Lessons from Esther
Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God by name, yet his providence is seen throughout these short ten chapters. The book takes place during the time of exile and the reign of Persia. The book opens with King Xerxes giving a feast. Everyone...
Walls in My Heart: Lessons from Nehemiah
Nehemiah and Ezra worked on the Temple and the city wall together. Their stories overlap yet present different information and points of view (like the four gospel accounts). In the past, I paid little attention to the return of the captives, skimming over the story in a rush to...
Lessons from the Book of Ezra
The book of Ezra opens with Cyrus releasing a portion of the remnant to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of God. He returns the items taken by King Nebuchadnezzar and offers the Israelites everything needed for the task. Soon, his edict is forgotten. Lesson 1: People forget...
The Power of Thunder
I enjoy watching lightning flashes and listening to thunderstorms. I marvel at the differences in storms between the flat plains of Texas, the mountains of Colorado, or the countryside of Germany. On occasion, I gazed over the horizon as a wall cloud formed, unable to look away. This seemed...
New Lenses, Better Vision
I wear contacts. Without them, my vision is blurry. I am nearsighted with astigmatism. Due to the move, Peter’s job change, and waiting on insurance, my last pair of lenses were getting a rather thick film on them. One or both may have had other imperfections as well, like...
Amazing Grace Filled Road Trips
Once upon a time, on a road trip to see Dennis Jernigan for a New Year’s Eve Night of Praise, my friend Jennifer and I realized between the two of us, we had about 15 variations of the song “Amazing Grace”. We skipped several of these variations, noting the song...
Unconditional Bravery
What happens when we identify the fears that hinder success to achieve better overall health? My Daily Bible reading has seemed to speak directly to overcoming fear (read a Psalm a day, and you’ll see the theme as well). As a mother, I struggle with two big f-bombs clouding...
Teach your children, Bravely
I am a preacher’s kid, and my dad is my favorite preacher. I even have a favorite sermon! As children, my siblings and I referred to it as “the parrot sermon” because of the illustration. The sermon’s actual title is “Who will teach the children?” using scriptures from the...
Living in God’s Promises Bravely
Bravery, courage, strength. These traits are rarely about doing what is comfortable or easy. They are most often about overcoming, dealing with a tough situation, making the best out of seemingly impossible circumstances, and continuing to move forward in spite of exhaustion. Weathering the storm builds strength, a strength we...
Book Review: Sing Over Me
I knew his songs before I knew his name or his story. “You are My All in All”, “When the Night is Falling”, “We will worship the Lamb of Glory” – these songs are not only beautiful but fill my heart with joy and peace every time I sing...