Grains of Sand

SIXTEEN BRIDES Stephanie Grace Whitson Bethany House 2010 348 pages Paperback I confess. I usually avoid romance novels, and especially Christian romance novels. I have an aversion to cloying, wimpy female heroines and heroes who are under the misguided impression that they are God’s gift to the female race. The title, SIXTEEN BRIDES , would normally have left me cold, but the trailer piqued my interest. These women didn’t decide to cross the country in the late 1800s looking for husbands. In fact, the war widows headed west to Nebraska following the promise of free land and a fresh start. Deceived by (you guessed it) a man who had, without their knowledge, all but promised them to a town-full of eager bachelors, the women are faced with a choice: keep going and catch a man at the end of the train trip, or get off the train and stake a claim on a new life. Happily, Whitson follows those few women who defied the odds and got off the train before its’ last stop at the marriage...

Though I haven't been chosen to rule a kingdom, I can empathize with Solomon. When the Lord appeared to the new king in a dream, as recorded for us in 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon what his greatest desire was. Solomon replied: " …I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours " —1 Kings 3:7-9, NIV. The heart of the request comes in: " give your servant a discerning heart… " Part of my task is that of discovering and mobilizing people to do ministry. In the weeks that I have been here, I've begun to investigate and observe. Sheets of information on the gifts that have been identified in members of the congregation have been handed to me. However, paper, as good as it is, doesn...

Some people groan, or grimace, when those of us who actually went through "the good old days" mention them. It's not fair. While we have to admit that not everything in "the good old days" was all that good, there are some things that were good and should always be preserved. As I read this morning, I could empathize with David when he said: " So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands of done, I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land " —Psalm 143:4-6, NIV. The key to distinguishing between the stuff from the past that is better left behind and those things from the past that desperately need to be preserved appears in that little phrase: " I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done… " It was God who taught his people what the trappings of respect for him should...

I think I used to be able to multitask. Either I was deceiving myself or, with the passage of time, I've lost some of the knack. Now, with two diverse ministries, both having within them other diverse ministries, I am finding keeping all the "balls" in my head much less in the air, is not easy. As I was reading the Scriptures this morning a phrase popped out of one of the psalms. David writes: " But my eyes are fixed on you, O sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge …" —Psalm 141:8, NIV. Although David is definitely not talking about multitasking, the phrase seems appropriate to my dilemma. In the midst of so many things to do, thoughts, ideas, tasks on hold, it's easy to get lost in the "trees" and not focus on the "forest" as the saying goes. David's thought reminds me that if I keep my eyes on the Lord, the SOVEREIGN Lord, he'll make sure that I get done what he wants done. The rest may not happen, but unless it contributes to...

Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday hosted by Susan at Forever His . Take a look, and be inspired by pictures and the verses of Scripture that make them live. I took a long walk on Monday. The air was filled with the sweet smells of honeysuckle and lilac—the smell of spring. Spring is a sensory illustration of God's promise to bring new life where there was only death, to bring abundance where there was only emptiness. The trees of spring remind me of the promise of Psalm 138:8, NIV: " The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands ."

With yesterday being a holiday I decided to take a long walk. The Weather Channel promised thunderstorms in the afternoon (which never materialized) so I set off in the morning. The old railway tracks along the southern side of the city have been torn up to make a walking path. My goal was to follow the tracks. As I was walking it occurred to me that it had been many years since I had visited the cemetery where my parents are buried. Since I was in the southern end of the city I took a right at the end of the walking path and headed in that direction. It's early in the season, which might explain my dismay when I got to the cemetery, found my parents' headstone and saw the condition of the grounds. Pretty sad. I know there are all kinds of prohibitions against chemicals for garden use, but a little "Weed & Feed" would have been a great idea in the cemetery. I think my life needs a little "Weed & Feed" too. As I read the Scriptures this morning fr...

Psalms 115-118 " How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people " —Psalm 116:12-14 NIV. Spring has come. As I listen to the birds singing outside the window, I wonder what they are saying? Are they calling out to any available mates in the neighbourhood? It is, after all, spring when instinct kicks in and the birds and beasts think of propagating the species. The Scriptures tell us that all nature praises its Creator and I'm thinking that those joyful notes are a part of that chorus rising to heaven. How can I express my thanks for all that God has done for me? I can praise him for the new life that he has given and then live out that praise in ministry to others. A simple truth of profound significance.