Devotionals

A person’s days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. I turned the wooden block calendar over and watched the squares and rectangles tumble out. Something about the feel of numbers and names of months in my hands to be arranged and...

I woke to bright sunlight flooding my room. It was 9:51 a.m. On a Saturday. I hadn’t slept that late in years, what was the matter with me? Then I remembered gazing out the window in the middle of the night, drawn to a full moon so bright I needed no light to guide me...

Pastor encourages us to memorize hymns and worship songs, desiring us to have avenues of worthy praise available at all times from the excellent theology and lovely melodies of so many Christian songs. This morning as my consciousness was floating up to meet the day, I woke as I often do with a song in...

“And my God shall supply all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” You might think this devotional is about my clumsiness. But it’s not. It’s about how Satan will try do anything to detour and distract you from spending time with God. This morning I grabbed a greek yogurt, stirred...

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” The coffee shop feels empty. It isn’t, but it feels empty. For the first time in 4 months I’m here alone. Well not really alone, the Lord is with me...

1st Corinthians 13:13 - When I was a struggling single mother my prayer journals consisted of leftover pages in spiral notebooks from my kids’ school years. I couldn’t afford to buy nice journals so I just took the leftovers and made do. Which was fine because those pages recorded my prayers and praises quite well, and...

I skipped my prayer time a couple of days last week. I had a really good reason – I didn’t have any place to do it. My usual spot where my prayer bench and Bibles and devotionals and journal reside was inaccessible. The small but cozy grandkids’ room with all its fun characters and sweet...

I get some of my best writing while walking and talking to the Lord. I don’t know why it works that way but it does. In the past while walking through my neighborhood I’ve worked out in detail talks I’ve given at women’s retreats, and some of the best parts of my book came to...

Lately I’ve been subbing at piano for church while our wonderful Jackie is out on maternity leave. While I’ve learned to be comfortable and even have fun playing as part of the praise band, I still need lots of practice to do it well. So on Sunday mornings I get up early to be at...

Determined to have a few moments of wonderfulness in my upper back porch swing this morning before getting ready for work, I sat there gently moving while contemplating the rough beauty of our back yard. For it is a yard now, not just a neglected leaf-waste site, thanks to the magic of Xavier who recently...

The other night was bad. Filled with sleeplessness and irrational fears, it ended in a horrible nightmare out of which my cries for help woke my husband. Thank God he was there to wake me out of it. I sat up on the edge of my bed, switched on the light and tried to get...

DIY. Do It Yourself. You can Google or YouTube just about anything and find detailed instructions on how to accomplish a task or make a craft. Tired of the old gray caulk around my tub, I found a YouTube to show me how to remove it and replace it the right way. Get the materials...

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. I stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. It was early on a Saturday morning, there was no traffic, few people out and about and the cool air beckoned me on a peaceful walk...

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. It was one of those perfect Sundays. You know the kind I mean: a relaxed morning prayer time, joyful worship and soul-feeding Bible Study, followed by fried chicken for lunch...

Love… always hopes, always perseveres. It was the end of October, and I was about to give up on the Zinnias in the planter that my daughter had given me the previous Mother’s Day. She’d carefully selected a pretty window box, just the right size, and had planted seeds in a bed...

Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. My husband Paul is a REAL morning person...