Don’t Ask the Blessing, Offer One

 
Why do we pray before meals? Habit? Tradition? For the answer, click here:
http://www.joyfulheart.com/thanksgiving/offer-blessing.htm
When I read this eight years ago it changed my pre-meal perspective and consequently my prayer. Now instead of asking God to bless my food, I bless God, the provider of my food.
  

The Best Carpenter

Volunteers in Phoenix, Maryland renovated the home of a terminally ill child where this note was found written on a scrap piece of drywall. It reminded me of a poem.
The Best Carpenter
Tools in the days gone by.
Building dreams of gold
A carpenter nailing my life.
His words are so bold.
They are built on wisdom.
The best carpenter can [...]

Jesus My Rock

“Grandma is this a front cold?”
“Yes Michaela, I think it is,” I answered as I took my grandaughter’s hand and ran toward the car. She must have heard her Dad (my oldest son) and I talking earlier about the expected cold front.
  Before we entered the store, the wind was calm and the temperature was in the [...]

How Long?

During a weary time in my life I asked the Lord,
 How Long? How long do I stay faithful?
Later that day I found the answer.
. . . be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.  
 Revelation 2:10

Blinders On, Blinders Off

Clip-clop, clip-clop. That sound meant one thing–the horse-drawn ice cream cart.
During the summer of ‘67 Mom and I flew across the Atlantic to her homeland of Lancashire, England. While visiting, I discovered the Accrington ice cream vendor, an old man atop a yellow stagecoach-style wagon pulled by a horse.
Every afternoon I’d watch the street and listen [...]

Music from the Ashes

Digging through the charred rubble of the Su Valley Junior-Senior High School near Talkeetna, Alaska, volunteers recovered several musical instruments. Clarinets, brass horns and a tuba passed from person to person. Elementary School music teacher Sandy Shoulders called it “music from the ashes.”1
A few years ago I experienced a low time in my life. Weeks [...]