Category: Growing in Christ
-
What Does God’s Will Include?
One summer, I got food poisoning that set my body off-kilter for months. Crashing on the couch after just an hour of work made me feel useless in every way. Another time, I couldn’t find work. All I had was freelance writing, and all the projects wrapped at once. Day after day for a season,…
-
Big Small Things
As I looked at circumstances that seemed to swell ominously, I determined to believe: God could overcome them all. The trouble was, as I sized up the giants and the hurdles, they all seemed quite tall. I believed God could overcome them, but from my perspective, He still looked quite small next to them. Believing…
-
Reminder: We Need Reminders!
A friend recently asked me to help her improve her planning skills. I beamed at the request and could hardly wait to share my top tip with her: remind, remind, remind. If you have a deadline, write it down so you remember. Then count back two days and write a reminder to work on it….
-
My Shrug, God’s Shrub
There’s this shrub in our yard. When we moved in, it was bare like everything else. I couldn’t figure out what it was, or what to do with it. So, while I learned about our other plants and began tending garden, this shrub was left for God to manage. It was a harrowing experience. My…
-
Raw Vs. Refined Knowledge
“I know where babies come from!” exclaimed the second grader as his classmates stared. A little girl had asked something related, and this boy could hardly raise his hand high enough. It was typical for him- he had an answer for everything at 7 years old. That being the case, we didn’t want to know…
-
Do You Think About These Things?
“Bethanyland is a magical place,” I like to say to my husband when he calls me back to reality because I stopped listening and got lost in thought (again). The truth is, I spend a lot of time thinking. Most of us do. We dwell on things in the shower, in the car, at work,…
-
Conviction about Christ’s Call
King Josiah was just about my age when a secretary told him “they found a book” in the temple. Hearing it read, he tore his clothes. Soon, all the people in the land heard the words of the book. They sought God, and reformed their practices. Hundreds of years of idolatrous landmarks and openly sinful…
-
But Jesus
There were big things to do. There throngs willing to listen who needed to hear. There were disciples seeking training and teaching. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” –Luke 5:16 There were people to heal. There were lost souls to share the Gospel with. There were places to get to, people…
-
When Sin Trails Behind Us
The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. –1 Timothy 5:24 Paul made this small but vivid remark at the end of a letter to his younger friend, Timothy. The wisdom has stuck in my mind. Sin on the Flashing Sign There…
-
Will It Last?
Caught up in the moment. It’s an easy place to wind up, unaware we’ve veered off course. It’s the kind of host that refuses to let us leave on time. It’s a bit like the junk drawer we fill up with useless stuff while complaining about a lack of storage space. How often we find…