The enemy loves to try to tell us who we are.

He insidiously sneaks into our mind. Tainting our thoughts, he attempts to turn them from truth into lies.

Lies that tell us we are insignificant, inadequate, insufficient, incompetent, and insecure.

“Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

We, in the church, often use this verse at the beginning of a new season or a new year. 

I sat down nervously looking around the room, watching the women begin to take their seats at the table. A few of them I knew personally, but many of them I knew by reputation only. Pastor’s wives,

Grace and Truth.

I love these words, “and then they lived happily ever after,” just like a good Hallmark movie.

I remember the moment vividly. I was sitting at my desk contemplating how to fix what seemed like an impossible problem. Feelings of fear and uncertainty mixed with a sense of urgency, pressuring me to make a choice….

I love the mountains. Their endless beauty is astounding! Sitting high above a region and seeing the depths below proves our significance and our insignificance…

“If only I had this instead of that… “

Isn’t this what’s going through our minds at times?

We say to ourselves, “If only I had that job instead of this job,” “Why do I have to deal with this sickness instead of living with full health?”

Several weeks ago, the cul-de-sac and incoming street where we live was getting resurfaced. The resurfacing project was preceded by a well-laid plan…

The Bible says that in the last days, the love of many will grow cold because of the increase of wickedness (Matthew 24:12). In these days that we are living in, it can be very easy to forsake love.

Ahh…summer!

Lately, it has been really hot, and I find myself seeking shelter in the air-conditioned house! I find that I am more thirty too!

I have an object lesson in my mind as I write these words. It’s a picture that I strive to remember as I navigate relationships in my life.

As I was preparing for a week's vacation, like many of you, I was facing some deadlines before leaving.  One of those was videotaping a sermon for a ministry in Zambia. Finishing up my notes on Tuesday evening….

One of my favorite parts of being a counselor is being educated. Not in the sense of earning degrees and certifications from higher education facilities. Nope. Not that kind of educated. I’m talking about when a teenager schools me on the current lingo.

Not too long ago, my brother and I were having a discussion about a debatable subject. (The subject will remain anonymous). He was very convinced that he was right, and I was very convinced that I was right.

Lately, there is a seeming constant state of unrest. Between the pandemic, politics, and protests, among other things, there is always something vying for your attention, drawing your focus to circumstances, rather than to the cross.

It was a Sunday afternoon and my daughter and I spent a few hours in our favorite discount department store after months of quarantine had kept its doors closed and ours as well.  There was a certain amount of concern, perhaps anxiety, that went along with this trip.  Emily was just a few days away from having a baby….

Don’t you love the trees coming back to life after a long winter? Everything brown is now luscious and green. Getting up and walking has become a nice morning routine…

We all want to live a blessed life, but do we know what leads to the blessing?

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the…