Blogs for Christian Living

Most people see me as very confident.  While I am fairly good at portraying this quality, I struggle with many insecurities.  One that I have struggled with for decades relates to my qualification to be a minister.   Over the years, I’ve been told numerous times that I shouldn’t be a pastor or vocational minister.  Reasons given include, but are not limited to: my personality (I’m not outgoing enough), the fact I haven’t gone to seminary or Bible college, and I’m not a charismatic speaker.  While all of these things are accurate about me in their factual statement, I dispute that they are valid reasons for disqualifying a person from being…

Accused of Being a Seed Planter Recently, I received a message from a client,  “You seed planter.”  In all candor, I frequently have clients who have worked with me for a while tell me something like, “I was going to do such and such.  Then I heard you in my head, so I did something different.”   I often tease them that it’s a little scary that they hear my voice at the point of making an important decision.  Truthfully, I recognize it for the awesome responsibility and privilege that it is. We all plant seeds.  Some of them are good.  Some of them are not.  Seeds can germinate and…

Over the past few weeks, Mark and I have been working diligently to write the Rest and Leave policy for Blue Fire Legacy.  Several places in this document reference the need to rest in the way God prescribed.  As we consider the necessity to rest, there are additional facets that come to mind as rest is not an independent concept. Interestingly, while physical rest can be achieved by slowing our pace and observing healthy boundaries in regards to activities and commitments, true inner rest cannot be achieved in the absence of faith and trust.  Peace is also a necessary component of inner rest, and without faith and trust, peace is…

I sat on the beach feeling the breeze blow.  The sea was rough with waves caused by the wind.  A tourist was trying their hand at sailing in a Hobie Cat, being pushed along as the wind and waves directed.  Not too far offshore was a sail boat going in the opposite direction of the wind.   How could this be?  The boat should be pushed by the wind, and yet, it was being steered in the direction that the pilot wanted.  The experienced sailor was using the power of the wind to go where they wanted to go, not where the wind dictated. The winds of life As we walk…

Over the holidays, a family member was telling me a story of when he was a child.  His uncle took him out into the Gulf of Mexico to go fishing.  The sea wasn’t as calm as some would like it to be that day.  As the rolling of the sea was having the effect of turning the boy green, the uncle asked if he would like to put his feet on some solid ground. They were many miles from the coast so the boy replied, “I would really like that, but there is no land in sight.”  The uncle knew these waters and steered the boat to a sandbar that…

When I was a little girl, my mom asked me to look out the front window and see if the flag was still up on the mailbox, so she’d know whether or not to make the trek down our long gravel driveway to get the mail.  The fact that I couldn’t answer her question alerted her to the fact that we needed to get my eyes checked so I could see better.   Both my parents wore corrective lenses so it wasn’t out of the ordinary to consider glasses for me.  I will say, I was not excited at the prospect.  When the doctor confirmed that I, in fact, needed glasses,…

We recently had the privilege of visiting our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C.  On September 26, 2020, there were two events where Christians gathered in prayer for our nation.  It was a great time of gathering with other believers as well as personal reflection. We spent the day in the middle of the Mall at The Return.  The Return was a national and global call to prayer and repentance based on 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The second event was a Prayer March organized by Franklin Graham.  The participants assembled, then prayer walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building. Power of Gathering There is great power in the unity of…

I attended a shower for a couple soon-to-be-married.  Guests enjoyed the beauty of the wrapped gifts coming in.  We talked about current day events and reminisced about that time in our lives around the various tables.  Then, it was time to watch the couple open gifts.  Lovely, practical items for setting up a new home were opened one after another.  All of a sudden, the bride-to-be had a noticeable problem.  The beautiful, perhaps even the most beautiful of all, sparkly iridescent wide white ribbon used for the bow, was sticking to her layered tulle skirt.  The more she tried to unattach it, the more places it reattached.  While I couldn’t…