April 5, 2013
Spring has sprung! It has, right? Well, the calendar says it has and Easter has come and gone and even though the wind is still blowing cold, it seems like everyone has a bit of “spring” in their step these days. Something about spring just makes us feel young again. No matter that later this year that same calendar will remind us we are another year older, right now with the sun streaming through the windows, Sheryl and I feel a little bit like kids. To celebrate Spring and…
March 29, 2013
“Silence is golden,” so they say, but I say, “Silence is often misunderstood.” When I was in elementary school, my neighborhood friends and I would observe three hours of silence, from noon -3 p.m., as a means of reflecting on Jesus’ crucifixion. If memory serves me well, the hours felt more like punishment than pondering the meaning of the cross. Our hours of silence felt like an eternity and were riddled with distractions of hunger pangs (“Can we at least eat silently?”), clock watching (“Is it over yet?”), and…
March 23, 2013
Since I moved to Bucks County in 2006, I have lived in two time zones – Eastern Standard Time and Central Standard Time. How can this be? It happens in my head every time I glance at a clock. When I check the time, I mentally subtract one hour because that’s what time it is back “home”. When I make plans to talk with one of my Southern friends on the phone, we are careful to make sure we say “Your time or mine?” We learned the hard way after…
March 8, 2013
For the past several weeks, our Wednesday morning Bible study has been immersed (and sometimes drowning!) in the book of Romans – specifically the 8th chapter. We’ve discussed condemnation, justification, sanctification and a bunch of other big ole heavy “church” words. But at the end of each lesson and truly, at the end or rather the beginning of every day the question remains: “Now what?” In other words, what does living a sanctified life look like?
Does it mean I instantly become holy? Do I suddenly have a halo and an unending…
February 15, 2013
What a week! Did you cry Monday over spilt milk? You could have, because it was “National Cry over Spilt Milk Day”. What about Tuesday? Did you think you had a hole in your pocket? Nope – it was “National Lost Penny Day”. Of course everyone knew yesterday was Valentine’s Day, but did you know it was also “National Ferris Wheel Day”! Today is “National Gum Drop Day” in case you want to indulge your sweet tooth and you finished all the chocolates you received on “National Ferris Wheel Day”…
December 15, 2012
A couple of weeks ago, we recommended a few Advent books for your Christmas season. Several of you have commented to us about the selections. Thank you! I’ve also heard specifically from some people about how timely a particular entry was because regardless of Christmas coming, life also just keeps coming, doesn’t it? On a lighter note, it seems that books I want to read keep coming at me faster than ever right now. It’s no secret that Sheryl and I are voracious readers and have…
November 22, 2012
From time to time I tend to worry about “what if” kinds of things. Do you know what I mean? I’m talking about the kinds of things that didn’t go wrong, but they could have, and what if they did? Cammy will frequently bring it to my attention when I do that and then she will remind me of a short scene in “Parenthood” in hopes that it will be an antidote to my worry.
The scene involves Steve Martin being so high about his son’s little league game,…
November 16, 2012
During the month of October, I tried to study a different Biblical virtue everyday and journal a few thoughts about what that virtue “looks like” in my life. Towards the end of the month, the verse for the day was Psalm 25:21 and I had two virtues to consider: “Honesty and Integrity”.
“May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.”
Depending on the Bible translation you use, it might say “preserve” instead of protect but the original meaning of the word is “to guard” so the…
November 2, 2012
Recently I watched an episode of a sitcom about a family in which the children asked the parents if they had a favorite child. The mom immediately assured her three children that they were all loved infinitely, while the dad clearly declared his oldest son as his favorite child.
The show reminded me of a similar scenario in my own life and one that is probably quite common in many families. Children tend to question, “Do Mom and Dad have a favorite child?”
I am the youngest child of three,…
October 27, 2012
You may not be aware of it, but out in cyberspace, October was designated as an “Ultimate Blog Challenge” month. The idea is simple and genius for bloggers: pick a topic and blog about it everyday for a month. The challenge is designed to increase productivity and traffic to your blog. The desired end result? Develop a new daily habit of blogging (writing), read other people’s blogs, be inspired and maybe even make a few friends along the way.
You may have noticed that we didn’t participate in that challenge….
Spring has sprung! It has, right? Well, the calendar says it has and Easter has come and gone and even though the wind is still blowing cold, it seems like everyone has a bit of “spring” in their step these days. Something about spring just makes us feel young again. No matter that later this year that same calendar will remind us we are another year older, right now with the sun streaming through the windows, Sheryl and I feel a little bit like kids. To celebrate Spring and…
