September marks, for me, a shift towards settling in as fall and then winter encroach and the world outside begins to close in for a long winter’s rest. As the weather cools, our own routines shift from open-ended vacation days to rhythmic school and work. I love this change in seasons, this annual shift in…
“’We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered. ‘Bring them to me,’ he said.”(Matt. 14:17-18 NIV) I’m often tempted to think I have to do something big for God to prove my worth. I look around and see many other people living fully in their callings of sharing their walk with…
I have a favorite barn cat. Her name is Puffy. If you looked at her picture, you would see a long-haired black-and-white cat. You wouldn’t know how old she is, or where she had her kittens last year, or that her favorite place to sit is on my stocking cap when I am wearing it….
“I gave very specific instructions!” How my children dreaded hearing their dad say this. It meant he was displeased because they had failed to properly carry out his instructions in some way. I doubt this ever happened because of outright disobedience. Sometimes it was because, by the time he’d finished the phrase, “I want you…
Self-interest is restrained within due bounds when love supervenes; for then it rejects evil things altogether, prefers better things to those merely good, and cares for the good only on account of the better. ~St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God I read this quote one morning during my devotion time, then turned to where…
The advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26 NIV) Do you take the leading of the Holy Spirit for granted? Or do you feel like you’re not being led by the Spirit…