Peace and Quiet

Have you ever looked in the mirror and cringed? (Hand raised over here.) Did you know that God cares about our beauty?! We each have our own physical beauty- or did have! But there is a deep beauty that age can’t steal. In fact, age can beautify us! Cultivating a lifelong habit of trusting God…

The Rough Door

Disclaimer:  This short story is an allegory/parable meant to convey a spiritual truth, not to describe a physical object in Heaven. Lately, during times of pain, I picture God’s throne room. At one end of the long room opposite the throne stands huge, ornately carved double gold doors on well oiled hinges that open at…

Victim or Victor?

I can almost hear the evil counsel. Leader:  “How can we keep the humans down? Some of them are making better lives for themselves.  This must stop!” Minion 1:  “I know!  Let’s keep telling them that they are powerless to change their outcomes.  We can keep them hopeless.” Minion 2:  “Right!  And make sure that…

Safe and Secure

When we were new to Indonesia and learning the language, our beloved house helper would enter our home in the morning with a demure smile and the greeting, “Selamat Pagi!”.  Although we might have been a bit groggy or perhaps grouchy(!), she always brought a smile to our faces, too.   We soon realized that “To…

50th Year Advice

As a child, I heard an old proverb repeated often in the Pennsylvania Dutch area I grew up in.  “We grow too soon old and too late wise.”  Now as an older adult I know this is true.  I sure wish I had done things differently in my younger years, especially in my marriage.  By…

Comfort in Uncertainty

  We all want to hear that things are going to be alright.  We’re riveted by stories coming out of Ukraine as we watch the David and Goliath battle.  The dark threat of world war shadows the horizon as world powers take sides.  Shuddering at the impact this could have, we just want our own…