Read a book from your childhood. This self-care suggestion caught my eye because I’ve never seen this idea on any list before. So during my recent convalescence from Covid (yes, that dreaded virus finally caught up with me after three years), I reached for the “Barney Mysteries”—five books all starting with the letter R—by Enid Blyton.
Misc Devotional
Please Put Up with Me: A Call to Forbear
I walked into my bedroom and sighed in annoyance. My husband’s closet door remained open, the light shone brightly, and several drawers of his dresser lay wide open—again! Google “pet peeve” and you will find all sorts of things that irritate us.
Moses’s Five Reasons Why Not and God’s Five Assurances
As I prepare for yet another opportunity to deliver God’s message, I am tempted again to fixate on my inadequacies. How ironic that the first message I ever delivered in front of my fellow Christian Education classmates was on Moses's call (Exodus 3–4) and his focus on “I am not” rather than “you are God.”
Word of the Year 2022
Goodbyes said to guests. Linens washed. Christmas decorations taken down and stored. Fridge restocked. Time to organize myself and my new year. Set up a planner. Select a journal. Reflect on the previous year and the new one. And choose a word for the year.
If I Understand it, Then I Can Control It
The desire to figure everything out, to fully understand, and make sense of my world is strong in me. However the events in our nation's capitol last week proved that even more fleeting than the loss of control over my schedule and calendar (due to a pandemic) is any control I thought I had over the beliefs and actions of others. Four guiding truths emerged as I pondered a quote from Emily P. Freeman.
Envy and the Unique Role of Aunts
I am an aunt to some lovely young women and men. I have cultivated individual relationships with them and enjoy my unique role in their lives. Being their aunt gives me a certain advantage over their mothers.
Cancer, Stage 4
“Cancer, most likely stage four,” announced the email. Since older women compose the majority of my Bible study group, a notification of someone’s hospitalization was not unusual. But this one? She seemed too young, healthy, and vibrant.
How Will I Know This For Certain?
"How will I know this for certain?" Zechariah asked and God called his question unbelief. Mary asked "How will this be?" and God said she believed. So why was Zechariah’s question not acceptable and Mary’s was?
Pondered Treasures 