“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This verse has to be one of the most discouraging in the Bible. I never have been or ever will be perfectly obedient. Fortunately, the Hebrews’ writer explains that rigorous obedience to rules never makes anyone perfect (Hebrews 10:1). So how am I perfect, even as my Father …
Violence, Politics and You
“What is the source of quarrels and conflict?” (James 4:1) We have plenty of conflict in our world today. Conflict over ideals. Conflict over the handling of those ideas. Conflict of who said what and who should have said something else. When it all boils down, we just want our own way, huh? Then how do we live? …
Navigating the Details
Until about two years ago, I’d never seen inside a helicopter in my life. I’d never thought about it really. Never had any true interest. But priorities change and now, I go to the AeroCare helipad about four times a year. Thankfully, my visits have nothing to do with the medical emergencies that’s made these bright red helicopters famous. No medical …
Hopeful Fishing
I was five when I experienced my first Halloween Carnival. Now, I would like to say that it was called a Fall Festival or something clever, but this was in the sixties before Halloween truly became something scary. My mother walked through the cake walk with me and a little girl I knew won the brownies my mom had …
Spiritual Dysphagia
“She’s not swallowing properly,” the speech pathologist assessed. It was like a light bulb went off within our minds. “So that’s the reason that Mom hasn’t been eating,” my husband said. “Yes, late stage Alzheimer’s patients often lose the swallowing reflex,” Maggie explained. “Although the swallow reflex is an automatic one, it actually is quite complex. It …
Future and Final Reality
What does my future hold? Last year, Mark and I had two granddaughters, I expanded my freelance writing, and I began praying with a group of ladies that has rocked my world. What will this year hold? Even as I talk about my future plans, I know very well that “(I) do not know what (my) life …