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 One of the things I like about this season of increasing darkness (until winter solstice – December 21 – when daylight starts gaining again) is creative lighting. How many ways can I illumine a gloomy room?Room lights, hall lights, floodlights, etc. have their place for sure, but it's ambience that I'm after, chasing away the tenebrific shadows.Bookshelf lights, book lights, string lights (not too early!), dimmers, candles (of course), my new favorite rechargeable, portable cuties […]

I wrote the title of this blogpost into the subject line of a recent email I sent to a faraway friend. I intended it as a late summer greeting, but after we exchanged a few notes, I saw something else – a robust salutation. Dictionary.com defines august this way: "inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic." Don't you love it when a simple, common word has two different interpretations? (Unlike the illegal forcing of […]

 A Lent buddy of mine is sending me a question a week to consider during these forty days leading up to Easter.The latest:What is your favorite question in the Bible? Least favorite? Most powerful? Most reassuring?We agreed the answers would require a measure of time to sit with and listen for Divine Guidance though an easy favorite popped right into my selfish, self-focused, self-obsessed, greedy mind. Jesus asked it to a few, "What would you like […]

 Palm Sunday. It's kind of a big deal.Holy Week finishes the season of Lent. For the next six days we will experience whiplash between the highest of highs of Palm Sunday and the lowest of lows on Good Friday.All of Scripture and our life as the Church revolve around one theme: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and His triumph over sin and death. We need a whole week to complete our Lenten focus, to pay […]

 I love looking forward to something. A deadline reached, vacations, the next time my grandchildren will be on my lap, our kids all together, the end of a diet. But a top favorite is preparing for sacred holidays; intentional time spent in anticipation.This is not news for those of you who have been reading around here for a while. It seems I've become the poster child for heralding the news when the next big thing […]

Typically, in January, readers of the Bible and wannabees make a new plan for how they will approach this effort in the new year. Hands up over here! There are no few options from which to choose.Read through in a yearRead through in a year chronologicallyRead the New Testament once, or moreRead a chapter a dayRead and study one book at a timeRead one passage from the Old Testament and one from the New TestamentRead […]

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the events of the day ahead even before it actually starts?As I pray through a busy day in the morning, I consider the souls created in God's image with whom I will interact. Isn't that everyone, you ask? Yes, that's right.Church ladies' breakfast in my dining room, visit with my sister and nephew, guests, host and mom-to-be of a baby shower, dinner with two longtime friend couples; one we're living […]

 "January is the new week after Christmas." I don't know who said it or where I read it, but I kind of dig this.I'm not sure about you, but after a bustling month of December and a glorious extended celebration (with our whole family) of Christmastide to Epiphany, New Year's in the middle was hard to give proper annual attention to. Finally settled back into routine just this week the initial inclination to feel behind dogs me. […]

     You know how I feel about delayed gratification. I don't believe in rushing what we are looking forward to – it'll come. This is why you'll never see me participating in any kind of Christmas in July – no music – no Hallmark movies. None of it. Christmas has its place. It will happen. It always does.        However, preparing for Advent is a different story. After all, that's what Advent is about – […]

 I celebrated another birthday recently. I likely hit the halfway point of my life quite a while ago (unless I plan to live to 130) highlighting the fact I’m well into the last half of my life. Which forces an answer to the question of one willing to ask, “what matters most for the second half?”The answer for me came swift and certain. I must tell what I know about Jesus, what I’ve learned and experienced […]

I’ve been walking on this planet long enough now to have been young, raise a family to adulthood, and now be a spectator in watching what kind of a world my grandchildren are going to grow up in. To use one of their favorite expressions, “it’s terrifying”. In context, let me declare a few things: I believe Jesus is all-powerful and God is in control of the kingdom calendar; nothing surprises either of them, or […]

 Some think Valentine's Day love is what is to be celebrated today, but there's something else on the calendar that represents a much deeper, less fickle affection.Is there anything more wonderful than the beginning of a sacred holiday season? No, there is not. The wonder of these sacred holidays is that they simply cannot be fully appreciated and celebrated in just one day (or two if stretched). Not if you want a robust, meaningful celebration at […]

 In my Bible reading plan last week, I found Job at the end of his responses to his friends' accusations and advice (chapter 31) and his rope, I think. Not only does our suffering friend vigorously defend his reputation (the good old days when people respected me!), but he demands a trial before God. Cue the dramatic music. The app host teaches that this indicates pride and entitlement issues even though Job is earlier declared righteous […]

Oh this week between Christmas and the new year. It's brutal. So disorienting. Does anyone even know what day it is? Number or name? My lesson learned and note to self: take this week off work in every year to come. Many I know have moved on from Christmas or are ready to. I grimace when I hear that trees are down or coming down and decor packed up for another eleven months. "The weather is […]

These dark mornings, I love them so. Some can't deal with this December feature, but I weirdly look forward to it all year. I've found a kindred spirit in author, Barbara Mahany. She's written a book called "The Stillness of Winter" and I read it annually. It's not an Advent devotional, but she mentions this glorious season. Sometimes someone else puts your words on paper better than you ever could.If I didn't have a job […]