The story about Ryan Hall in Runner's World is as much about his faith as his running, because it's a profile on the young man himself, and he's fully committed to the Lord.Here's the teaser:A decade ago, God told Ryan Hall to run. Now Hall's a 2:06 marathoner and an Olympic favorite. His story is almost beyond belief.The people at his church, his family, and Ryan … [Read more...]
Jesus, Be the Lord of My Life Today in New Ways
A couple of months ago, someone introduced this prayer to our church and invited people to commit to praying it for 30 days. Our little family happened to miss almost every weekend service at church that month, so we didn't end up joining the covenant.Later, I asked for a copy.Here it is:Jesus, be the Lord of my life today in new ways.Change me any way you want.Wash me … [Read more...]
If You Could Ask Jesus Anything…
In an earlier post, I listed several questions that I find worth asking of myself. Occasionally I ask these questions of others.Kerry at The Ten 0'Clock Scholar proposed that I ask them of my blog-readers. And I thought, "Why not?"Here's the first question:If you could ask Jesus anything and know you’d get an answer, what would you ask Him?I got this question from Garry … [Read more...]
Trees
In the beginning, God created trees.It wasn’t the first or only thing He created, of course, but He spoke vegetation into existence by commanding the land to produce it. And there came the trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. God saw that it was good, and then He closed out the third day. Done.And to this day, we can think about trees, bearing … [Read more...]
Good Friday
Yesterday we attended a Maundy Thursday Seder meal at our church.The children remarked at the confusion--Monday? But it's Thursday? I pointed out that it's a near-homonym. Then it became a joke--Maundy? But it's Thursday! Ha-ha-ha.Yes, well, anyway, I tried to explain the basics of a Passover meal to my Gentile/Protestant kiddoes. We haven't observed any kind of … [Read more...]
My Life is Not my To-Do List
Our lives are not our to-do lists. We are more than the sum total of all that we accomplish in a given day, week, year, decade or lifetime.We are not defined by our schedules, activities, appointments, committees, and obligations.There is more to life than what we do.And the abundant life is not defined by how much is packed into our Day-Timers or PDAs.Jesus said, "I came … [Read more...]
Quiet? Time?
What do you do to enrich your times alone with the Lord?Are they quiet? Do you have enough time? Are you structured? Spontaneous? Do you follow a book that leads you through Bible study with guided questions? Do you meet with someone periodically for accountability?I'm asking because I'm collecting ideas for Quiet Times and Bible study.So far, here are some things I've … [Read more...]
The Huguenot Cross
This morning I wore a necklace with a Huguenot Cross pendant, and a friend noticed and asked about it. I told her that it was a Huguenot Cross and is often worn by Protestant believers in Europe. It's full of symbolism, but all I could think of at the moment—the opening song had just started up—was the most obvious: a dove dangling at the bottom is a symbol of the Holy … [Read more...]
