Yesterday I prayed into the words purpose and perspective from Colossians 1! Today I am thoughtful of the word – position. As we look out over the edge of 2015, there is risk. What will come in this year? How will we as a family advance? What challenges will confront us? What struggles will we navigate? Maybe even, do I have the energy and strength to face the details of this year? As well, what will be our celebrations, our victories and steps made? Control is not a given, and for some of us, this is not comfortable. So, before we move into any activity on our part, let’s remember our position in Jesus Christ. Our brother Jesus has extended his hand and...
Read MoreStarting this first prayer with a verse that has caught my attention in Colossians 1. Reading from The Message – “The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.” Might even find our word for the year in this verse – see Evaluate. For now, I am praying this verse for all of us – perhaps you want to have some words with Father too! It is a great verse for a conversation. My conversation went like this: Father, I am hungry for purpose in this year of 2015. I am going to go somewhere; the days will move from one to the next! So, choosing purpose seems like a great...
Read MoreCall it a line in the sand! An opportunity to lean in! A moment to invite Father! A posture to take! Whatever you would like to call it, Ron and I have been thinking about this year and taking hold of another moment to “begin again” with our family and with your family! The best way to “begin again” is first to pray! Father God has been thinking about 2015 and our families already! He has great things to share and great adventures to lead. Let’s begin this year talking with him about what is on his mind for us, handing over our plans for his and seeking his lead for our steps! Finally, let’s talk with him about our children and raising...
Read More“Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate, about the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer while sitting in a jail cell on April 25, 1943 It is good for me to remember my hope does not rest in my circumstance nor my performance nor my children’s performance! My hope rests in a faithful Father that again and again has brought me to his “green pastures” of rest, forgiveness and direction (Psalm 23). I want you to remember too! There is a place to lay down your burden and rest. There is a place to free your mind of past...
Read MoreIn whatever wilderness you are wandering, remember these words in Jeremiah 31. They are for us too! Father is out looking for us! As we search, as we yearn, as we wonder – is there rest for our weariness? Father says yes. More than that, Father comes looking. He comes looking for us. Check out the truth I read this morning over cereal and coffee. “This is the way God put it: ‘They found grace out in the desert, these people who survived the killing. Israel, out looking for a place to rest, met God out looking for them!'” Jeremiah 31:2 from The Message Ron had asked what God card we were studying this week. He went to the Plan and saw that we had...
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