spiritual walk

My dad just turned 90. He is not in good health, neither physically nor mentally. All my life, my dad has talked about his desire to “go home” to heaven. And by all appearances, he will finally join my mom, his parents, and countless numbers of those he pastored, soon. So I’ve been living on memory lane for a while.

What are your good intentions for today? Do you make lists? Do you check things off? Or are you like me and make a list, but can't find it? Ah yes - we do have lots of intentions...

I had a doctor named “Dr. Bravo” (no – this is not the beginning of a joke – it really is his name). . . So there I am, chilly in my little paper gown, bare feet in the stirrups, ready for my annual exam...

When my grandson was 3 or 4 years old, he would always grab my hand and take me into another room, where there was no one else, so we could sit and talk – just the two of us...

Monday we discussed Psalm 77 and our own sleepless nights. But another thing that strikes me in Psalm 77 is Asaph’s visual reminders of God’s control over the deep waters of verses 16 & 19. And that caused me to think about Genesis and creation.

Do you ever struggle to find sleep? Do problems keep you awake? Some 8% of Americans use prescriptions to sleep. Half of Americans use over-the-counter remedies. And last year alone, 9 million Americans misused sedatives.

Does your life sometimes feel like a valley of dry bones? When you look at the long-time trial, does it seem dead and dry? And you’ve kind of gotten used to it looking that way? Hope seems far away – like a mirage in the desert? Believe me – I get it.

For as long as Dana and I have known each other, whenever we get to a situation that's tricky or that has a rather large exclamation point to it – we refer to it as “the Big Fig Newton”.

Have you ever watched the sitcom, Newhart? Stephanie is a character on that show. She’s a spoiled rich girl, who finds herself in need of a job, and becomes a maid for a small Vermont inn. And on the occasions when she realized she’d done something wrong . . .

Do you ever feel like you’re “out of step” with God? I know I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m running ahead and just waiting for God to open doors. Other times, I find myself picking up rocks, . . .