Time-Warp Wife

My daughter was quite the couch-cuddler when she lived at home. I don’t think I could remember a day when she wasn’t snuggled up beside me or attached at the hip. We did everything together from watching TV to shopping for our favorite shoes. The day she moved out I was cut to the core. I had grown so used to having her close. So used to hearing her voice. So used to seeing her face. I can’t tell you how lonely I felt, but I do know that I did a lot of crying that winter. I had empty nest syndrome and I had it bad. In that season…

Opening my Bible to 2 Chronicles 32, I read, After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. Then he worked hard…

Every Fall I feel the same way. I hate to say it, but I get a little blue when I see the grass fading and the leaves fall. Oh, I know they’re pretty and all a part of God’s plan, and yet I long for the return of lilacs and the warmth of sunlight on my face. I know it’s not a popular idea. Most of my friends love Autumn, they love the snow, and would probably choose pumpkin spice lattes over scented lilacs any day of the week. But that’s not me, and I wish that it was. With that, I got thinking today that maybe there’s something I…

Opening our Bible to Acts Chapter 9, we read, The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.  In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” (Acts 9:11-12, NIV) Ananias was well aware of the danger. The Bible tells us that he had heard the reports, he knew what Paul had done to the believers in Jerusalem, and he knew that Saul was in Damascus for the sole purpose of persecuting followers of Christ. Regardless of how he felt and what fear he…

Last week we talked about a story from 2 Samuel Chapter 10, where David was rejected when he reached out to the Ammonites. Surprisingly, his simple act of kindness was the catalyst for war. Rejection is a curious thing. It’s something we all experience at one time or another, and some days it’s utterly painful. Even those with the best of intentions can find themselves at war. If you’ve ever apologized to a person after a disagreement, you might be familiar with that feeling of apprehension. That worrisome nagging inside you that says, “this might not go well,” or “you might be rejected.” In some cases, it doesn’t go well.…

Drawn from my archives I’ve come to learn over time that we don’t need a perfect life to live in abundance. The things that we’re most thankful for can’t be bought in a store or cashed in at the bank. The best gifts are the ones knit together in love–the family God gives us, our friends, and of course God Himself. I’m reminded of growing up in a family of 8. With a grade three education, my dad didn’t make all that much money. Yet somehow they made enough to feed us and clothe us and take care of our needs. I was too young to remember, but I’ve heard…

2 Samuel Chapter 10, starts out by telling us that after the king of the Ammonites died, David reached out to his son. “I’ll show him some kindness,” he said, “in the same way his father showed kindness to me.” And so, David sent his men to the land of the Ammonites to express his sympathy to the king. It didn’t go well. Suspicious of David’s intentions, the king responded with violence. We read, Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away. (2 Samuel 10:14, NIV) Humiliated, the messengers returned to David, who told them to stay in…