My husband and I celebrate our anniversary this month—58 years together! When we started out, things didn’t look very promising. We were living 200 miles apart, so we only knew each other through letters and sporadic weekend visits. With both of us in university, we had no money saved and our career prospects were dubious. [...]
Category: joy
What is Our Passion?
When Mel Gibson’s movie came out (The Passion of the Christ) some might have been confused by the title, because the word passion is used today mostly to describe sex or something else we especially enjoy. “He has a passion for sailing,” we hear, or “she’s passionate about her work with kids.” But for centuries [...]
The Joy We Share
In this devotional series on remembering, we’ve discovered how each aspect of our relationship with God teaches us different but equally important truths. Each one enables us to face the future confidently. As His dearly loved children (we discovered in January) we’re under the care of our heavenly Father. He remembers that we are dust [...]
He Remembers That We Are Dust
Are you starting the New Year with hope and optimism? Or is your heart filled with dread as you dwell on all the problems facing the world? Beginning this month, I want to turn our attention to biblical truths that will enable us to face the future without fear as we center our lives in [...]
Fearing the Lord our God
I was blessed with one of the world’s best mothers. Her love for her kids was legendary, and her reputation for indulgence? Well, I remember how shocked my kindergarten teacher was when I told her one morning I had hot dogs for breakfast. My mom figured protein was protein. What difference did it make if [...]
The Signs (and Hope) of Revival
Just before the First Great Awakening in the early 1700s the spiritual landscape of New England looked much like today. There were only 2 believers in the student body at Princeton. Only 5 did not belong to the filthy speech movement of the day. And the few Christians on campus were so unpopular they met [...]
Keeping Love Alive
When Tony and I met, I was still living with my parents, attending university in Wichita, Kansas. He was enrolled at Kansas University in Lawrence – two hundred miles away. We ended up at the same party in Lawrence one weekend and, as sometimes happens, our “chance” meeting developed into something we both wanted to [...]
Giving It All
With Coronavirus all around us, it’s hard to turn our minds towards anything else. Consumed by worries we never thought possible before – keeping a safe distance from others, washing our hands after every possible contact with the virus, and wearing gloves and masks when we do have to go out – we are shell [...]
Taste & See: How Experience Builds Faith
The Baby Boomers among us will remember the old Phil Spector song (1958) that declares: “To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him; Just to see him smile makes my life worthwhile. To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him. And I do. And I do.” Of course, he [...]
Cultivating a Thankful Spirit
From the mounting scientific evidence, gratitude seems to be good for our health. The leading American researcher in this field, Robert Emmons, found it lowers blood pressure, improves immune function, and facilitates more efficient sleep. Other benefits include lower levels of cellular inflammation, more prosocial behaviors (that foster new and better relationships), and greater resiliency [...]