One day when I was grocery shopping, I carried my purse in the cart I was pushing. It was open on the top rack of the cart. My wallet was perfectly visible in the purse, and I was carelessly turning my back on it to look at produce and other groceries. When I arrived at the check-out my wallet was gone. I did all the usual things, telling the manager, calling the police when I got home. The wallet contained all my credit cards as well as my social security card and driver’s license, in addition to about thirty dollars in cash. It also contained priceless photos of my grandchildren.

At home I began the dreaded process of canceling the credit cards, getting a replacement for my license and trying to understand how God could possibly have allowed such an egregious thing to happen to me. We had actually changed grocery stores because our previous one was notorious for thefts, and often had a guard on duty. I wondered how to pray. I hoped some sort of confrontation would come to the thief.

Finally, in my “quiet time” I remembered the thief on the cross next to Jesus , and I prayed for my thief to have a repentant heart. I felt a relief from the angst I was in, and continued to pray. It was still a hassle to get a new driver’s license, first a temporary one, and later a replacement, all the time wondering who would be using my identity next, and how.

A few weeks after these events I found in my mailbox a package from the post office. Inside was a notice explaining that the wallet in the package had been found in a mailbox in Carrollton, Texas, a town not far from us; and the Post Office had forwarded it to me. I was amazed , and quickly examined the wallet to find that nothing at all, except the cash, was missing! My license, credit cards, everything was intact, and there were my grandchildren’s pictures.

The thief’s words came back to me again:”We are punished justly, for we are getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong,” (Luke 23:41) “This man” was the Christ in his most distressing appearance. He it was that welcomed the second thief and spoke the words, “Truly I tell you; today you will be with me in paradise.”

( Luke 23:43) The men who both deserved to die, did not deserve to live with Christ after they died, but one of them received that new life.

I certainly didn’t deserve to have all my valuables returned to me, but by the grace of God at work in a thief, they were. I gained more in this experience than I lost.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jack, my husband, told this story about going to lunch with a friend from work. He and his friend went to an Italian restaurant where his friend ordered spaghetti, and at the end of the meal he said, “This was good spaghetti, and on top of that, it’s the first time I’lve had spaghetti and didn’t get any on my shirt! Jack just smiled, and as they rose to leave, his friend’s tie slipped a little bit sideways, and there it was; under the tie was a bright red spot of spaghetti sauce on his white shirt..

Jack smiled when he told me of this incident, but that was nothing compared to the reaction of our grandkids ( preschool and third grade) when Jack retold this incident at the dinner table. There were shrieks of laughter and begging him to retell the story over and over. I was laughing, too, but mostly at the children. It was a fun dinner, and we each checked our own clothes to see if we had spilled anything at the end.

It didn’t end with that dinner. Whenever we were together, the children asked for “the man with spaghetti on his shirt.” from Jack.

“They shall be mine,” says the Lord of Hosts. “in the day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his son that serves him.”(Malachi 3:17) In this passage in Malachi, the Lord is referring to the people who have accepted His lordship of them, and displayed it in their tithes and obedience to His covenant with them. The people had returned from exile and were struggling to reestablish the Temple worship, and were failing to understand God’s requirements. Nevertheless, God calls the faithful ones “jewels” and makes a promise to them. God’s love for His faithful ones is evident in this passage, and the joy he takes in them is apparent. It’s almost like the joy that Jack and I experienced by surprise at the dinner table when our “jewels” were so carried away by the story. Their temporary delight was infectious, almost like a picture of the eternal delight that God receives when we respond to Him with unrestrained joy in His message to us. This message in Psalm 103 came to my mind when I thought of the children’s glee: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is in me, bless His holy name! Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s .

May we all experience such a love and such a praise in 2025!

Love in Him,

Prue Happy New Year!!

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your
Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

Some people find that being alone in nature inspires them to pray. The sights, sounds, and fragrances of the natural world seem to draw us to their Creator; but Jesus is talking about a different kind of secret place. It’s a room with walls and a door where only you may enter, a place of deliberate solitude with the possibility of praying your deepest

prayers and knowing that they are heard and received.

In our world today, and even in Jesus’ time, it is unlikely that each one could have such a room available at need, yet this theme reoccurs when Jesus speaks about fasting in secret: When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father, who is unseen; and your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:17)

The “secret place” is intensely personal. It is not shared with anyone but our unseen Father. It is a pivotal acknowledgment in Jesus ‘Sermon on the mount’ that prayer is personal and answered by God. Inserted between these two admonitions to pray secretly, is located the Lord’s Prayer. It is actual words to use to address God in secret. Jesus surely knew that his prayer would become a very lasting and public prayer, but he didn’t hesitate to offer it to his disciples who asked to be taught how to pray. It seems that Jesus, when he said “Go to a secret place,” he meant both a private location, and a “place” within or spirits. Which shuts out the rest of the world in order to open a freeway to the Holy Spirit of God. It’s on that freeway that God hears and answers our prayers. In the “secret place” of our spirits there is no room for hypocrisy or pride, but only for a meeting with the God who knows us better than we know ourselves.

At the birth of Jesus God opened His “secret place” in heaven and sent His angels to the shepherds, who hurried to the manger and saw the wonderful baby. They, in turn, rushed out to tell many others what they had seen and heard. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Mary had much that she could talk about, but instead she went to her “secret place,” a place that Jesus has made it possible for us all to visit, in ourselves, where we may fellowship with him.

Love in Him,

Prue

This is Christmas Day, the culmination of all the planning and anticipation and preparation. For Mary and Joseph it was the culmination of a nine month time of wonder and trust, and the fulfillment that accompanies the living bundle that is first placed in a parent’s arms. It is a deep and quiet joy that welcomes an infant into the world.

May we all experience that wonder and joy today as we welcome the Christ Child into our world!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love in Him,

Prue

The birth of Isaac to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was surely a well known miracle in their life times. The very fact of Isaac’s name, meaning “laughter,” testifies to the phenomenon that this birth was to both the family and to the world. Sarah, after all was too old to conceive and Abraham had already acquired a son through agar, Sarah’s servant. That Sarah should bear a child was sheer miraculous grace from God, foretold by an angel to Abraham. Isaac’s birth, Samson’s birth, the birth of Samuel, and the birth of John the Baptist were all remarkable gifts of grace from God.

Nevertheless, at none of these births did God empty heaven of His angels to sing as a choir to human beings and trumpet the announcement of the birth of His own son , to shepherds , the decedents of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, on a hillside near Bethlehem.

The angels paid close attention to the baby they had heralded as he grew up. They ministered to him following his temptation (Matthew 4:11) at the beginning of his ministry . Near the end of his life Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”( Matthew 26;53)

Charles Spurgeon, a famous British preacher in the nineteenth century, once wrote that what surprised him about angels was that they were clearly not jealous of the fact that God had brought His son into the world of human beings, instead of angels; but at Christmas the angles shared and conveyed God’s joy. From the manger to the tomb, the angels facilitated God’s plan for His son, and Jesus was conscious of their ministering,. Jesus said to Nethanael, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open up, and angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

The Appearance of he “Host of Heaven” on the birth night of Jesus was not kept secret by the shepherds: “ When they had seen the baby Jesus they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. . . but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:17) Heaven had opened it’s doors to a whole host of angels at the birth of Mary’s son. In the midst of her joy at the birth of her first born, Mary knew the joy of the shepherd’s visit relating their experience with angels when they were in the field. It was confirmation to Mary that through her, heaven itself visited earth.

Love in Him,

Prue

“On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you. . . wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you.” (Ezekiel 16: 4-5)

These are the words of God spoken by the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Israel who had been condemned to go into exile for their idolatry and other sins. The prophet reminds the people of their history and of their helplessness before God had chosen them to be His own.

More than five hundred years later, an angel of God appeared to shepherds who were in a field watching their sheep. The angel spoke to the shepherds of the birth of an infant savior which had occurred that very night. The savior was not merely a prophet, but the long expected son of God Himself . The sign that would reassure the shepherds was the swaddling cloths in which they would find him wrapped: “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)

The swaddling cloths were proof that the baby’s mother, Mary, had consciously prepared for the arrival of the little one. Perhaps her mother had helped her pack for the trip to Bethlehem, but in any case this baby was prepared for and welcomed into the arms of Mary, who loved him and who believed in him from the angel Gabriel’s message to her.

What a difference from Ezekiel’s picture of the infant nation of Israel, and what a distance from those early days when no human reached out in love to the Hebrew people, but God Himself brought them to life as a nation. It was many generations before there was a young woman in Israel who would say “Let it be to me as you have said,” in order to bring God’s son into the world. (Luke 2:12) The sign to the shepherds would be swaddling cloths, for they signaled a preparation and a welcoming for the baby. No more was Israel, or any of mankind, to be without pity and unclean, for this baby was welcomed by Mary and Joseph, who knew that they had been chosen by God for this entirely unique purpose.

We call Jesus’ birth, the “Incarnation,” for it signals a union between God and humanity that would be entirely new. Mary and Joseph’s bond with their creator God was displayed in their willing obedience and in the swaddling cloths that were a sign to the shepherds.

Love in Him,

Prue

While I was pulling weeds from the beds in front of our house in the spring time, my five year old neighbor from across the street walked up to me and I said, “Hi, Johnny.” He answered me, and asked, Have you seen any angle worms yet?” I answered that I had seen one or two. “Well, if you see any more, could you give them to me?” he asked. I answered with, “What do you want them for? Are you going fishing with your uncle?” “No,” he answered . “What, then?” I asked. “I’m going to train them to be my shoelaces,” he answered. “Oh,” I said. Do you think that would be easier than tying your laces yourself?” “Oh, Yes!” he said. “I just have to hold the worm over the holes on my shoes and it will crawl though them by itself.” “I’d like to see that,” I replied. “I’ll save any worms I find.” “Thanks!” he said, and ran back home. Of course I did find worms, and put them in a can until Johnny returned while I was weeding again the next day. He was delighted and thanked me.

It was several days before I saw him again. “How are the worms?” I asked “How about your shoes?” “It didn’t work,” he said. “They didn’t want to go into the holes in my shoe, so I gave ’em to my uncle to take fishing.” “So, can you tie your shoes?” I asked. “Oh, yeah,” he replied, and ran back home.

For Thousands of years people believed that the sun revolves around the flat earth. For hundreds of years people believed that tomatoes are poisonous for humans to eat. To this day many people believe that a chicken’s or turkey’s “wishbone” can influence the events of our lives. Is it so very strange to believe that a worm could lend itself to function as a shoelace?

Jesus said, “Let the children come,” with all their imagination, their misunderstandings, their plans and ideas, “for of such as these is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14) The birth and childhood stories of Isaac,Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist all prefigure the appearance on earth of God’s own son. For God to enter human history and become first an infant, and then a child and finally an adult, embraces human life on earth. At Christmas we celebrate the wonder and joy of the Incarnation.

Johnny is a grown man now, and probably has forgotten his shoelace experiment, but I will never forget it. His adventure brought life and delight to my imagination, and I could easily imagine Jesus blessing the children and Johnny being the first in line.

Love in Him,

Prue

My Sister Nancy has identical twin sons and two older sons. One of my nieces has twin sons also, but they are fraternal, not identical. It has been fascinating to follow their growing up and the ways in which twins differ from “singles.” In both cases the boys are very close and engaged in most of the same activities. My niece’s sons both joined the same soccer team for the first time, and their parents were very pleased. It meant only one trip to practice or to games each week. The boys prefer each other’s company, but mingle well with others, especially if their brother is nearby. They don’t always agree, but they always find common ground or drop the conversation.

What amazes me about these two sets of twins is that their closeness is remarkably alike; whether they are “fraternal” or ”identical”, their preference for each other displays itself as the same. I couldn’t help thinking that the extraordinary bond between twins might not be primarily genetic at all. It may come from the physical closeness of the womb, family experience, and circumstances that kept them together, all of which implanted a permanent bond.

On the morning of his resurrection Jesus told Mary Magdalene to “Go and tell my brothers: (John 20:17) It was the first time that he had called his disciples “brothers,”as if their status changed in relationship to his resurrection. They would, in fact become inseparable from their “brother.”

I believe that it’s not simply “brotherhood” that Jesus seeks in each of us. Instead, I think that it is twinship. The invisible bond of twins that yields a shared identity is what happens when we come as children to the Living God. It’s the intimate relationship that erases barriers and unites us with Him through His Holy Spirit. “Let the Children come,” said Jesus, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” ((Matthew 19:14) Every child of God shares a close relationship with his or her twin brother. Jesus is and desires to be closer than a twin to each of us. Child, teenager,adult, or aged.

He came as an infant , grew into an adult, so that we might recognize his Spirit in our own lives. At Advent we can reconnect with our brother, and experience a twinship that satisfies our souls. Christmas is a time for children and for children in heart to experience the assurance of being with our brother, regardless of our age. God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you.” (Jeremiah 1:5) We were born to be Jesus’ twins. God sent him to show us the way.

Love in Him,

Prue

Children still understand the feast of Christmas; they still sometimes feast to excess in the matter of plum pudding or turkey. But there is never anything in the least frivolous about their attitude to a plum pudding or a turkey. Still less is there anything frivolous in their attitude to a stocking or a Christmas tree. They have the serious and even solemn sense of the great truth; that Christmas is a time when things happen; things that do not always happen. (G.K. Chesterton, 1925)

In this paragraph of Chesterton’s , he expresses the core of his perception that, while adults bemoan the commercialization of Christmas and the secularizing of the Christmas celebrations, there is never any doubt that for children, the experience is still out of time and place, and some-how exists in heaven as well as on earth. Isaiah tapped all those feelings and expressed them in his wonderful chapter 9:6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Children know that nothing else has been heralded by
God’s angels as the birth of God’s son. They know that no other holiday has so many people singing so many songs. They understand that a “new thing” has arrived, and that it is wonderful. The gifts may seem to be the centerpiece for children, but underneath the toys lies the truth that “Christmas is a time when things happen; things that don’t always happen.” only once did the angel Gabriel speak to a young woman and tell her that she would deliver God’s infant son to the world. Only once did the wise en come from another nation to see this child, and only once did shepherds find their way to Bethlehem to see the baby. The story, so simple, yet so strange, speaks of family, and “The family is the first school of living” (Pope John Paul II)

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ( Mark 10:14) The Kingdom of God came to a stable and it comes to each of our homes when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. For more than two thousand years this event has been celebrated in much of the world. The “things” of Christmas are intangible. They are also spiritual and sometimes emotional. We remember the every year and they helped shape us and bring us closer to God.

Love in Him,

Prue

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who ,then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said. . . “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:1,2,5)

With no other age of people did Jesus identify himself as he did with children. He himself came as a child and lived the life of a child in the home of Joseph and Mary, along with his siblings. Since we know very little of that time in his life, it’s easy to forget the son of God as a child, but Advent draws us closer every year, and it’s a rich and important connection to Jesus. When he was grown, Jesus felt parental toward the people of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem. . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”. . . ( Matthew 23:37)

One day when our daughter Stephanie was only four years old she came in from playing outside, carrying a gray tabby kitten. “The man down the street gave it to me,” she said. I walked with her back to our neighbor four houses down, and asked if it was his kitten. “No,” he said. “That’s not mine. That kitten belongs to anyone who wants it.” I said, “Sir, this kitten lives here and you are caring for it.” “No!!” he answered. “If you don’t want it I’ll throw it into the street!” At that Stephanie started to cry and I knew that we had acquired a cat.

Scuffy the kitten had big ears and paws , and I thought that he would probably grow to be quite big, which he eventually did. He was a good companion to Stephanie, and slept in her room and loved being petted. When Stephanie was in high school and we began to foster young children, Scuffy was a great help in their adjustment to our home. Sometimes I felt that he was the only comfort a child had, and he seemed to know that, too.

Not everyone has known the truth of children’s value in the eyes of God. Jesus knew, and Mary and Joseph knew. The psalmist knew when he wrote, Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward from Him. (Psalm 127:3) Jesus came into the world as a child; Jesus, the very Word of God (John 1;1) was a wordless infant, just as every one of us once was. In Advent we think of the children more than ever. It’s a fun time, and a holy time as we prepare to celebrate God’s priceless gift. It’s a time when we tap the child within us and those among us to receive the blessing of God Himself.

Love in Him,

Prue