November Joy
A Thanksgiving Story of Fleas, Nazi Germany and JOY
‘”Fleas!’ I cried. ‘Betsie, the place is swarming with them!’ “We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle and hedged our way to a patch of light. “‘Here! And here another one!’ I wailed. ‘Betsie, how can we live in such a place!’ “‘Show us. Show us how.’…
Read MoreAware of His Presence…What If We Lived Here?
This summer I read a book that has easily become one of my top five. Soul Keeping, by John Ortberg, has stirred up stuff in me like few books ever have. Its premise is that I’ve been given only one soul, Jesus said it’s worth more than the whole world and I MUST watch over and care for it with great…
Read MoreWhy We Must Remember and How It Impacts our JOY
Last summer our family took an amazing vacation to the Pacific Northwest. I’d never spent a significant amount of time up there, I’d been through Seattle’s airport but never north of there – OH MY WORD. It’s like everything amazing all rolled into one place ~ ocean, farms, towns, mountains, lakes. And I think…
Read MoreDo I Trust Him Beyond What My Eyes Can See?
I know you all aren’t here for a weather report, but in case you were wondering, it’s snowing like crazy in Colorado. We are in the middle of what the Weather Channel is calling an “Arctic Outbreak” and our final fall colors are all but gone and replaced with bitter cold and low gray skies.…
Read MoreLies, Truth and Holding Onto our JOY
The other morning one of my boys was completely gripped with fear. He was convinced of certain bugs and large living things in our basement. I tried the super compassionate response of “Seriously, son?”, but messing with him wasn’t going to help. We talked for a while, trying to figure out the why’s of it all, but…
Read MoreNovember Joy: What Spills Out When You're Shaken?
Our two older boys are adopted from Haiti, and the story of how God orchestrated that whole thing is incredible. My amazing sons were two and three when they came home, full of wonder and questions and boatloads of energy. My daughter was almost two at the time, making us a family of five overnight. Three to five…
Read MoreNovember Joy: New Series Coming Next Week
Life moves, doesn’t it? My sweet girl moves into double digits this weekend. She has been anticipating turning 10 for years because when she was little, I made up this completely arbitrary number that she had to wait til 10 to get her ears pierced. Because when your only daughter is all the sweetness of 4 she…
Read MoreNo Answers: What I'm (Still) Learning About Joy
I’ve been wanting to write a follow-up to our November Joy series. I’d had it planned out for a couple weeks. But everything changed last Friday morning. The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary altered so much for so many. My mother’s heart was completely shattered, as all four of my children are around that…
Read MoreWhen Life is Uncertain…PRAISE HIM
A few weeks ago I was in our church’s Sunday morning service, standing with so many others, hearing the music, watching the band lead us. My heart was heavy when I’d walked in, the result of a rough morning and hard week filled with too much. I stood there thirsty, longing for a life-giving something…
Read MoreThanksgiving JOY
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise.…
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