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How to Finish What You Start

For the past two days, I have been doing something new, yet also old. Twenty-four years ago, my husband gave me a beautiful cross-stitch project for my birthday. Our family had just moved to the Netherlands, and we were living in a hotel waiting for the home we planned to rent to become available. The owner of the home liked renting to military families and had a knack for lining up new tenants before the old ones moved out. The home was worth the wait; it remains one of my all-time favorite standouts from our many moves. The long-term hotel we were staying in, however, was not close to town, and our family had only been allowed to bring one car overseas. My husband needed it for work, so our three sons and I were somewhat hotel-bound. Furthermore, we only had the belongings we had carried in our suitcases for entertainment. We made good use of the library on weekends to keep us occupied throughout the week. The cross-stitch project was something I could do whenever the boys were eng...
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Early Learning

Daddy taught me: When you work the puzzle without the box, Your reward is greater Wonder, surprise — Satisfaction! Build the frame first. It’s your map. Then connect colors and shapes. Use your fingers, your eyes. Seek the subtle nuance That makes one piece right for another, No other. Persist — Piece by piece, One delight of discovery at a time Until the great reveal: Picture complete. Then pause, stare. Run your hands over your smooth work Done. Life doesn’t come with a box. * * * Photo by  Ryoji Iwata  on  Unsplash
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Expanding Our Appreciation of God's Grand Creation

“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” –Genesis 1:11-12, NIV When our loving Creator prepared the world we now inhabit, he wanted us to love it. He wanted us to enjoy living in it. The great variety of plants, animals, and habitats is our proof. God could have made one kind of tree, one kind of flower, weather that never changed, a standard sunrise and sunset to repeat every morning and evening, and one geological environment for all. Instead, he gave us a world that is ever changing, full of discoveries for us to make—enough to keep us busy until he takes us to heaven, where I have no doubt we’ll make exciting discoveries throughout eternity. I remember when my yo...
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A New Box of Bees: My Close Encounter

My son is a novice beekeeper. He trained for several months under a mentor. Then in May, he purchased his first box of bees, which has already grown into three boxes of bees, two in the process of raising their own queens. Justin and his family were able to taste the honeycomb and the nectar within just a few weeks of receiving their hive. This past weekend, my granddaughter proudly presented me with a jar of honey she and my son collected. Locally grown has taken on a whole new meaning: honey from hives thriving in my son’s backyard. Last month, my son and granddaughter took me to meet the bees for the first time. I had already seen pictures of my three-year-old grandson letting bees walk on his hand. My son had talked of petting them and assured me the bees had to be seriously provoked to sting. After all, bees want to make honey. If they sting someone, they die. Armed with this knowledge and led by my son, I approached the hives with what felt like a surprising amount of confidenc...
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Calling Out with Confidence

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” –Isaiah 41:10, NIV This past weekend, we took our grandchildren and their daddy to the elementary school playground behind our house. The grands believe we own the playground, so a visit to our home is not complete without playground free play. Each of our grandkids has a different favorite. Our granddaughter likes to pretend the ground is lava. She and her aunt take turns pretending to be the lava monster and chasing each other all over the play set. Our oldest grandson loves pretending he’s a Ninja Warrior and swinging from bar to bar or ring to ring. Not quite four, our youngest grandson usually sticks to the slide. He climbs to the top, grabs the bar situated just above the launch pad, and dangles for a moment, swinging his feet out over the slide and back to the platform. He’s growing bigger, but t...
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No Worry Anymore

I don’t want to worry anymore. Don’t want to fear the phone call, the bill, arriving unexpected by mail, the month left at the end of the money, the unseen predator, the crisis not mine, but mine to fix or forever wonder if my two mites could have made the difference after all, at last, the natural disaster, the unnatural disaster caused by consequences unintended, unforeseen. I don’t want to worry about any thing, any more. And so, I give all of this worry unworthy to You Who sees only and all real threats to me coming, no surprise, no problem, only gracious provision preprepared . * * * I wrote this post for the Five-Minute Friday Link-Up. Click  here  to read other writers' posts on today's prompt: anymore . Photo by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash
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How God Made His Stars to Shine

It’s a well-known fact that light from stars can take tens, hundreds, and even thousands of years to reach Earth, depending on how far away the star is from Earth. By the time we earthlings see the light of a star, that star may be long dead. The light we see comes to us as a message from the distant past. In their book, Tenth Stone , Bodie and Brock Thoene (p. 223) use this truth as a metaphor: To someone yet unborn you are a distant star. What good you do now may shine forth, yet it may not be seen or received by anyone during your lifetime. But then your act of kindness will someday change the destiny of someone far in the future. Just think, our actions today could possibly affect the lives of people who are not yet born, people who may not be born for decades or even centuries. We can see the proof of this through the work of people who lived before us. I doubt Peter, Paul, or James ever imagined that someone two thousand years in the future would be drinking coffee in front...
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