One of the joys of being a grandparent is watching those wiggly little people bloom into adults. Soon we will add another graft into our family tree. Mike is his name. He’ll marry granddaughter, Kristen. Then we’ll have another person to call family. This wedding will be the third of our fourteen grandchildren. I’m glad I’m still around to participate in these fun events. I doubt I’ll live long enough to see them all married–the youngest is only nine. ….
Season’s Turning September days wain,a hint of fall in the air.Time to turn off the air-conditionerand clear the patio of summer’s beauty. Soon, I’ll say goodbye to flourishing okra,green beans, and peppers—turn on grow lights in the basementand prepare for winter days. All the while, I’ll keep in mindSpring springs eternal. Do you have a favorite time of the year? Why is it? As you can tell, I dread winter, mostly because I don’t like to drive in ice and…
This past week our mailperson delivered the entire street’s mail one house off. I got my western neighbor’s mail and my eastern neighbor received mine. When I finished canning my peach harvest for the year, I heard a knock at the door. I was delighted to see my neighbor to the east with my mail in her hand. I invited her in for a chat. They moved in 2 1/2 years ago, just as Covid hit. They both work at…
Days are coming that are going to test the construction of our houses–our lives. Luke six tells us in verse 47-49 how to check our buildings. First, in order to have a house that will withstand the storms of life one must, number one, come to Him. Then we must hear His words, but merely hearing is not enough. In addition, we must, act on what we’ve heard. He tells us that if we do this, when floods come our…
I’ve been thinking about how each of us was destined to be born at this very time in history. My parents were part of the so-called “Greatest Generation.” They went through WW I, The Great Depression, and WW II, to name a few. Those experiences matured them into a special kind of toughness that looked at situations and pressed on anyway. I wrote about those days in Hard Times in the Heartland. And now it’s our turn. Just as Esther…
Although I love animals–most of the time, I have a problem with a certain squirrel. He not only likes to eat tomatoes, he also likes to eat blossoms of things like zucchini. That makes for a much less productive garden I’ve planted around the patio. I tried buying fake snakes. That didn’t work. I run out and chase him off, but he knows when I’m not home and conducts his burglaries then. I replanted the zucchini after he’d eaten every…
On the 3rd of July I lost my new earring. It wasn’t an expensive gem, but I really liked that it was lightweight and pretty. I checked online and bought what I thought was a duplicate. It wasn’t. In retracing my steps from that day, I knew it had to be somewhere in the house because I hadn’t gone anywhere, although I did water the garden and the grass. After I stewed about it for a few days, I sent…
Last week we looked at ways to do battle God’s way. God tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Another tool in our toolbox to do battle against these rulers and powers is to: declare a thing, and it will be established for you; (Job 22:28). What are to we declare? A good…
The Bible tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but we fight “against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places“ (Ephesians 6:12.) With the mess the world is in today, we need to learn to fight using the strategies God has given us. Of course, Ephesians tells us in verses 13-17 to put on the full armor of God. The beauty…
In the early morning hours of July 29, I couldn’t sleep so I got up to pray and write in my journal. This came: My Child; Batten down the hatches, for a great wind is coming. It will blow the chaff out from the wheat in order to put the wheat in My barns. A time of great shaking—a strong winnowing is coming. The chaff will be blown away in the strong wind. The time of separating has come. My…