Tag: Jesus
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Is This the Change You’re Looking For?
Having just traveled a few states to work in the summer heat, it was admirable how upbeat the youth were. Their mission trip involved hard work laboring to repair homes and make helpful upgrades. They spent a lot of time in one house rebuilding part of a damaged wall. Everything from measuring to cutting to…
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The Light of Summer
This past winter, we let our car pretend it was a sled as we moved from the east coast to the Midwest. Now, we live on the western edge of the Eastern Time zone. That didn’t mean all that much to me until summer sauntered in. The sun shines here until nearly 10 o’clock at…
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Jesus Text
“buuuzzzz, buzzz.” “Who’s that?” I ask. It’s not my business. I don’t especially care. I’m just being nosy (usually because I’m bored.) My husband’s reply is often, “It’s Jesus.” I roll my eyes. He smirks. It’s our bit. But sometimes when we play that little game, I think about how nice it would be to…
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Differences Between Complacency and Contentment
Where does complacency put you? In short: stuck. When you choose to be complacent, you choose to stay right where you are and settle for what you have. Life just is, and you’ve accepted it for what it is. The difference is alluded to in the Bible: “Wisdom is a shelter as money is a…
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Praise the Most High!
I got dizzy as I crouched in yet another spot and angled the camera again. Though I tried very hard, I just couldn’t fit the lighthouse in one shot. It’s highest height was just too high. There was something satisfying about surrendering my desired photo perspective to just sit there and look up. My interest…
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A Silly Question and an Insightful Answer
It was our first trip away together post-honeymoon. We’d driven all day, stopped to see a friend, and had been on the road for hours again. Since it was pitch black in the wilderness of Vermont and he was driving, I wasn’t watching the road closely until I felt the slam of the brakes. Looking…
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Seeing People as People
They didn’t see a man. They didn’t see his pain. They didn’t notice his need. They didn’t care that he was in the house of the Lord. What they cared about was entrapping their perceived enemy, the one who threatened long-held traditions and the law that elevated them to a pious, powerful place. They wanted…
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If You Had a Superpower…
You’ve probably answered the question before: if you could have one superpower what would it be? That’s a fun question, and it’s one that many of us have an equally fun answer for. “I would fly” you say. She might say that she would make herself able to freeze time, whereas her husband might suggest…
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Standing Out and Standing On His Promises
No vacation will ever beat our honeymoon in my memories. I’d just turned 21. He was fresh out of college and I had one semester left. The two pennies we had to rub together reflected our motto the day we said I do: In God we trust. Generous loved ones let us stay in a…
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Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
I was taking a month-long class in Ecuador. We traveled around the beautiful country- even into the Amazon rainforest. There, a few monkeys determined to do what non-cartoon monkeys in tourist traps do: harass people. The agile creatures stole anything loose they could grab. We tried to ask how to get our stuff back. A…