Despite never being one for exercise, my Papaw Delmer has always been on the move. He grew up on a family farm in Appalachia, walking the hills as he completed his chores. Farming helped feed his family. When Papaw hit retirement age, he stopped working at the factory and found more time to spend working…
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV) When we met at the end of high school, I was a Republican, and my husband was…
At the top of my list last Christmas was a simple sweatshirt from Preemptive Love Coalition with the words “Love Anyway” written across the front of it. After a brief time volunteering with a group of Turkish refugees who wanted to learn English, the message of loving despite differences or cost had never been closer…
“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 ESV) When our daughter turned five, the…
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11 NIV) On a normal Thursday evening a couple of weeks ago, my daughter and I arrived at her piano teacher’s house…
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…