Life in a Fishbowl
“… for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or…
A Letter to Ian–Looking At, Looking On
Dear Ian, Looking at God’s Word years prior to your birth, our gracious Father allowed me to see you there on the pages. Not that I knew your name (Remember our song?), nor did I know what you would look like, what beautiful features you’d possess….
An Imperishable Beauty
“But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (I Peter 4:4—ESV). Walking side by side with her father in the October sunshine, the princess stooped…
Because of LOVE…
Though weeping endures for the night, joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5b). Rain pelted my windshield as tears, too, left their trails. Home from having taken our daughter to school, I sat a moment, only to discover a weight of heaviness in the too…
Who’s My Neighbor? (Finale)
And a woman named Martha welcomed [Jesus] into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened … (Luke 10:38b-39–ESV). Pondering the protagonist from Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan might cause one to take pause, ask–…
Who’s My Neighbor? (Part 3)
“What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8–ESV)? I didn’t know Barbara Searight well. Didn’t really know her husband Richard at all. Sad to say–after all, they’re our neighbors….
Who’s My Neighbor? (Part 2)
… [Wanting] to justify himself … [Expert] asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29–NIV). Our next door neighbor is moving. Anyone want to be our neighbor? Come and check it out. I sure hope someone we like moves in! You can fix your…
Who’s My Neighbor? (Part 1)
[The expert of the law] answered: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you…
Thank You for Making Him Real!
[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men … (Ecclesiastes 3:11a–NIV). Born in Minnesota on August 26, 1921, Doris Koskela Heikkinen was a lover of people. She was a lover of people, however, because she was first…
Bloom Where You’re Planted!
(This post has been modified slightly, having first been published in our local newspaper, The Mountaineer, on August 12, 2020.) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and…