Hope for the Heavy Heart
Some of you have probably wondered where I’ve been and why I haven’t been writing. It’s quite a long story, so let me sum it up the best I can. In the past three weeks, our entire ministry team has been sick with the flu. Tennille and I finished preparing for and hosted the annual ladies’ retreat with nearly 60 ladies in attendance for the week. Jason celebrated his birthday. And we’ve been finding and setting up a new sponsorship in Wales after finding out that the church hosting us was told they no longer qualified. Yes, due to some weird changes in the wording of the laws regarding sponsorship, our sponsorship was revoked, making our visas invalid.
Don’t Fall For Satan’s Lies
Today’s video is an excerpt from my Wilderness Wanderings Series from several years ago. If you want to get the full context of the story, I encourage you to read Numbers 22-25. The focus today, as the title states, is to remind us to beware of Satan’s attempts to deceive us. I hope it will be a blessing to you.
What Were You Thinking?
During my devotion time this morning, I had an “aha” moment while reading another familiar passage. I’ve been making it a practice to stop and think about every word in each verse instead of just getting the gist of the verse. This has opened my eyes to many things, and this morning was no different.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings: - Philippians 2:14
In the past, when I read this verse, I summed it up like this: do everything without complaining—a command which is far more difficult to obey than it appears at first glance. However, as I broke the verse down into individual words this morning, I had to ask, What’s the difference between murmuring and disputing?
Tired of Playing Games
A little over a week ago, I was reading through the Lewis Carroll classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It had been so long since I had read the tale that I wanted to refresh my memory. At one point, I laughed aloud while wiping tears from my cheeks. It wasn’t that the scene was that comical but rather that I could relate so very well at that moment.
While playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts, Alice soon discovers that the game is anything but ordinary. The mallets were live flamingoes, and live hedgehogs served as the croquet balls. The card soldiers bent backward to form the arches through which the balls could roll. The problems with this setup were many.
Battling Discontentment
Last week, Jason and I were in Manchester, England, for a missionary retreat. It’s a time for several missionary families to get together and encourage one another in the Lord. There’s food, services, and of course, fellowship. All in all, it’s a wonderful event.
Before leaving, Jason and I cleaned out the refrigerator to make sure we didn’t come home to any surprises. One of the things we needed to toss out was a partial loaf of bread already showing signs of molding. (In this damp environment, bread products do NOT last long.).