I'm really good at worrying. Nope, not proud to admit that. But it seems like there are so many things to get anxious about. Whether it's poverty, wars, gas prices, inflation, that awful health diagnosis, or a friend grieving the loss of a parent, there's a lot to worry about. When someone I love is in crisis – one of my parents, a friend, or one of my 11 nieces ...
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I got sticker shock at the grocery store. There I was buying the same things I usually fill my pantry with, like bone broth, organic ground turkey, sweet potatoes, ice cream, and cha-ching, the cost increased so much that I put the ice cream back. I could have afforded it, but the principle bugged me. As much as I expected to pay more during this season of inflation, I still ...
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Ever think life would be easier if we could pick and choose our relationships? Just spend time with the people we like, and who like us? Handpicked, no stress- no drama people. That would be Utopian, right? The Good and Bad news is, that’s pretty much impossible to do if we truly are followers of Christ. That person or people who rub you the wrong way are placed in your life ...
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The accounts of the days following Easter are very interesting in the Gospels; Jesus keeps popping up and surprising people over and over. Two of his disciples mistake him for a fellow traveler on the road to Emmaus. Mary Magdalene, who knew him very well, thought he was a gardener. It makes me wonder, if the people who walked and talked with him, ate and traveled all over Judea with him, ...
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We’ve just wrapped up a pretty major renovation at the Ratcliffe house (Shout out to Platinum Kitchens and Hill Brothers Flooring!). My wife, Kathy, and I now fully understand why families usually move out of their houses during renovations on the shows we watch on HGTV. Living through a renovation can be trying to say the least with dust from old flooring being torn up, sawdust and drywall mud dust ...
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Going to high school back in Corvallis, Oregon, I remember the girls I knew and went to school with. They all seem to have a solid plan for their future. Many of them were looking forward to starting their own families after they met the right guy. They seemed to know what career direction they wanted to pursue in college as well. I had no plans or even dreams of starting a family. My plan ...
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Hope your New Year has brought a sweet newness to your spirit. Are your Christmas memories still fresh? 'I'll text your gift now' was the new thing that revealed surprises under our Christmas tree. Gift wrap still lined the floor but texting a gift that didn't arrive yet or needed to be kept secret happened more than twice. Looking into one's device with appreciation became the picture that did not ...
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Luke 1:26-56 “And the Virgin’s name was Mary…” Such a simple name. A common name. A common name, for an ordinary girl, living her life in an insignificant part of the world, completely unaware of the extraordinary request of an Angel on behalf of God, that would be made of her. Little did she know what her response would give her in the years to come. Little did she know what it would cost ...
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I hear landscaper leaf blowers roar in the distance, scattering one neighbor’s leaves onto another. It’s a noisy way to clean up one's yard, so early on a Saturday morning, it's 7 am! It didn’t take long for a few neighbors to fill the street, coffee cups in hand, slippers on feet, they all wanted to have a word with the workers who just wanted to get their job done. The landscapers ended ...
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Talking to a friend today who is battling failure...they shared how down they are about what they call, “failing God” and falling for the same thing over and over again. I asked them, “Which is more fruitful? Focus on our failure or focus on Jesus and His Victory?” Think on that for a moment... We are called to live by faith, hope and love. As followers of Jesus we are made to live in God’s grace. We ...
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