The House You're Building

Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us. (2 Timothy 2:13; Philips paraphrase) It’s that time of year where we look back and look ahead.  Everyone is in the business of self improvement and we jokingly know that most habits will die out not far into the month.  I never make resolutions as I can sometimes be a little to intense about not meeting personal goals, so I avoid making them.   On the blog, around this time,  I typically share you with what God is doing in me, my faceless audience (might be a time to mention I have a lot of regular traffic on the blog but not a lot of comments so please interact to help guide my future content). Well, right now I’m here to confess that I didn’t keep my “spiritual” resolution from last year and don’t have any clear picture about where I’m going next.  In the previous yea...

[11] About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.  [1] Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  Hebrews 5:11–6:2 ESV My kids are young adults now and don’t live at home.   It has been many years since they were needing the care of an infant.   At times, they get curious about...

[1] I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2] with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [3] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—[5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [7] But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. [8] Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” [9] (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [10] He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) [11] And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teacher...

        Orient  John 15:1-17 Christ continues his teaching to the disciples before His arrest as they walk from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane.  In this well-known section, Jesus uses an analogy from horticulture to explain the benefits to staying close to God.  He returns to previous themes connecting love for Him with obedience to Him.     Introduction A funny thing to ask people about is household chores.  Some people love laundry while others hate it.  I personally would rather clean a toilet than mop the floor.  There is really no apparent rhyme or reason to placing our weekly chores on a scale of enjoyment.  For me, one of my least favorite responsibilities is yard work.  Ironically, I live on 5 acres and the previous owners had spent lots of time curating a meticulous landscape surrounding the house.  Though a beauty to behold, it is a lot of work! T...

Sisters and Seekers, I logged onto the blog today after a long absence-I am now helping write for a local women's ministry and in this season of life, don't get to my blog as much as I want to.  Saw I had 18 readers from Israel this week!  Welcome and hope we can connect!  As always feel free to comment or send me a message...seeing women from all over the world access this content is such a blessing to me! So why the sudden break from my hiatus?  This teacher/mom/writer/daughter of God is home for day 3 of an unexpected winter storm.  Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, we typically get snow on our mountains and rain in the lowlands.  This winter has been a bit different.  We were getting 1-2 feet of snow over a few days time and the community services that treat our roads are just not ready to handle it.  That, along with freezing temps and meandering hills make the roads treacherous.  God has given me the gift of slowing down and th...