Monday, September 7, 2020
What He Said
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Frankie and Charlie
Monday, August 31, 2020
Monday Moment: Right Where We Are
Of course, I'm not suggesting that God has never or will never call women to go... or otherwise disrupt our lives in the course of following Him. That's ludicrous. What I am saying is that He beautifully seeks us out in the midst of the obligations we shoulder and the reality of our days, and He meets with us there: in the wilderness (Hagar), at church (Anna), on our errands (woman at the well).
Friday, August 28, 2020
The Miracle and Mystery in Farming A Legacy
We signed the papers the week we got back from our honeymoon. The homeplace that has been in Matthew's family for the last three generations is now entrusted to us.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
More Ahead
Hope is the audacity to believe:
"After all I have been through, there is more ahead of me."
Monday, August 24, 2020
Monday Moment: "For", Not "To"
It took my breath away. Stole it right out of my lungs. Still does, in fact, when I think about it.
Matthew and I were dating. We had been to a rose garden earlier, and the beauty of that perfect summer day was still with us. We were talking, then, about life - about how everything hadn't exactly come up roses. And that's when, quietly, he said it:
"You know those things happened FOR you, not TO you, right?"
Right then, my heart began to bloom again as that scriptural truth settled on me: Things happened FOR me, not TO me.
- - - - -
Romans 8:28 has made me roll my eyes for years. Is there a more cliche verse in the Bible? It says: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. We Christians hear it so often it can make us cringe.
Why? Because it gets twisted. Misused. Some well-meaning people can invalidate your circumstances or hurts by sing-songing that verse until it's a mockery. Others quote it at you as if all things are good, so put on a happy face and deal because everything's fine. But no. No. All things are not good. Losing a child is not good. Cancer is not good. Financial hardship is not good. A global pandemic, lockdown, unrest, violence... these things are not good.
But God - how He weaves and wields and works these not goods together into something beautiful- well, THAT is good.
Adrian Rogers, a longtime pastor and follower of Jesus, put it like this: In the chemistry of the cross, God takes things that, in and of themselves, are bad, and He puts them together much as a chemist might take chemicals that, in and of themselves, may be deleterious and mixes them to make a medicine that brings healing.
- - - - -
Listen, dear one. These things you're going through today... these sore things, these sad things, these stress things: they are happening FOR you, not TO you. FOR YOU, NOT JUST TO YOU. Preach it to your heart. Sing it to your soul. Remind your mind that things are happening for your good and His glory. Today. Always. The cross chemist God who also makes the roses is working even now to make good in your life.
For you, not to you.
Monday Moment is a little devotional to help kick start your week. See you again next time!
Friday, August 21, 2020
True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes
Only two things money can't buy:
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes.
-Guy Clark