growing in Grace and Truth

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven. The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has...

And he answered, “Y OU SHALL LOVE THE L ORD YOUR G OD WITH ALL YOUR HEART , AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL , AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH , AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND ; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF .” Luke 10:27 I have been watching my kids play basketball for close to a decade.   That adds up to hundreds of games over the years.  I have seen coaches give pep talks. I have seen the team huddle together in the middle of the court and cheer.  Once in a while I have heard the coach sternly get after the team for not playing up to their potential.  All of these things are done with gusto in hopes of spurring the team to play their best and win the game. In all of my years of watching my kids play basketball, I have never heard a coach get all excited before a game and scream to the team, "Woooo hooo!  Are you ready to give it your half-hearted effort?  I want to see you give 50%!"     On the contrary.  We hear things like, "Give it you...

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  II Corinthians 6:14 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.  Deuteronomy 7:3 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.Proverbs 12:15 I'm writing about something that has been on my heart for a while.  I may step on some toes but that's OK because truth shared in love is important.  As followers of Christ, we are to walk life together.  At times, that includes some straight talk.  Tim and I have always taught our kids the importance of dating the right people.  We have talked often of God's mandate for believers to date ...

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!   But his delight is in the law of the Lord , and in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Romans 13:14 Recently we arrived home after basketball.  It was late and we were all very hungry, eager to fill our rumbling tummies.  I could have just grabbed some frozen pizza and made a quick dinner but I wanted to feed everyone a healthy meal even if it was more work and made for an even later supper.  I got dinner going and then worked a bit in kitchen while waiting for it to finish cooking.   It was at that moment I saw them.  Leftover brownies.  You know, the kind that melt in your mouth and make your taste buds ...

Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart. For Your loving kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. Psalm 26:2-3 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 Yesterday as I was running errands I had to get one item at a store I don't often shop in. As I shopped, I was amazed that this store triggered emotions in me. I thought about it and realized there is someone I know who does a lot of their shopping at that store. It is a small store and as I shopped, I could feel the stress rise up in me as I wondered if I would run into this person. You see, this individual is associated with pain from my past. There was wrong done toward me. They were part of it. Sinful actions by one were never held accountable and the situation was never resolved. There was nothing more that I could do. I thought I was over it but when the emotional stress ...

As I drove, tears were streaming down my face.  After about 20 hours of our dogs being lost, we had them safe in our van and we were driving back home.  The tears were falling out of gratefulness and relief.  After a day of concern and a sad night of tossing and turning, wondering if they were going to be OK, our pups were back with us - safe and sound. You see, our pups escaped and were missing since around lunch time yesterday.  We did everything we could think of to find the pups.  The kids drove around the area during the day looking and calling for them.  Last night we went out to the back of our property several times calling and shining bright lights around the field.  We posted on every lost dog sight we knew.  We posted on social media, hoping others would watch for them.  Tim and I drove around late last night calling for them and looking closely as we drove up and down roads.  We left the entry door open so they could get i...

Twenty-one and a half years.  It's been twenty-one and a half years since we said, "I do."   I can not believe how much life we have crammed into those years.  We moved at least 22 times.  We have lived on 3 different continents and in  6 different countries.  We added 4 kids to the mix over the years along with 4 dogs, 2 cats, a guinea pig, a couple birds, one frog that got left out in the Kabul heat (Who knew they would dehydrate so fast! Sorry little frog!),  multiplying rabbits,  a bunch of crazy chickens, and who knows how many bugs in  jar houses! Whew!  A lot of life was packed into each year.   Most of it was good.  Yet there are some memories we would rather forget.   They were the hard times.  They were situations we  learned from.  We are stronger together because we chose to hold on and fight through it.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my husband.   I am so glad we get to do life t...