People can say some harsh things to us, but when someone close says ‘Curse God and Die’ you have to go to a deeper place of faith than they possibly have. I was watching him wilt. He was once like a flourishing plant, enjoying water and sun and growing and […]
Spiritual Growth
We don’ want to be like a barren fig tree, but something has to change. Therefore, we submit to the wisdom of a master gardener. As a gardener, I often go to people’s gardens, and they ask me why a particular fruit tree is not producing fruit. I look over […]
A feeling of being abandoned can be like a cold chill across the soul. But God is always at work, so we need to remind ourselves of this truth. I was recently at the help desk in a large store returning some items, and I noticed a small boy in […]
Who are the Five people you spend the most time with? They will be the ones who have the most influence over you. Her response to a betrayal of friendship has probably helped thousands of others to get a better group of friends. The other day I was listening to […]
Our self-talk can keep us depressed and anxious, but we can learn new thinking tracks. Your rehearsal can change your mind. I always marvel at how the experts seem to effortlessly do something that I would difficult. My earliest experience of this was watching shearers shear our sheep on the […]
There is a grain or a pattern to our thinking that needs to change, but we are stuck, so God gently comes against the grain and changes it from the inside out. It goes against the grain of self-protection to let someone in, especially when we have been hurt. But […]
There is a self-centeredness to ourselves, a turned/curved inwardness, incurvatus in se, but there is one that shows how to break the gravity, the pull of the curve. There is a pull on me all the time. It’s in the lyrics of the eighties pop hit. What about me, it […]
Some people seem to like to rain on your parade, but we can learn how to hoist an umbrella and continue on. They couldn’t help themselves. Anything my friend did was negated. Any attempt at doing something special, creative, or different was criticized and smashed with harsh words. Sometimes an […]
There is a mask or even a mist that we can see something quite wondrous when we see behind or through, but it takes awareness to see the vision of what they are becoming. There is a drive I take every week to a farm and garden out in […]
They were too naked in their vulnerability. Too much too soon, but with careful listening, time, and respect, they began to feel deeply known. They had been too naked with their vulnerability. They thought they were safe with this friend, that what they shared wouldn’t be exposed. But it was […]