The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 I began praying last April that the Lord would give me a word or theme for 2018. A word that would give me resolve in difficult times, a word that would motivate me to run my race well, a word that would encourage me. In December, I found myself daily pouring over Psalm 37. As I put it to memory, a word jumped off the page at me, and the day after that word came to light, it also flashed across the screen in large letters at a church plant we happened to be visiting. This particular Sunday I was feeling a bit out of my element and a bit emotional, like I was on the verge of tears, not because of sadness, but because my heart was full. God had recently called Mark and I to plant a church in Ridgefield, Washington. It was so hard to step away from all we had at First Baptist Church, Longview. It was our second Sunday since st
3-12-2013 I have a new addiction. I recently found the HGTV channel on Dish network. Who knew that people sporting hard hats, hammers, and funny lookin' goggles could be so entertaining?!? One day, after being sucked into about 4 episodes I asked myself what's so doggone exciting about this channel? Why do I keep turning to it when I have a free moment? And then it hit me...most of these shows are about "redemption." There was something in me that connected with people taking foreclosed or beat up homes and making them beautiful again. Not only were the homes made beautiful, but also functional. Even better, with every remodel agents would always appraise the homes at much higher values. Sometimes people would totally update a new home and give it a completely new look. Other times, they would find the bones of a home like an old brick wall or special wood details and shine up the old features bringing the character and value of a home back at the s
Make Room for a Bigger God Psalm 24:7 “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” As I watched the heavens move this morning I was in awe of God and His creation. I was acutely aware of my smallness and in the midst of the largeness of God’s spinning universe, and yet overwhelmed that the same God who spoke the stars in existence knows how many tears I have cried and how many hairs are on my red head. As I opened up my Bible for a time of worship and reflection of God this morning, I came upon Psalm 24. I read, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it…” Not only do the heavens declare God’s vastness, but the earth does too. Recently, I traveled by car from Missouri to Washington. We moved from wide, open skies, prairies as far as the eye could see, and rain storms that could be identified from a far distance to the huge buttes and mesas of Wyoming. Our small car rolled through mountainous terrain with enormo
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