Category: Uncategorized
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Lydia
Lydia (not her real name), the five year old girl we were fostering, had been taught by her mother that she must never tell the truth about her own activities: where she had been or what she had been doing. This remarkable piece of advice Lydia communicated to me after I had noticed that she,…
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You Need Me
You Need Me Waiting in my car in a line at the school to pickup the little girl whom we were fostering, I started to pray. I prayed, “Lord, you know that I have no skills to deal with a young girl who has come from such a traumatic life. I know nothing about therapies,…
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The Stories
The Stories G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “I had always felt life as a story; and if there is a story, there is a story teller.” ( Chesterton, Orthodoxy, p.59). Often, Christians are taught Bible stories at a very young age, and as they grow older, they seem to outgrow them. Those who return to them,…
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Jesus’ Words
Jesus’ Words “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are white for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad forever.” (John 4:35-36) Once when I was talking with some Christian…
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It Is I
When they (the disciples) had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” (John 6:19& 20) Jesus prefaced his admonition to the disciples not to be afraid, with the simple statement, “It…
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At Peace
Once when our family was fostering Jesse, a young boy of six years old, I was putting him to bed when he asked me about his older brother, who had been killed in a bicycle/auto accident. “ Everyone says that Jason’s happy in heaven, but how can he be? Me and Justin, (his other, also…
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Make Room
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3) This is the first of all the“blesseds” in Jesus’ beatitudes . It catches attention because of the question of what Jesus means by “poor in spirit.” For a long time I thought that the phrase meant sad people, ones without…
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Wisdom
The king (Solomon) said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while this one says,’No! Your son is dead and mine is alive’. . . Bring me a sword! Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other.” The first woman said, “Please,…
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Beauty
Sometimes, and sometimes frequently, I catch a glimpse of sunlight from the kitchen window on the counter top and almost catch my breath at the beauty of such an ordinary sight. It’s not only this, but other common sights around the house and yard, and even neighborhood. Familiar objects strike a chord with their beauty.…
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A Disconnect
One autumn Jack and I traveled to Houston, Texas, to hear a guest preacher who had been invited to give a series of sermons. He was a well known preacher from radio, T.V.. and online. The pulpit where he preached was situated in front of a soaring wooden cross on the wall behind him. We…
