Corona Devotionals

We keep thinking--what else can we do?  To change our situation.  To please God.  To move from this circumstance into a better one.     What else  can we do?  What else can we plan?  What else... what else... what else,  we wonder? But--what if it is NOT what we  can do (at all).  What if we stopped striving and stepped back and submitted our situation/plans/circumstances/ control  to God.  And then...what if we saw our God at work and were glad ?   What if we let God work  today, instead of us? The humble will see th eir God at work and be glad.   Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.    ~Psalm 69:32 Would it blow us away to see God take the wheel today?   Here is a better question...and be honest... are we even willing to take our hands off  of the wheel long enough to "let God drive" our lives?   Do we trust  the God of the universe to take care...

Have we made time for family lately?  Have we invested into those that we're related to?   Should we?    God says, "Yes".    But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. ( 8)  And above all things have fervent love for one another, for  “love will cover a multitude of sins.”  ( 9)  Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.   ~I Peter 4:7-9 ~~~ The concept of "family" is under attack. News, media, movies and people  champion a self-propelled and self-focused ideal and image where we  are the supposed star-of-the-show.  But--seek to please only  yourself for long enough, and we will find ourselves alone, lonely, empty, and unfulfilled.   Because that's not God's plan for us.   God's purposes and plan for you and me includes us, but it includes others too, and it first  includes our families.   But putting up wit...

There was one car in front of me at the stoplight today, and I waited today to turn right on red.  Come on , I thought, and said.   This was taking  forever. ~~~ Our daughter is (voluntarily) taking a summer Science course so that she might take a more advanced class in the Fall, and I am proud of her for being diligent in learning the material.  As she excitedly attempted to explain X and Y chromosomes to me today, instead of focusing on her new-knowledge, my brain saw the unset supper table, debated the unshredded cheese for tonight's taco's, and I found myself unfocused and thinking, (not about chromosomes), but about other zones  in my house and life that I needed to move into. ~~~ At supper, after discussing the "highs" and "lows" of everyone's day, my husband began sharing about what he had taken away from his study of Scripture today, and (wouldn't you know it), it was all about patience . But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,...

What is your favorite flower aroma ?  A rose?   My papa used to have a flower garden with organized rows of rose bushes, and I can still see my little-girl-self sticking my nose into a bloom and inhaling that rich, robust, unique rose aroma deeply. ~~~ A lilac?   The pungent floral  aroma  that exudes from their thick flower blooms is invisible but so powerful that it's almost palpable.  ~~~ A gardenia?   Sweet and all encompassing--this flower  aroma (to me)  is (all at once) a breath of Miami while visiting my great grandma, a fragrant memory of hugging my gramma on her doorstep in Clearwater, and the fave flower for my mom to have sitting in a glass on her kitchen table.  So many (floral) examples of  pleasing   aromas.   But--w hat does God inhale when He breathes us  in?  In Ephesians, Chapter 5 , the verses explain how Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for us and that act of love was a pl...

I had a tough day at the office today.  Well, I was having  one.   My incoming emails were not coming in, and the one that did populate told me that they were "going in a different direction".  No quote requests, no purchase-orders, no promising updates...no nothing.  And that's not good if you are a sales-person like me. For his anger lasts only a moment,  but his favor lasts a lifetime;  weeping may stay for the night,  but rejoicing comes in the morning.  ~Psalm 30:5 Did you ever have one of those days?  Are you having one with me today? My no-sales, coupled with my worries...and compounded with my deadlines, which caused me to feel like the walls were closing in on me.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil;  For You are with me;  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.   ~Psalm 23:4 "Help" , I thought. And then "Help" , I praye...

Ahhh, summer camp.  Church  summer camp.   Our daughter and tons of other kids had a blast.  They made great memories and strengthened (or started!) their relationship with Christ, what better way to spend a week?   Bunk beds, swimming, Bible teachings, worship, kick ball and a dining hall.  It's (still) a lot like you remember it: good, clean, fun. Wait...did I say "Clean"?  That wasn't the right adjective, at least in terms of what came out of her suitcase.  Judging from the grass stains, dirty clothes and muddy shoes, they must have been active and outdoors most of the time, and that's just fine with me. But when I got to the bottom of her dirty laundry and bedding pile, and was putting the last load into the washing machine, I noticed one more item left in the clothes basket, and it wasn't a dirty sock or wet towel. A chubby, yucky, creepy-crawly "camper" had come home uninvited with our daughter.  Where that thing had been hidi...

Happy Father's Day.  We think today of the men that raised us.  The men that invested time and love into us when we were young and the men that invest into us today, now that we're not so young.    We salute the men that shaped and formed who we are today.   Thank you, dad's.   Thank you, papa's.   Thank you uncles.  Thank you, in-laws. Thank you, bosses. Thank you, coaches. Thank you, teachers. And thank you, God. God?   Do we think of God as a father-figure in our lives?   Have we experienced  the type of father that God desires  to be in our lives?   Do we view God as a hard father?  Critical and waiting for us to mess-up so that He can bring the hammer down on us? Do we view God as an absent father?  We may have read that He "created" us (Psalm 139:13), but once we were "set in motion", He stepped out and we haven't heard from Him since. Do we view God as someone else's father?...