As a little girl, I remember my maternal grandfather going outside to light a cigarette. In those days, it was common to hear strangers ask one another for a light. I myself prefer to have a light, but not that type! Feeling quite uncomfortable with the dark, a night light was required as a little … Continue reading The Platform: Light in the Darkness
Living on the Edge of God’s Perimeters
Old Post with a New Message!
Have you ever been rescued from a scary plight you ignorantly got yourself into? Well, it is possible there were many, but one perilous circumstance took place while experiencing college life as a middle-aged teen. Being somewhat gullible and not to mention naïve, I allowed myself to be escorted by a guy I had just met. He seemed nice enough. But as his tour left the college campus and soon, with a blanket of darkness covering the sky, I stared over a precipice beholding a beautiful city ablaze in lights. After being “starstruck,” I became eerily aware of my surroundings which had faces gawking from behind paper-sacked bottles.
That night I literally felt God shut the mouths of Lions just as He had with Daniel of old (Daniel 6)! But Daniel was not in the den of lions because of any careless act! Daniel was in the Lion’s den because…
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Slammed!
I love to hear the waves and watch the foamy currents race across the shoreline! Going to the beach is an exhilarating experience. Especially exhilarating is to try and walk through the crashing waves yet are constantly knocked off your feet. Sometimes I giggle so hard it makes it impossible to stand back up. It … Continue reading Slammed!
Taste-tester
Each year I find my enthusiasm and excitement over Easter grows! Not only with the warmer weather and the beautiful new life springing up all around me but even more how much nearer my future resurrected new life comes into view. My heart has an ebullient and happy sensation as I recall what Easter is … Continue reading Taste-tester
Sharon Kay Castillo Rion
It has been one month, two weeks, and two days since she took her last breath. I had hoped to celebrate this birthday with her! I do not think I ever had the privilege of celebrating her March 12th birthday alongside her. Yet even more, I looked forward each year (since 2005) to her spiritual … Continue reading Sharon Kay Castillo Rion
A Life of Repeated Transitions
In the early years of marriage (I was 18 when I married) while experiencing emotional roller coasters and intense difficulties besides seasons of disconnect, my thoughts were constantly ME, ME, ME! And though I soon became a pastor’s wife, my journey to trusting God and enjoying an intimate connectedness always came up lacking. Progress still … Continue reading A Life of Repeated Transitions
Trusting God’s Sovereign Hand
Thinking back over the past four months, I see God’s sovereign hand in all that transpired. God’s sovereign hand led me to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in Louisiana with my sister-in-law and family. Then, orchestrating my return just in time on January 24, to spend the last 3 hours of her earthly life next to … Continue reading Trusting God’s Sovereign Hand
Beggared or Refined
I begged God not to take her! But she quietly stopped breathing, her pulse growing more and more distant until it was no more. “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). We have been given a command and yet we seldom are diligently, actively, … Continue reading Beggared or Refined
Where Do We Turn?
Our journey is narrowing but where we turn is the same. We’re thankful for the promise of His sustaining power (Psalm 55:22).
We’ve been dealt a hard blow. Life has changed and it may never, ever be the same. Through a pandemic that includes a cancer journey with my sister-in-law, through loss of jobs or finances for different family members and friends, through loss of caring for grandkids (like my sister is experiencing), or possibly losing the care of foster children after having them in your care for so long they think of you as their safe place (like a daughter is finding). These are hard times. My nephew sits in jail 3 years now and his spouse has regained the responsibility of raising the children. And, unfortunately, the system that works to get the children back to the biological mother doesn’t take the children’s care seriously. Where do we turn?
When many followers of Jesus left because they found His teaching to be too difficult, Jesus asked the twelve if they…
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A Hope of Rescue!
You can never fully express with words the pain of one’s suffering, for the one suffering as well as those watching. God’s gifts, yes, even the gift of suffering, serve a purpose in our becoming Christ-like (Romans 8:29, 1 Peter 1:6-16). Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), Job learned how to … Continue reading A Hope of Rescue!
