The Shield of Faith

God loves messy people. I was handed a devotional book this week by a gentleman that said it was a duplicate in his growing library and perhaps I knew someone that could use it. I do and I will give it to them shortly, but this morning I was reading the back of the book, and it got me to thinking about how God uses the most unlikely people. We recently wrapped up a 10-part series on Women in the Word on the 5 women mentioned in the Bible who are in Jesus’ lineage. And I found

Why does spring feel so good? I asked that of my online search engine this morning. In one second, I had this: “Spring has many good...

I have gone back and forth on whether I should share this story or not, today, I decided I should. About 7 months ago I purchased my first small, in-home security cameras. Although I live alone, there are several people that have keys to my home; there are people that do laundry there, cook there, etc. Also, I have a dog that is home alone while I am gone, and two cats and I just wanted that added security of being able to see what was going on in my home while I was away. Or

I stayed with my friends Bob and Susie in Walla Walla the first week of April, and for breakfast one more morning we had cooked oats with various dried fruits if we chose. There were apricots, dates, and figs and fresh blueberries. I more than likely have eaten a fig in the past, I just don’t remember if I have, but I tried one that morning and it was tasty. According to healthline dot com, figs, and their leaves are packed with nutrients and offer a variety of potential heal

Well, it’s that time of year again. And because the 15th falls on a weekend this year, you have until Tuesday, April 18th to file your taxes. When I leave work today that will be one of several errands that I have to run. My tax return is ready to be picked up. My fingers are crossed. In the early years of paying taxes, I did them myself. Although stressful, it wasn’t impossible. I remember years of waiting until the last possible moment to do the paperwork and then racing…um

Today I want to write about one of my sons. I have 3 sons and 1 daughter, and my second oldest son had a birthday on April 4th. I, in cahoots with his fiancé, drove out of state to surprise him on his birthday. I had not seen my boy since the day after his father passed away, over 2 years ago. It was a wonderful, sweet, and healing reunion. I took him some of his dad’s clothes; a few dress shirts and such. I also took Wendell’s robe, which had hung on the back of my bedroom d

I stumbled on a verse yesterday that I have never read before or remember ever hearing before. And although I am admittedly not a Bible scholar, it still surprises me when I read something I have never seen or ever knew before. One of my all-time favorite songs is Revelation Song. And one of the verses contains one of my all-time favorite lines, “…Jesus, Your name is power, breath and living water, such a marvelous mystery,…” We know Jesus’ name is power. But just how much p

Do you believe in miracles? The kind of miracle that leaves you shaking your head and rubbing your eyes and wondering, “did that just happen?” those kinds of miracles. I do. I believe. Several years ago, on Stories of Faith, we shared 4 stories that all had a common thread. Four stories that most people, perhaps even Christians, would not believe. But I believe. The first story took place on coastal highway 101 just out of Waldport, Oregon. And it was told to me directly from

Since I will not be at a computer next week, and next Friday is “Good Friday”, I wanted to take the time today to talk about that fateful time in earth’s history. Many people today still consider Friday as preparation day. Sabbath keepers use Friday to prepare for the Sabbath such as clean the house, get all the shopping done for the weekend, maybe begin to prepare, or completely prepare, the Sabbath meal. It is a day to prepare for the upcoming celebration that Sabbath was i

It was 1982. My oldest son at the time had just turned 3 and I had an infant son about 4 months old. I had taken my boys with me to Valley River Center, a mall in Eugene. On this particular day we had strolled around for a bit, in and out of shops on the lower level and now we were on the upper level, just strolling when suddenly I realized Mikey was not with me. Oh! Panic! If you have never lost a child, praise God, because it is a mother’s worst nightmare. Had he been taken

Nicknamed "Mr. Zero Tolerance", Judge Mark Ciavarella was a big supporter of harsh sentences…for kids. Ciavarella sent thousands of children to a local detention center during his tenure in Luzerne County, PA. Think the kids deserved it? Listen to this: Ciavarella sent an 11-year-old to juvenile detention for almost two years after the kid took his mom's car for a ride down the block. He also sent a 15-year-old to the same detention facility for mocking her assistant principa

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter. He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter. Needless to say, this proposal was met with a

Do you know what a proboscis is? No cheating. I’ll give you the answer is a moment if you don’t know, but first I want to talk about one of my favorite childhood books. Packy the Runaway Elephant. This was back in the day when the book included a 45 record. You would play the record and follow along in the book. I loved Packy. It’s funny because now, as a much older adult, I don’t remember much of the story. Only that a little girl named Eloise had visited him when she was yo

I was looking at some paintings on-line this morning done by Cy Twombly. I don’t know Mr. Twombly, in fact he passed away in 2011, but...

I was sitting with a friend over the weekend, and she commented that she does not eat eggs. I quickly asked, “Oh, you don’t do dairy?” She replied, “I do dairy, I just can’t do eggs.” It was not until this morning that it hit me, like random thoughts so often do, eggs are not dairy! Where did I get that idea? I have had that idea most of my life, all of my life. The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Dairy. The very word says everything you need to know. A dairy

The devil made me do it. This statement is used to describe a situation where someone has done something bad. More importantly, it indicates that the person was not in control of the bad thing they did. Have you ever used that excuse? The devil made me do it. We get that expression directly from the Garden of Eden. I always thought of the Garden of Eden as “thee” whole place until very recently. But the garden was only a portion of Eden. The garden was inside Eden. Eden was “

I found myself humming an old tune from the Five Man Electrical Band the other day. The year was 1971 and the song was “Signs.” It would be years later when I would hear it, play it, actually take requests for it, but as I was humming the other day, I realized I had forgotten most of the lyrics. All I could remember was “sign, sign, everywhere a sign….do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” I could also remember, “long-haired freaky people need not apply…” The song

I was thinking about books on my way in this morning. I have a book shelf, not huge, filled with books I never read. Why is that? I believe books add life, texture, warmth, and color to a room, but really, what good are they if you never take one in your hands and open it? Books have a way of taking you away. The books on my shelves include many of my childhood Bible story books. There are lots of really old books given to me by my mother. There is one particular book I was g

Can we talk more about those bears?? I lived on a floating logging camp in Alaska when I was a child. One of the things we did for entertainment, was walk ashore and around the island’s dirt road to the dump. There, down in a hollow, not very far from where we would stand, were several bears rummaging for a meal. I have zero memory of being concerned about those bears, and the adults in my life must have had no concern either, because we visited more than once. Everybody did.

Yesterday I wrote about Elisha. One of the miracles I briefly mentioned was him purifying water. Today I just want to say, “WOW!” Before writing this morning, I reacquainted myself with the 2 Kings chapter 2. After reading every verse I just sat back, remembering some of my childhood memories of being read to and taught these stories, and, how much I have forgotten at times. In chapter 2 Elijah ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire, with horses of fire! But not before asking