Hidden but Known

Whatever is done in secret, the saying goes, will be shouted from the rooftops. During the recent corporate scandals, many found out that what they thought were hidden in boardrooms, conference rooms, and smoke-filled rooms on Wall Street, were not. Sure they rode the wave, until that wave came crashing in around them. Many of us have said, “They deserve whatever they get.” But if we are honest, we know we’ve done the same thing.

Read more

Busybodies

What was your first job? Mine was at a coffee shop. I sold coffee beans and cups of coffee and cappuccinos. I loved that job. My boss was a terrific lady and I enjoyed helping people find just the right coffee for their tastes. There was always something to do, like redesigning store displays, packaging and shipping orders, or tidying up the store when we weren’t busy. At this first job I also had my first encounter with a lazy co-worker. This co-worker was certainly busy. She was busy talking and it seemed she knew everything about everyone. The Bible calls these people busybodies, and cautions us about spending too much time with them.

Read more

Embarrassing Gas

Today when I left the house on my way to pick up editors from the airport for the Florida Christian Writers Conference, I stopped by to get gas. I was running a little late so hoped the pumps were extra fast. When I jumped out of the car, the wind nearly knocked me over. So, rather than let my hair get whipped into a nest, I decided to flip down that little lock on the pump handle that allows me to leave the nozzle pumping while I go sit in the car. The pump stopped and I jumped out and yanked the nozzle out of the car- you guessed it- without releasing the lock.

Read more

Doing Good

There is no job more important or more difficult than being a parent. Several reasons come to mind for this, but one of the biggest is that children are with you 24/7. They see you at your best and your worst. They see the public you and the private. When it gets down to it, they see whether you give lip service to your Christian faith or if you practice what you preach. And it isn’t the big things that matter to children. It is those little choices, the things that most people would write off as just being human. These little things also matter to God. In fact, the Bible spells them out.

Read more

Right Angle Right Hand

Have you ever thought about the phrases, His right-hand man, seated at his right hand, and extend the right hand of fellowship as being anything more than just a clever way to say that someone is important? I never connected the three phrases until the other day when I was sent to the garage to get a right angle for some work my husband was doing at the house. As I stared at the pegboard looking for the needed tool, I began to think about that term and all the other ways we use the word, right. The dictionary defines the word right as conformity with standards or truth, just, set straight, vindicated, or in a vertical position. Then the light bulb went off. Jesus is our right angle, vindicating us, setting us straight with the Father and, when placed alongside our hearts, He connects us to our Heavenly Father. When we extend the right hand of fellowship to someone we are in essence saying, “I am symbolizing, by extending my right hand to you, that we are connected in spirit because Jesus is our right angle, vindicating and setting us right with God.”

Read more

Next Page »