Oct 29, 2013 | Encouraging Words
I filled a bird feeder with sunflower seeds and hung it outside the kitchen window. I did not know if the birds would come, or if the squirrels would commandeer the feeder, so I waited to see what would happen. Within days, the birds became regular visitors, and our...
Sep 30, 2013 | Challenges in Calling, Encouraging Words
As I prepared quesadillas, I was listening to a PGA game. The golfer who began the round as the clear leader missed several putts and now was falling far short of winning the game. As he prepared to putt the 18th hole, the commentator remarked, “Well, he got some...
Sep 12, 2013 | Encouraging Words
Audrey was telling me about her third day as a second grader. I asked if anything had not gone as expected and she shared, “I took the new girl to the nurse.” I asked her to tell me about it. While licking her Popsicle, Audrey related, “We were playing on the...
Aug 23, 2013 | Encouraging Words, Finding God in the Everyday
It does not surprise me that redemption and back to school are related. The idiom, a clean slate, originated with students who used slates and chalk to answer questions in school. When a student wiped the slate, the mistakes would disappear. A clean slate was an...
Aug 9, 2013 | Being a Minister, Being the Church, Community
In 1991, at the conclusion of an evening of worship during one of the early meetings of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a woman was in tears sitting alone on the back pew of the sanctuary. I knew her and sat down on the pew in front of her just to offer a presence. As...
