Monthly Archives: August 2024

Change is in the air in our hometown. The mornings are cooler, the days are shorter, and the trees are starting to sport their fall colors. We’re still supposed to have temps in the 90’s today, but all the signs are there that cooler days are just around the corner.

Changes are happening in the world around us too. We can see this in the political unrest and division in our nation, the increasing ferocity of storms and extremes of heat and cold, and the news of “wars and threats of war…” and “famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.” (Matthew 24:6, 8 NLT). All make it clear that change is coming, that our world is waxing old like a garment. (Isaiah 51:6)

Just as the changing of the leaves in autumn lets us know the seasons are changing, the same is true of the events we see happening in our world. Jesus said, “In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.” (Matthew 24:33 NLT).

For some the changing of seasons is met with dread, because they know the storms of winter and frigid cold are sure to follow. Others, however, revel in the changes, enjoying the multi-colored beauty of fall and anticipating the fun of winter sports and the crispness of the air on a winter morning.

In the same way, for many the changes happening in our world fill them with despair and panic. They dread the unknown. For God’s children, however, these signs are met with joy, because they know a new dawn is just over the horizon.

While it is true that “no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen…” (v. 36), we can find hope in the promise that whatever happens we have a Heavenly Father who does know and who will always be our refuge and our fortress, our God, in whom we trust. (Psalm 91:2 NIV).

Change is in the air. There is no doubt about that, but don’t be afraid. Instead, “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”. (Luke 21:28 KJV).

God bless and Happy Sabbath!

Much of my life I have felt like an outsider looking in. I never really fit in at school or even at work. I was kind of the nerd, a little straight-laced, not the best looking, usually the last one picked for sports. It can be kind of lonely sometimes, being the one on the outside, always looking in.

I don’t say these things to make you feel sorry for me, because one thing I’ve learned, as I’ve grown older, is I am not alone in feeling this way. Most of us feel this way at some point in our lives, if not most of the time. We all feel like a round peg in a square hole. We fit, but not well.

There’s one place we do fit perfectly, however – in the family of God. No matter what our background, our sins or mistakes, our nationality, our economic status, we are all the same – sinners in need of a Savior. God saw our helplessness, saw we would never fit in in His kingdom the way we were, and sent His Son to die for us, so we could belong. “Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13 NLT).

Because of what Jesus did for us we need never feel like an outsider again. “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us.” (v. 18). Through Jesus we “are no longer strangers and foreigners. [We] are citizens along with all of God’s holy people…members of God’s family.” (v. 19).

Do you, like me, feel like an outsider, like you don’t fit in? Then come join the family, the family of Christ. There’s always room for one more at His table. There are no strangers or foreigners here. This is one place you’ll always belong. Welcome home!

One of the things I enjoy so much about my morning walks is watching the sun rise. This time of year, when I start out, it is still dark. As I walk along light starts to slowly seep into my world until, as I turn the corner and head home, the sun breaks over the horizon, chasing away the last remnants of darkness.

Many days I also take an evening walk. Then I get to watch the sun slip out of sight, leaving a spectacular color display in the clouds, ushering in the night and the end of another day.

Day after day this cycle repeats. Morning and evening. Sunrise and sunset. But what happens in between? That’s what really matters. How do we spend those precious hours between when we wake up and when we fall asleep?

The Bible tells how God wants us to spend those hours. It says, “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” (Psalm 113:3 NIV). Every moment of every day is to be spent praising the name of the Lord, glorifying Him for all He has done. Our every breath should be an act of worship.

So, are we to go around shouting, “Praise God!” all day long? No, God says the kind of worship He desires is “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke…to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood…” (Isaiah 58:6, 7).

The praise God desires from us, from sunup to sunset, is praise in action, loving our fellowmen, caring for their needs, helping them find their way home. When you do this “Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” (v. 8).

Today, “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets…” let your actions shout your praise to your God. If you do, then His light will light your way, His love will fill your heart, and you will never walk alone.

Our granddaughter loves to ring the doorbell! When her parents bring her to our house early in the morning, so Ana can babysit her, Bexlie presses that button with gusto. Sometimes that bell seems extra loud, especially if we’re just waking up.

But, no matter how loud that bell seems to us, we never refuse to open the door and let Bexlie in. We love her so much and look forward to spending the day with her. We’d never tell her to go away or be too busy to spend time with her.

Yet how often I refuse to open the door to my heart when my Heavenly Father knocks. I’m too busy to spend time with Him or, maybe, I just don’t want to hear what He has to say, afraid He might ask me to do something I don’t want to do. For whatever reason, I ignore His gentle knock till He goes away.

The thing is, God is a lot like Bexlie. If we don’t answer the door with one ring of the bell, she keeps pressing that button till we do. God does the same. He keeps coming back, day-after-day, knocking on that door. He doesn’t give up!

How about you? Is He standing at the door right now? Do you hear His gentle knock? What are you waiting for? Open the door! Don’t be afraid. He promises, “If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” So, don’t wait a moment longer – Open the door and let Him in!

The last month and half have been good for me. The time away from work, our trip to Puerto Rico, the time to refocus and unwind, have made a huge difference in my outlook on things. Even with starting a new job and my other responsibilities at home and church, I have a sense of calmness and peace, which had alluded me a good portion of the time over the last year and half.

I think a lot of what I’m experiencing is due to my refocusing on my relationship with God. I’ve been spending more time reading His word and talking with Him as I walk each morning and throughout the day. I find the more I focus on Him, the less the everyday things which usually stress me out affect me.

Could you use a little more peace and calm in your life? The good news is you don’t have to take a month off or travel to a tropical paradise to experience this (although it sure doesn’t hurt). That peace can be yours today. It just takes a little trust and a change in focus. The Bible promises God “will keep in perfect peace all who trust in [him], all whose thoughts are fixed on [Him]!” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT). So fix your eyes on Jesus today, and experience for yourself “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV).

I love our grandchildren more than I can say. Playing with them, reading them stories, even just watching them sleep, are just a few of the things that make every day with them so special.

Our granddaughter, Bexlie, and I sometimes have interesting conversations. Her vocabulary, while always expanding, is still limited, and her voice can be very quiet. This, combined with my hearing loss, sometimes makes understanding what she’s saying a real challenge.

Sometimes Bexlie gets frustrated when I can’t figure out what she’s saying. When this happens she’ll keep repeating the same thing over-and-over. Often I have to bend down to get down to her level, so I can hear her better and hopefully be able to grasp what she’s trying to tell me.

Many times I feel like Bexlie when I talk to God. I repeat my requests over-and-over, frustrated because I never seem to get an answer. I sometimes wonder if He even hears or if he cares.

I don’t need to worry, however, because the Bible promises when I pray, God “hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.” (Psalm 116:1 NLT). In fact, He is so interested in what I am saying that, just like I do with Bexlie, “he bends down to listen.” (Psalm 116:2).

So, don’t give up. Keep praying! God is listening. In fact, He’s bending down to catch every word. At the right time, He “will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV).

God bless and have a great day!

Things went pretty well at my new job this last week, but I did get a lesson in humility along the way. The electronic medical record system they use is Epic, which I used for many years in Wenatchee. Because of this I thought it would be a cinch to make the transition. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I haven’t used Epic in a year and half and I quickly discovered this is not the same Epic I remember!

I was only there a short time before I realized I was going to need some help. So, swallowing my pride, I submitted to hours of instructional videos, Zoom meetings, and working with other providers, learning the ins and outs of this system again. By the end of the week I was experiencing serious information overload. I came home on Friday and complained to Ana, “My brain hurts!”

It was not easy admitting I couldn’t do it on my own, but I’m glad I did, because I’m finally getting the hang of Epic again. I am so thankful for the people who helped me get back in the swing of things. Without them I’d have been totally lost.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 NIV). That phrase “poor in spirit” has always been a little confusing to me. Is Jesus saying if we’re depressed we are blessed? If so, I have a problem with that, because I’ve dealt with depression and I sure didn’t feel blessed by it.

My experience this last week has given me a new perspective on this verse, however. I think what Jesus meant, when He said “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, is we are blessed when we realize our helplessness, swallow our pride, and humbly ask Him for help. When we do, then He steps in and fills us with His wisdom, giving direction to our steps. Then, with Jesus in our corner, ours “is the kingdom of heaven.”

Asking for a little help, when you’re in over your head, is the smart thing to do. When it comes to dealing with the sin in your life, it’s the only thing to do! So, don’t be afraid to pray, “Uh, a little help here, please!. Just swallow your pride, admit your need, and invite the Holy Spirit to come in and straighten out the mess you’ve made. When you do, you’ll find all heaven will have your back!

God bless and have a wonderful day!

I met another older gentleman on my walk yesterday, only this was a little different from the day before. While the first man’s gait had been shuffling and slow, he still walked with purpose, focused on the road ahead. The man I met yesterday was focused, but not on the road ahead.

As I saw this person approaching me down the sidewalk, I could tell something wasn’t right. His head was down, his gait was slow, but he was also weaving a little from side-to-side and he held his hands clenched out in front of him. The closer he got the more worried I became that there was something wrong with him. Turns out I was right – he wasn’t watching where he was going!

As the man passed by me I saw why he seemed directionally challenged. Gripping tightly to his cell phone, he was texting furiously, while listening through earphones. To top it off he had a tablet precariously balanced on his left arm, so he could watch its screen while he walked. No wonder he was swerving back-and-forth.

It would be easy for us to criticize this man for letting his devices distract him, but we’ve all been there. Life is full of things that make us lose our focus. It can be problems at work, relationship challenges, school, or any number of other things. Distracted by these temporary complications, we lose track of where we’re headed, putting us at risk of ending up somewhere we really don’t want to be.

So, what’s the solution? How do we get back on track? We have to take a break, put away the things that are distracting us for a while, and refocus on what, and Who, really matters.

That’s what God gave us the Sabbath for. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27 NIV). Our Heavenly Father knew we, His children, could be easily distracted, caught up in work and other pursuits, forgetting to even take time to rest. That’s why He set aside one day each week for us to take a break, get some rest, and refocus on what really matters, our relationships with Him and the important people in our lives.

This Sabbath, don’t make the same mistake as the gentleman I met, letting yourself get so distracted you start wandering from the right path. Take a break, get some rest, and get back on track. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.

Walk Like You Mean It

God has blessed me with long legs, so when I go on my morning walk each day I cover a lot of ground in a short time. Yesterday, while out walking, I met an older gentleman coming the other way. His gait was fairly slow and shuffling, as he did his best to move arthritic joints, but he had a great smile!

As we passed each other the man glanced at my long-legged stride and, with a smile, shouted, “Walk like you mean it!”

I laughed and we both continued walking, but as I quickly left him in the dust, his words kept echoing in my mind, “Walk like you mean it!” I asked myself, is that what I’m doing? Am I walking through life with purpose, like I mean it, or just meandering from one day to the next?

The apostle Paul, facing trials and persecutions, declared, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24 NIV).

Paul was walking through life like he meant it, his eyes focused on the goal, dedicated to completing his assignment, to telling the world “the good news of God’s grace.” He wouldn’t let anything stand in his way, so that one day, his task completed, he could declare, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (1 Timothy 4:7).

How about you? Are you walking like you mean it? Are you focused, like Paul, on finishing the race? Or are you just meandering through life with no real goal in mind, content to stroll from day-to-day? If so, I encourage you to pick up your feet, focus your eyes on Jesus, and, from this day forward, walk like you mean it!

Who did you see when you woke up this morning and looked in the mirror?

My sister, JoAnn, asked this question in response to one of my recent posts. Specifically she asked, “When we look in the mirror in the morning and evening, are we seeing Jesus or our own reflection from the day?”

Pretty profound, don’t you think? That sister of mine is a smart woman! She’s cut right down to the crux of the matter. I was blown away when I read this. It made me take another look at myself and ask myself the question, “Who do people see when they look at me?”

Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” If our heart belongs to Jesus, then our life will reflect Him too.

John promised “that when Christ appears, we shall be like him…” (1 John 3:2 NIV). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait till then. I want to be like Jesus today and everyday, reflecting HIs love on everyone I meet.

How about you? Who do you see when you look in the mirror? If you don’t like the answer, then invite Jesus into your life right now. Let His love fill your heart till your life reflects no one but Him. Then go and share Him with the world.