January 19, 2013
I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately. My suitcase has been “out” since before Thanksgiving and I’ve seen the November, December, January, and February issues of the in flight magazines on two different airlines. Every time I pack, I try to streamline my clothes and essentials just a little bit more so I don’t need to check baggage and can zip right through the airport security. My problem is not how many pair of shoes I have or too many shirts. My problem isn’t the number of books…
January 12, 2013
Not only is the beginning of a new year a time to make resolutions, but it is also a time of taking inventory of what went well and what didn’t go so well last year. When we remember the abundance, and all of the joy that God allows through our family and friends, and in giving our daily bread, it is easy to proclaim His praises and say, “God is good-all the time-God is good!”
It may not be so easy to shout out the same adoration when we…
January 4, 2013
“I am going to exercise on the treadmill five days a week, while holding one of the 75 books I will read this year in one hand, and a carrot stick in the other.”
Sound familiar?
How many of us participated in the New Year ritual of making resolutions as an attempt to start anew and make positive changes in our lives? Or how many of us have resolved not to resolve? Whatever camp you find yourself in, many people, especially psychologists, view making resolutions as an almost…
December 28, 2012

We couldn’t think of a better way to start 2013 than with daily praise. So the book for January is ” 31 Days of Praise” by Ruth and Warren Meyers. Every day for just one month, a Scripture-based devotion cultivates the “heart habit” of praise and worship. Even in the midst of pain, disappointment, and heartache, we can be gently inspired to appreciate and adore the Lord in all things!
Each week we will blog something about praise and invite you to share some of your praises…
December 28, 2012
Although it’s not a hard and fast rule, some of you regular readers may have noticed Sheryl and I take turns blogging every other week. By the way, if you are a frequent visitor to this site or follow us via email, we want to say “Thank you!”
So here we are at the end of 2012 and it’s my turn to write something inspiring and of course it should be geared toward the New Year and/or resolutions, right? Oh boy…. I’m in trouble. I don’t…
December 21, 2012
Have you ever shared a weighty matter of your heart with another person hoping they would say “just the right thing” to soothe your pain? I have from time to time and I have walked away, not necessarily with an antidote to my pain, but with the assurance that the listener “said all the right things” without really meaning the right thing. So I began to ponder, “What does ‘they said all the right things’ really mean?”
As is often the case, at the time I began…
December 15, 2012
A couple of weeks ago, we recommended a few Advent books for your Christmas season. Several of you have commented to us about the selections. Thank you! I’ve also heard specifically from some people about how timely a particular entry was because regardless of Christmas coming, life also just keeps coming, doesn’t it? On a lighter note, it seems that books I want to read keep coming at me faster than ever right now. It’s no secret that Sheryl and I are voracious readers and have…
December 7, 2012
Even though the Christmas season should be a time of joy, peace, and goodwill to all men, it often falls short of those emotions. City sidewalks and busy sidewalks often disrupt the warm feel of Christmas and replace “merry” with “moody” or” goodwill to mankind” with “ill wishes”. So what can we do when we can’t quite catch the spirit during this festive season? We do what any Christmas elf would do—we listen to local radio stations that play Christmas music all the time, and we watch Hallmark Christmas movies marathon…
December 1, 2012
Even though Christmas seems to start earlier every year, with the tinsel and colored lights sharing shelf space with the Halloween candy (sigh…) we seem to always be so surprised when the calendar turns to December 1st. Yesterday, I heard three different people exclaim, “December starts tomorrow! How did that happen?” I had to resist the urge to respond, “Same way it always happens!”
But if the arrival of December 1st is shocking, then brace yourself: tomorrow is December 2nd and that means it’s also the first Sunday in…
November 22, 2012
From time to time I tend to worry about “what if” kinds of things. Do you know what I mean? I’m talking about the kinds of things that didn’t go wrong, but they could have, and what if they did? Cammy will frequently bring it to my attention when I do that and then she will remind me of a short scene in “Parenthood” in hopes that it will be an antidote to my worry.
The scene involves Steve Martin being so high about his son’s little league game,…