I have an eye for quality. It drove my mother crazy. I’d walk into a dress shop and zero in on an expensive outfit. The same went for shoes, purses, furniture, and fabric. Since my taste didn’t fit my budget, I viewed this trait as an irritating curse. I have friends who can buy cheap stuff and look great. Why didn’t it work for me?

In my single years I dated a man who looked at my ability to appreciate quality as worldly. But doesn’t God appreciate quality and beauty? Appreciating and demanding are two different things.

Through the years God has delighted me in surprising ways. (Read More)

Our family was praying about an opportunity. The more we learned, the better it sounded. Yet, there were still many unknowns. As I prayed for God’s guidance, Revelation 3:7 came to mind, “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (NIV).

I asked the Lord to be the doorkeeper for us. “If this is Your will, Lord Jesus, please open this door in such a way we can’t help but walk through. However, if in Your all-knowing wisdom, You don’t want us to go through this door, please clearly close it so that we will know to walk away.” (Read More)

Even kids pay taxes, and they should, says motivational speaker Jim Rohn. His logic makes sense. Kids use sidewalks and benefit from safe streets so when they buy a toy or candy bar they must pay taxes.

In the movie, The Iron Lady, Margaret Thather said even the poor need to pay taxes. When they don’t, they lack a sense of ownership and healthy pride for taking care of their neighborhoods. They are more likely to graffiti and expect someone else, the government, to take care of it.

Jesus paid taxes (Matthew 17:27). He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17 NASB). (Read More)

I woke up feeling discouraged. Weeks of physical therapy were helping me get my mobility back when bam, I re-injured my knee and pulled my sacroiliac joint out of line. Two weeks after starting over in my therapy and hours of traveling back and forth and doing exercises, I was still painfully limping around. I woke up thinking, “I’m going quit this.” That’s when the Lord reminded me of Proverbs 24:10.

“If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited” (NASB). (Read More)

Have you ever felt nibbled to death by a school of guppies? After a quiet Christmas break, all that had been put aside for the holidays swarmed upon me. Thankfully, this has not been a shark attack, just many diverse areas vying for my attention.

Pulled in a dozen different directions at once, I’ve struggled to focus on what I was doing. Two thoughts have helped me navigate through the discordance. First, “I only have to do today what my heavenly Father wants me to do today.” That thought has been my north star. Each day I ask the Lord, what needs to be done today? Usually one or two things crystallize in my mind. I think through my list and smile. Those are exactly the things for this day. (Read More)

The organizer of our prayer group read from A. W. Tozer’s list of self-sins that can hinder prayer. When she named “self-sufficiency” I straightened. “Oh no.” I thought, “Has my desire to have “no needs” meant I don’t want to have to rely on God?”

I had to confess that I want to be self-sufficient. I don’t like to have needs. I like to feel strong and in control. I equate security with possessing the material and immaterial resources to seize every opportunity and conquer any problem.

Even in everyday life, I like being able to handle issues. When I’m dependent on others I must wait on their time table. In short, I like being self-sufficient.

As I thought about this my eyes landed on “My grace is sufficient for you.” (Read More)

I twisted my knee a couple of weeks before Christmas. Our house is built into a hill and goes up and down—that means steps and lots of them. I had shopping, cooking, and gift wrapping to do. Painfully hobbling around on one leg during the holidays seemed like a stroke of bad luck—but was it? Ephesians 1:11 reminded me that God “works all things after the counsel of His will.”

How could being laid up during the holidays be God’s will? Romans 12:2 says that His will is good, acceptable, and perfect. James 1:17 says God is the giver of good gifts. This did not feel good or acceptable to me—or probably my family either—since they had to pitch in and cover for me. (Read More)

Did you know that you are called to be a highlighter? You know those bright colored markers that highlight great things worth knowing and remembering? Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (NIV). You and I are called to highlight or spotlight God through what we do.

As I’ve thought through what I do—instead of bemoaning what I can’t do—I realized I can be a highlighter. Although I admire people who package their ideas in sidesplitting humor or brilliant freshness, that’s not my strength. However, my life and ministry can highlight what already exists—God and His timeless truth. (Read More)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9, NASB

Last time we looked at some of what Christ gave up to enrich us. Today we look at some of our riches and gifts that benefit us everyday.

First Timothy 4:14 says, “Do not neglect your gift” (NIV). Some gifts develop through use (Hebrews 5:14). That new computer or smart phone becomes more prized as you learn how to use it. The same is true with spiritual treasure. Our appreciation of its worth increases with understanding and use. Below are some of the many ways Christ enriches and gifts us. Pick a couple of neglected ones and begin developing them. (Read More)

The ladies I was lunching with discussed their varied emotions at sending their sons off to college this year. Pride and loss wove through their words. Their sons were enjoying their independence and doing well. They were fulfilling their parents’ hopes of becoming godly men, but this achievement had not come without cost. A pang of sadness accompanied the moms’ joy because their relationships with their firstborns had forever changed.

2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich (NASB). When we look at Christmas we see the joy and excitement of God becoming human. Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan established before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4). Yet, from the triune God’s viewpoint there was loss and sacrifice. (Read More)