Congratulations! To those of you who have been journaling with me since last December, you just completed journaling your way through the Liturgical Year. The Liturgical year starts with Advent and moves to Christmas, then to Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, and ends with the longest season of the year, Pentecost which spans from June to November. The purpose of following the Liturgical calendar was to “invite us to pattern our lives after the life of Jesus by participating in an

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to anchor our boat in the middle of the lake and swim in the deep, cold water. I enjoy the water without fear because I know the boat is there when I get tired or cold. The boat is anchored and that gives me assurance that I can get out when I want or need to. Traditions are somewhat like an anchor, they hold in place that which we find valuable, they create a sort of safe place to run to in the crazy that this life throws at u

Working my way through the September plan on contentment was hard. Was it hard for you too? Seeing our sin is never easy and although conviction often leads to growth, it’s certainly not fun to feel God’s hand heavy on your heart when He points out an area of disobedience. And yet, if you’ve been walking with God for a while, you know that heavy hand is also a loving hand. The pressure or discomfort you are feeling is for your good and comes from a Father who loves you. But,

It all started so innocently. We bought our house 20 years ago and we said right from the start, “some day we’ll remodel this kitchen.” We’ve also repeatedly joked that whoever built our house never intended to actually cook a meal in that kitchen. It’s very small and poorly laid out, but in spite of that I’ve managed to host 19 years of holidays and birthdays from that silly kitchen. But then Covid came and Christmas of 2020 brought all 3 of our adult children home with no r

Sunrises and sunsets, if I go through my camera roll I can’t even tell you how many photos I’ve snapped of both. And I’m not alone, we all seem to be fascinated with them. They manage to find their way into most everyone’s vacation photos. As I sit here waiting for another one, (same sun, different location), I’m struck by two things: The constancy and dependability of God. As long as the sun continues to rise and set, there is hope in the world, and there’s hope for my littl

Do you ever feel like you struggle to pray? I do. I find it so hard to sit still and keep my mind focused, and then I feel guilty that it’s so difficult. I don’t think I’m alone though. In fact, I think God knew this would be difficult for us, because the Bible is full of instructions regarding prayer, and prayers for us to use as a model. One reason I think prayer has become so difficult for us is technology, in particular the smartphone. We have become conditioned to res