“Good morning, LORD. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the cool breeze and sunshine that brightens my corner of this world this morning. Thank you for the hummingbird gathering the sweetness of your nectar. May I carry my awareness of You and your loving presence with me into my day. “Please inspire me, LORD, to write the blog well, to catch your will and claim it for the moment, to write about those things you desire for me to write, to show You and your presence in our

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: John 1:45-51 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found him, the one about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip answered him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and sai

All the neighbors were invited to the picnic in the circle of the neighborhood. It was scheduled to begin at 4, and when my husband and I arrived with our chairs, our dessert to share, and our plates and silverware, we found the chairs were already forming in a circle and the neighbors were already gathering. The weather was perfect: sunny with a great breeze. And the tree in the corner provided just the perfect amount of shade for the semi-circle of neighbors that formed to

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. MEDITATIO - Meditate on text, allow the LORD to touch us with His Word: Am I in rightfu

It happened again several times this week. I’d be out and about, driving through the neighborhoods of our small city, and there was something missing. I’ve actually been noticing this missing element for a long time now. It is August. It is summer. And there are never children outside playing. And I have found myself praying for the children of our world. When I was a child, August was heaven this side of the sod. Every day was an adventure in our neighborhood. We’d hit the

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 23:1-12 Then Jesus spoke to the multitude and his disciples saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Do and observe all that they command you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens difficult to carry and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves do not move one finger to help them. All their works they do to be seen by others. They make their phylacteries b

Saturday was shredding day at our house. For more than a week, my husband and I purged paperwork scattered around the home in tax files, file drawers, desk drawers, to file bins, etc. Our local St. Vincent de Paul was sponsoring a free shred drop off. We were all in. It feels good to be rid of that stuff safely. While we were busy purging papers, I looked around and realized there were some things that I no longer used but that others may want. So, I cleaned out a closet an

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 22:34-40 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a scholar of the law, asked him a question seeking to test him and saying, “Master, which commandment is the greatest in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Y

When I was a small child, my father took a Dale Carnegie course. He loved it so much that even the children in the household came to learn and appreciate Carnegie’s sayings and wisdom which our father frequently used. One of my favorites was: Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud; the other saw stars. My older sister and I used to quote that Carnegie saying frequently, especially when we were trying to get another to change their perspective. Another adage we

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parable saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. And he sent his servant to invite guests to the wedding, but they would not come. Again, he sent out other servants saying, ‘Tell the gusts, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are slaughtered, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But the guests made ligh

I had a hair cut yesterday at 11, and I considered going a little late because it seems the salon is usually running late, but I decided against it. What if they were on time? So I went a little early as usual (my dad raised me on Lombardi time – meaning I should be there at 10:45 or I was late). When I arrived, I could tell my stylist wasn’t at her chair. I checked the seating to the left of the door, but someone was sitting there. I smiled and turned away, but then I realiz

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 20:1-16 (Jesus told his disciples a parable) “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who at dawn went out to hire workers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the workers for a denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idly in the marketplace. He said to them, ‘Go into the vineyard also, and whatsoever is right, I will give you.’ And they went off. Again, h

I started a bible study group for a few women years ago. There were four of us, and then there were six, and then we expanded to eight, and finally we grew to 10. It is a blessing when all of us can make our Monday evening dinner, conversation, and bible study. Most weeks, someone is traveling or sick, so we rarely hit ten which makes sitting around my table built for 6 tight. But last night we were abundantly blessed, and everyone was there. And so, we had to “sit little” an

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 19:23-30 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I tell you, it is hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men, this is impossible, but for God all things are poss

My husband was cleaning out his desk downstairs this week when he came upon my Hebrew flash cards. His desk used to be one of my desks, and I guess when it exchanged owners, I didn’t clear it out completely. He brought them to me to see if I wanted to keep them. They are over 30 years old. I looked through them, then admitted that if gone this long without searching for them, they probably weren’t among my essentials. They’re sitting on my rolltop desk now. And today, as I

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 19:16-22 A man drew near to Jesus and said, “Good Master, what good things must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you call me good?” There is only One who is good; that is God. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus responded, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and moth

I’m old fashioned, if you haven’t already guessed. I like the Sunday square on my calendars to be first in the row, not at the end. When I get to leave a calendar line and move to a new one, I celebrate the opportunity to begin anew. It’s a strategic day for me in which I identify who I am called to be and consider what I must do to become just that. It’s a day to acknowledge difficulties of the past but also blessings. It’s a day to focus on my essential relationship with th

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Matthew 15:21-28 Then Jesus departed and went to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan came to him saying, “Have mercy on my, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is grievously possessed with a demon.” But he did not say a word to her in reply. And his disciples came and begged him saying, “Send her away because she keeps crying out to us.” Jesus answered and said, “I was sent for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then s

One of my favorite foods growing up was my mother’s blackberry jelly. Ironically, gathering the berries is one of my least favorite memories from growing up. When we’d wake up and walk to the kitchen for breakfast those summer mornings and see the berry baskets on the table, we’d cringe. We knew it meant we were going berry picking, sludging through the brambles and weeds, dodging the thorns on the bushes, on the lookout for snakes and other critters, swatting bugs and wiping

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text: Luke 11:27-28 And it came to pass that as Jesus was speaking, a certain woman from those gathered lifted her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” MEDITATIO - Meditate on text, allow the LORD to touch us with His Word: How well am I living and keeping the word of God? BREAKING OPEN THE TEXT: Jesus’ response t