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Let me remind you of a part of yourself you may not have thought about today: your creative self. Do you think of yourself as creative? Each one of us is creating a life. “Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again,” writes Frederick Buechner. We start each day anew. What was may not be what is today. To live is to create - to become. Each of us, all of us, are actually hard-wired to create. God creates creators. God,

I feel drawn to the word steadfast in a world that is ever-changing. Within the word, you can sense a whispered plea; the need to remain steadfast; there is an invitation of hope to be steadfast; there is the potential to endure. So I share this word with you as a prayer and a promise. We are all on a path, taking a journey. Do you know where you are and how you got there? What is your whispered plea? What is guiding you? In what or in whom are you placing your confidence? Fa

I want to be interested. I think it is one way to live well. To be interested is to care, to learn. I was in St. Louis earlier this month and went to the Saint Louis Art Museum. Among the things that caught my eye at the Museum was a painting of Halsey Cooley Ives. Anders Leonard Zorn, Haley Cooley Ives, 1894-95, oil on canvas Like me, you may not be familiar with him. What I learned was that he was the first director of the Museum. A well-known portrait artist, Anders Leonar

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” Ps 100:3 I recently had a chance to stay in a little cottage by the sea. It was a simple, comfortable home set right off the water. However, between the house and the sea, there was a pasture. It was sectioned off into smaller lush green grassy plots. The center section had long grass. The grass in the section off to the left was shorter due to the fact that a sm

Do you have a sensory superpower? I recall noticing that a close friend of mine had a superpower of smell. It was so obvious to me because I was not able to smell as they could. All kinds of things were connected to their sense of smell that seemed a bit foreign to me. My husband sometimes jokes that I have hawk eyes. I see things. I have always liked the beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It is quite amazing the way our eyes were designed. Al

There is a beautiful flowering bush blooming outside my window. It is filled with white flowers from top to bottom. We have had this bush for many years. I always find it a wonder when it is in full bloom, especially because just a few weeks earlier, all it had to show for itself was some bare branches. I have to admit that while I would love to always be blooming, I often go through a lot of bare-branched days. As one person said, “Every flower blooms in its own time.” It’s

Certain words are both so common and at the same time so profound that they seem almost indescribable. These are words you know best through experience. Grace is one of those words. Our goal here is to consider how living into the word grace could help us grow in faith. Here are at least four ways we can experience grace: Grace is love. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you.” (Isa 30:18) God’s gracious longing to love us runs throughout the Bible. In the beginning, God was ev

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever… When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid… I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done… The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is goo

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?… All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.” … I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint…My mouth is dried up like potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death… All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes around them and cast lots for my garments… All

“ I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes…The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good…Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep…How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!” (v1-2, 5-7) This is a very timely psalm. Our lives may be different

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope…for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” (v 1,2,5,7) In the eight verses of Psalm 130, the name Lord appears eight times. We see that suffering is real and that God is a real presence in it. God brings forgiveness (v4), hope (v5,7), plenteous redemption (v7, KJV), and l

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (v5) Psalm 23 is a beautiful declaration of God’s love and care. Goodness and mercy come not only at the end of the psalm, but run all the way through, encouraging us to be confident in God’s presence with us. It is interesting to notice the language in the psalm. It begins in the third person: “He is my shepherd”. “He makes me lie down in green pastures”. David tell

I love the word listen. I want to be a good listener and grow into a better one. That could be part of the secret of listening. Psychologist David Benner points out that most people already think they are good listeners. That may be part of the problem. Just because we hear doesn't mean that we have heard. You may be familiar with the parable of the sower that Jesus shares with his followers. Have you noticed that it is about listening? Jesus ends the parable saying “Consider

“O come, let us sing to the Lord…Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…For the Lord is a great God…He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts.” (Psalm 95:1,2,3,7,8) I was in a church choir years ago. I remember we sang an anthem based on Psalm 95. It was a joyful, upbeat song. I often think of that when I turn to Psalm 95. However, as you stay with the Psalm, i

I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth… The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night… The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121: 1-2; 5-6; 8, NIV) “You can learn to live carefree before God. He is most careful with you.” (IPet 5:7 MSG) There is something we all have i