Encouraging Deep Roots

  I was asked to write an article for a women's ministry recently and was given the verses and the topic to write on. I was looking forward to doing this until I pulled out my bible and read the scriptures and discovered they really had nothing to do with the topic. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people cherry pick verses out of the Bible to make them mean what they want them to mean. Good exegesis is the critical, systematic interpretation of a text to discover its original, intended meaning, rather than imposing your own personal biases onto it. The seminary I attended hammered that home to me and yet, I see people doing the opposite all of the time.  Some activities and questions to ask yourself as you read a passage are the following: Read the entire passage. Keep in mind that the the headings, chapter numbers, and verse divisions in modern Bibles are not original to the text. Sometimes you have to read more than the chapter. You can use the following categ...

It's been a busy week and a half which is why I've been silent here. We've had a couple of church events, I preached this past Sunday, I participated in the local farmer's market on Saturday, and I have a huge Etsy order I need to fill. That's on top of my normal activity. It's been a good week though as in the middle of all the activity I've had time to reflect and pray, think about my life and ministry and making sure I stay on course. It has been a week of giving and receiving love as my middle son turned 33 and Dan and I celebrated Valentine's Day. The pink and red colors have been a welcome change from the sea of white that have made up my days since early December.  The sun is out more often and this week we finally warmed up out of the negative temperatures and even made it to 48 degrees Fahrenheit! Yesterday I actually heard a bird chirping.  The temperatures are going back down this weekend but I'm thankful for these little signs that spring...

I have many unfinished projects laying around my house. Quilts I started and never finished. Writings that I started and  they sit on my laptop, and piles of paperwork waiting to be filed. I have some good intentions that I never followed through on in my life. However, the one thing in my life that I don't want to leave unfinished is the ministry that the Lord has given to me. That nudge from the Holy Spirit to keep pressing on and finish my race is the thing that motivates me each day.  There are many distractions that threaten to derail the completion of the task and to veer me off course. Things such as worries about my family or other issues, distractions going on in the world,  my own failings at times, other people's opinions about what I should or shouldn't be doing, and  on it goes. These distractions can keep me unfocused or wanting to throw in the towel.  And yet, I want to press on and continue to follow the path that God has given me. He has given m...

It's February, the month of love. I think that February is one of my favorite months for many reasons. First and foremost, it signifies that I'm almost through the winter! This has been a rough one. It's -12 Fahrenheit right now with a windchill of -22. It's also the month of other fun events - the Superbowl, my son's birthday, Valentine's day, my husband is off his teaching and tutoring because of winter break. This weekend I'm looking forward to participating in our local farmer's market. The following week we are going to go and visit my daughter and son-in-law for a couple of days. All fun things! But February is also a reminder of love. I have this little plaque that sits on my mantle that says, "Love lives here." I often have to ask myself, "Is that true?" "Do I love well?"  Some days, the answer is probably, "No." But then other days I do a better job. As I reflect back over the past week, I had more days wh...

Each day I rise and look out the window for a glimpse of the sun. For the past couple of months there are many days when I can't see it because it is shrouded by clouds and snow. But when I do catch a glimpse of the rays, it raises my spirits. I miss seeing sunshine in the winter. Lately, I've seen it peeking out more often as the days are beginning to lengthen. The sun has a different feel and it brings a bit of hope that the bad weather won't last forever. Because the cloud cover has been less, I've also had opportunity to see some beautiful sunsets. I find those glimpses of the sun bring me renewed energy and joy. The days when the sun is out all day long are the best.  From a spiritual perspective, from dawn to dusk, I do have the Son shining on me. I am able to face whatever is happening around me with hope because of the light of Jesus Christ. He brings hope and peace. He gives me the strength to face hard things. He brings joy. He allows me to pass that on to oth...

I'm getting ready to spend the last day of this never-ending January at a conference. It's 4 a.m. and Dan and I will be headed out in a couple of hours to drive the hour and a half to get there. To be honest, I don't really feel like going since it's 8 degrees out and I also have a long list of things I could be doing. But the main reason I'm attending is we have a couple of younger people from our church going and I want to encourage them, especially the young woman who is attending.  I turned 64 last weekend and there is part of me that feels as if my time is over, but then I remember I still have much to offer. I'm finding that as I age that the opportunities in my life are less about me and more about coming alongside the next generation and helping them lead and grow.  I head up a writing team for our national women's group and what I've been doing is seeking out younger women who normally may not have an opportunity to write for a larger audience. ...