Thinking on these things . . .

Why do I put 12 socks in the washer and only find 11 in the laundry basket? What is going on in that dryer?! Although I have a lot of experience with it, I hope there's a greater purpose to my life than playing matchmaker to single socks! Today I decided to go on the offensive and, before they were tossed into their hot water bath, every pair of socks were pinned together. We'll see if this just means they'll run off in pairs now or if this will save them from the Bermuda Triangle known as the dryer. They are bound together so maybe they just can't slip off into the great unknown...? Do you think God was thinking about missing socks when he inspired the words of Deuteronomy 11: 18 " Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads."? There's a principle in there connecting that verse and my safety pinned socks. What? You're asking aren't you? What could that possibly be? I took some...

Every day I pack lunches for school. They're usually variations on the standard sandwich, fruit, chips, and something sweet. Most mornings I try to find something to make them special. A favorite cookie, the sandwich cut into a heart shape, or something different. In the afternoon I wait for them to say, "Wow, thanks mom for that special thing you packed for me today" and they rarely do, because there's something special so often they don't recognize it as special. "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." Psalms 68:19 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22,23 "Through each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life." Psalms 42:8 Seems like I too may be guilty of not realizing and expressing ...

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both, And being one traveler..." And there's the problem isn't it? We are only one traveler and because we are only one, and we can only take one road; decisions must be made... "And being one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth..." And that would be the next problem. The road curves. We can peer down it as long and as hard as we can but we won't know what's ahead until we're committed to the path we've chosen. Decisions. And not the decision to wear the red shirt or the blue, these are weighty decisions, future affecting decisions, ones not to be taken lightly and that will most certainly cause one path to diverge far from the other...the " yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted that I would ever come back." In this uncertain present economy and the always nebulous future we find ourselves in the ...

Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners that He might bring us safely home to God. I Peter 3:18

We all have many labels. Some are factual; neighbor, co-worker, others are opinions; hard working, temperamental, good-looking etc. John, in his gospel, had a label. It’s how he identifies himself but it also seems that this term defined his life. He calls himself as “the one whom Jesus loved”. It’s used numerous times in his gospel. At first glance it seems a bit ostentatious to call himself the disciple Jesus loves but… isn’t it the truth? This is how John saw himself. Not as a disciple, son of thunder, fisherman, or Galilean but as the one Jesus loves. How do we know this? Look where we find him. He is the one always at Jesus’ side: he’s part of the inner three, next to Jesus at the last supper, still with Him even at the foot of the cross and given the care of Mary, and with Peter Easter morning at the tomb peering in at the folded grave clothes and believing. John is the one who, when the disciples are fishing after the resurrection, recognizes that it is the Lord on the shore a...

I never done this before and I'm not sure if this constitutes plagiarism but...! :) These are powerful words from Max Lucado for this weekend and for me it gave a fresh realization from a familiar story. You may end up sharing these words as well! A Cry of Victory by Max Lucado “It is finished.” Stop and listen. Can you imagine the cry from the cross? The sky is dark. The other two victims are moaning. The jeering mouths are silent. Perhaps there is thunder. Perhaps there is weeping. Perhaps there is silence. Then Jesus draws in a deep breath, pushes his feet down on that Roman nail, and cries, “It is finished!” What was finished? The history-long plan of redeeming man was finished. The message of God to man was finished. The works done by Jesus as a man on earth were finished. The task of selecting and training ambassadors was finished. The job was finished. The song had been sung. The blood had been poured. The sacrifice had been made. The sting of death had been removed. It was...

IEP-to some of us it's a familiar term and, although the first time I was made aware of the need for one and had that subsequent feeling of "ugh", it's a good term. It means that my child will get the help they need to succeed despite their personal difficulties that make learning more of a challenge than for the average student. The term stands for individualized educational plan. And in it's simplest concept "it is designed to meet the unique educational needs of one child, tailored to the individual student's needs and must help teachers understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process. In other words, the IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers will do to help the student learn more effectively." It is personalized instruction based on the student's abilities. Don't we all posses a particular set of strengths and weaknesses...

I was welcomed home by this screen. Wow, 20 messages in one day - that's a lot for me...! I scrolled through the senders and subject lines...scrolling... scrolling...scrolling down, than scrolling up and there it was, the one message I really needed to read. The rest were sales and opportunities, chatter from facebook and notification of upcoming sales...all stuff that could have been addressed to me or a thousand of my closest friends - the cyberspace equivalent to snail mail's "To the resident of..." We are bombarded with words. Now more than ever with printed words and ads and emails and texts and twitter. Just messages flying at us all day every day. Indiscriminately. In all those words, messages and kilobytes only one was really for my actual benefit and not a store's bottom line or someone else's agenda. There was one message that was truth and encouragement, the quality hidden amongst the quantity. Things clamor all day every day for your attention....