
We Love Him Because He Loved Us First–and Most
It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m writing about a Christmas long ago. Why? Because it’s all about the love. Continue reading We Love Him Because He Loved Us First–and Most
It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m writing about a Christmas long ago. Why? Because it’s all about the love. Continue reading We Love Him Because He Loved Us First–and Most
God, help us look at what matters I see the outside worldThrough a distorted lens.CondensationCovers the glass, a wallBetween us. … Continue reading Do You See What I See?
If you saw a little Marilyn Monroe action in the parking lot of Walmart last Sunday afternoon, it might have … Continue reading This is what love looks like
I tend to tromp hastily through life’s messes in an attempt to get them behind me. I wondered if I’d missed part of God’s message to me because of my tendency to hurry. Continue reading Look for the message in the mess
As we removed old brown wax from the toilet flange, I realized that my husband’s project was also mine. Continue reading The day your love language is “acts of plumbing”
The day my husband and I became grandparents our children began to parent us. It was quite humbling. It began … Continue reading Humbled by love…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about boots — shallow topic, I know — but it got me thinking about … Continue reading “Bootiful” and a “looker”…
Once was a time when I attended church for the singing. As I matured, I learned to love the sermons as much as the singing, but a few weeks ago, I realized that I now to go church despite the music. I had attended our church’s “Old Fogey” service (i.e. hymns and old praise music vs. the more contemporary songs) despite my young years and fell in love with the depth of the lyrics. Several months ago, the hymn service, poorly attended, was canceled. I had to attend the services with what some jokingly referred to as the 7-11 songs — 7 lines repeated 11 times.
“They simply aren’t deep,” I thought. “They don’t focus on all the attributes of God and Jesus — mostly just love with a little creation, forgiveness, and salvation thrown in.”
The music seemed to focus on different ways to express God’s love for us and seemed rather repetitive. “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” was not just a song, it was the theme for every service… Singing of God’s love forever and ever and ever… To that apparent lack of depth I added more complaints: The lead singer sang so high I had to either sing like a nightingale or drop an octave and sing like a man; I didn’t have an ear to harmonize. So I considered solutions — such as arriving late each Sunday to purposely miss the singing. It didn’t seem to be a good choice.
In the midst of my discontent, I considered that songs aren’t the only form of worship, and as I rethought worship, I realized that my purest form of worship hadn’t necessarily ever been associated with singing at church, as much as I have often loved it. I worship God when I open my heart to Him — whether I am seeking Him in desperation, joying in an acute awareness of His presence, awing over how well He knows me, reflecting on His incredible goodness, laughing at His sense of humor, seeing Him in His amazing creation, glorifying Him intentionally or by simply attempting to do what He has called me to do and be. It is when I give Him my all, when I acknowledge that He is my all, when I allow Him to speak through me, to use me, to guide my thoughts and my behaviors — and my writings. Often my blog posts are a product of this personal worship, evidence to me that worship is so much more than a song.
So with this conviction, I entertained being content with my discontent. I felt my worship was rich, after all, even when not set to music.
Down at the beach, as the sun begins to set, the photography begins in earnest. Romantic couples and lovely families … Continue reading The photos I didn’t take…
I love ellipses… If you’ve been reading my blog posts for any length of time, you may have noticed I … Continue reading Reading between the dots…
More than a dirty door that could use a fresh coat of paint, I saw love in the pair of sunglasses … Continue reading This is love…
When I was a teenager, I thought the unpardonable sin was having premarital sex. (My parents were quite the strategic … Continue reading Do you ever do dumb things?