The Extraordinary Wrapped In the Ordinary

Advent Day # 12 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 The internet is full of meaningful commentary on the swaddling clothes Jesus was wrapped in. Many believe it signifies His …

Jehovah-Jireh: God Will Provide Himself a Lamb

Advent Day #8 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;for he hath visited and redeemed his people,And hath raised up an horn of salvation for usin the house of his servant David;As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,which have been since the world began:   That we should be saved from our enemies,and …

The Long-Awaited One

Photo by Doralin Tunas on Pexels.com Advent Day 1 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Matthew 1:17             The anticipation of the long-awaited Messiah had ebbed …

So the Next Generation May Know

There are so many ways to study God’s Word. We live in a blessed generation with a variety of options at our fingertips. There are apps for phones, free computer programs, and old-fashioned pen-and-paper methods. A quick computer search offers hundreds of companies that create Bible studies and journals. If you have not found a …

Hope’s Song in Suffering Seasons

            Here in northeast Ohio, fiery autumn leaves litter the ground, as if the earth exhaled a heavy sigh and released them from their seasonal labor. Soon, every deciduous tree will lift empty limbs toward the sky, awaiting the icy, cold shroud of winter. For months, the darkness of winter will fall early, and most …

You Can Go Home Again

As a bird that wandereth from her nest,so is a man that wandereth from his place. Proverbs 27:8 This verse caused me to count the cities my family has lived in over the years. Since my childhood years in central Kansas, I have only returned to visit. Marriage scuttled us down to three diverse cities …

Evil’s Time Clock

Evil has a time limit, and its clock is running down. I recently read two fiction books about corrupt church leaders. They both touched on the disappointment in the hearts of those who find so much hypocrisy in the church. Though fiction, the theme addresses the reality of the times. A non-fiction book, Shepherds for …

Cold Wax

My husband found an adorable little gallery in a small town down the road from us. Beautiful, handmade gifts line the shelves, with stained glass suncatchers painting colors all over the room. Before we left, we bought two soy candles that boasted of air-cleaning capabilities on the sign above them. He picked his favorite scent, …

Engaging Difficult People Biblically

After teaching teenagers since August, I jokingly told my Costco checker that I am nearly strong enough to work retail at Christmastime. He laughed with an eyebrow raised that implied his uncertainty at my readiness. Since I have never worked retail and he has never taught middle school and high school students, we might both …

Equipped to Stand

And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time. And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. He was with …