My seven-year-old son loves working with jigsaw puzzles. It’s an activity we both genuinely enjoy. He’s graduated from the 50- and 100-piece puzzles, so I purchased some larger ones for him for Christmas. I may have gone overboard with the 500-piece puzzle with repeating candy bars throughout. He was bored within minutes because of its…
As for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5 CSB) Fulfill your ministry. After reading in 2 Timothy one morning early in 2018, I wrote these words in one of my writing journals. I thought that phrase could function as my “word” for…
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV) We all experience seasons in our lives, seasons of joy and resurrection but also of struggle and death. Those latter “winter” seasons are challenging. We draw ourselves inward for protection and warmth. We believe that we possess…
We’re told to be thankful, but who are we supposed to be thanking? In my teen years (and even in my twenties), I couldn’t receive a compliment gracefully. When a simple smile and “thank you” would have been appropriate, I could only roll my eyes because I doubted the person’s sincerity. Since then, I’ve gained…
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6 NIV) Do you remember those Verizon commercials from a few years ago? An actor went everywhere he could think of, searching for a clear cellular signal and asking, “Can you hear…
“When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. When Serug had lived 30years, he became the father of Nahor. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had…