Mary’s Choice

Busyness has become the mainstay of our lives. We rush to work, hurry home to make dinner for the family, scramble out the door for church or dash around to fit in our errands for the week. At the end of a busy day, we plop on the couch exhausted. I wonder what God thinks as He sees us sprint through our week? I am as guilty as the next person of having a life too full. Read more

Expressing Thankfulness

For months I had been doing medical work in a small tribe in Papua New Guinea. With the closest medical worker a day’s walk away, I found myself dressing sores, dispensing aspirin, and giving medicine and injections according to a missionary doctor’s orders. It was an exhausting and overwhelming task. Before 7 a.m. every day, people waited outside my door. I’d hear the soft chatter of those waiting while I started my day.  Knowing little of the tribal language, I did my best to communicate, sticking with simple phrases.

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From a Pilot’s Vantage

Tears blurred my eyes and sobs caught in my throat as I grabbed an umbrella to hurry outside. I rushed to the grass-covered airstrip. Looking up, the sky had only thick ominous clouds. It was “last light.” If the small Cessna didn’t land now, then darkness would prevent it from landing anywhere in the jungle—and my family on board would die. I heard the buzz of the plane as the pilot tried to find the short runway near the village where we lived as missionaries in Papua New Guinea.
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A Fearful Queen

In a recent Bible study I was reminded again of the Old Testament story of Queen Esther. When faced with the choice to reveal her real identity and go to the king to protect her people, she was afraid. After all, anyone who went before the king without being summoned could be put to death, and it had been thirty days since he’d last sent for her. She knew her life stood in the hands of a king’s whim. Mordecai’s reminder that “who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this,” helped her to gather her courage.  For three days she prayed, fasted and called her people to do the same. In spite of her fear, she stood before the king to beg him for the lives of her people. God did intervene for Esther and the Jewish people because of her obedience.

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Under Watchful Eyes

Recently my husband, son and I were driving down a long country road to a conference, followed the entire time by a brown car. As we reached the outskirts of town, we decided to stop for gas. After filling up, we got back on the road but noticed police lights, sirens, and slow traffic up ahead. As we crept up to pass, we noticed the car that had followed us was in a head-on crash, and the driver was being placed on a stretcher. As we passed the scene we realized that it could have been us in the accident if we had not stopped for gas. 

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