One Year with God

DAY 141: When my husband and I visited Italy to celebrate our 25th anniversary I fell in love with Rome's antiquity.  Coming from America, where few things are older than two hundred years, it is easy to be enamored when history is around every corner and filling ever piazza. There, two hundred year old buildings are a dime a dozen.  The kind of history they have is over 2000 years old. The Forum Today, Still Impressive It is hard to say what was our "favorite."  The basilicas were remarkable.  The art was inspiring. The architecture was unparallelled.  And the fountains that have been flowing for hundreds of years were breathtaking. None of it, though, compared to our tour of the Roman Forum.  Situated beside the massive Colosseum, the Forum was the heart of Rome... which was the center of the world at that time. Even though it is in ruins today, what is left standing still belies the power of the Roman Empire. To fully understand the culture and the society, we

DAY 150: Before I settled in with my Bible for my evening conversation with God, I sat down at the computer to check the status of my "friends" with a quick read of facebook.  As is common, most of the people on fb I never actually see in day to day life. Some of them live in far off places, some are colleagues and ministry connections, and a few are from high school. A good number of my "friends"are people from church that I know but only see on Sunday mornings. Most of my family, including nieces and nephews, distant cousins, my parents and my kids are my "friends."  Then there are those I have no clue who they are, but I can't bring myself to "unfriend" them. I haven't figured out what it is about Facebook that most of us find so appealing.  It might be the sense of affirmation that comes with knowing we can definitively number our friends - and that with a click of a mouse we can add more any time we want. If I have a bad day but

DAY 149: Last summer we acquired our first boat. It was a great second hand vessle, but did not come equipped for the water so with checklist in hand my husband and I went to the sports store to be sure we had everything legally required. While I wanted to grab the bare minimum to satisfy the law, in an abundance of caution my husband insisted we get each and every item on the "recommended" list.  We got life jackets, a fire extinguisher, a life preserver, a first aid kit, 2 over-sized rear view mirrors, safety ropes, an extra manual horn just in case the installed electric horn ever fails, a whistle (I guess in case the manual horn fails), a water proof box, though we had nothing to put in it, an oar in case we ever had to row to shore (but only one- go figure), and sundry bungy cords, ropes, hooks and Velcro utility straps for unforeseen circumstances. We were prepared for all contingencies -we thought. Our first family lake day was everything we expected.  The kids t

DAY 148:   I envy people who can keep an orderly home.  I could swear that everything and everyone in my house conspires to keep me from being organized, from the greatest (my husband) to the least (the ferret).  Yes, even the ferret!  Twice in one week I caught him rearranging my house as he dragged first my husband's belt, and then my 6-foot long computer cord to a special hiding place under the dishwasher (which we had to remove from the cabinets to retrieve the items). The kids were just as bad when they were young, only their stashes were slightly more obvious: under the bed, the bathroom floor, the kitchen sink, the dirt pile in the backyard.  I had dreams that one day I would be a good mom and have a place for everything and make sure everything was in its place.  I knew it could be done because I had seen it. I stopped to borrow something from a friend one day and discovered that every single thing in her house had a specified labeled location.  There was no mistaking

DAY 147:   I read an article in the newspaper about a father in Phoenix who was sentenced to 60 days in jail and a fine of over $12,000 for what amounts to the crime of holding Bible studies in his home.  Of course, each side argues it's more complicated than that.  The city declares it to be a zoning violation that amounts to having a church; and the man, who is a pastor, feels his religious freedom is under fire.  I'm certainly not an expert on this particular case, but regardless of the particulars, it does highlight the fact that sometimes the just are unjustly prosecuted - and persecuted. Take the case of Youcef Nardarkhani, the Iranian Pastor sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy against the Islamic religion.  He had been in prison for nearly 1000 days before humanitarian efforts secured his release.  The news reported: "Nadarkhani, a pastor in a network of house churches, has been jailed since being arrested on Oct. 13, 2009, after he went to his son’s

DAY 145: Deep inside of the notorious Evin prison in Iran the light of Christ is shining through one man who has not let his circumstances change his purpose. While Pastor Saeed Abedini languishes in prison because he refuses to deny that he is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, his faith is not languishing - it is spreading.  Pastor Saeed is using his time in chains to bring freedom to those who are truly captive.  He recently wrote the following to those who are praying for his release: I am thankful (you are united in the goal of praying for my freedom). It is through your prayers and the Grace of God that the Lord is using me here in my chains. Many have been freed from the chains of Satan here and have been saved and added to the Church. Now, how beautiful it will be if the Church would be united and fight for the salvation of the world whose life is in danger and who are bound in chains of Satan and to fight for the salvation of the world, a world that is heading to

 DAY 143:  Everybody has a past they might like to forget. But not everyone is willing to share their past.  And quiet frankly, I for one, am glad.  Do I really need to hear everybody's dirty laundry; and does everybody need to hear mine? Maybe not EVERYBODY, but there are times when sharing our struggles is the right thing to do.   The challenge is knowing with WHOM and WHEN to share the details of my life. As a parent, this question plagued me for years.  When is the right time to tell your kids you have not lived a perfect life?  Certainly not before the age of 10 since they assume until then that you really are a saint.  What about during the teen years?  For me, that was a big fat NOOOOOO!!!  The last thing I wanted to do was give them any ideas they hadn't already thought of themselves; but some profitable sharing has happened in their college years. Parenting aside, the question is still relevant: who can I entrust with my past failures?  When is it a good idea

 DAY 142: It's no surprise that any one of us can be a hero to someone, and at other times we can also be a heel.  What is surprising is that you could be both at the same time; it just depends on who you ask. It is possible to be praised or pummeled for the same action .  The Apostle Paul knew all to well that kind of popularity whiplash. Here he is, yet again, experiencing both admiration and excoriation. In Act 21, Paul's journey's to spread the gospel of Christ took him back to Jerusalem.  He was excited to share with the apostles and elders all that was happening as the message of Jesus was spreading. 19  Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20  When they heard this, they praised God.  Great things were coming to pass through Paul's faithfulness to God's calling on his life.  Jews and Gentiles alike were receiving Christ and being baptized.  New churches were growing up.  His work was

DAY 141: What makes you think the Lord can rescue? Anyone who has every run to God to save or to help has probably heard that little voice in the back of their head asking that question.  What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?  This week, as we have watched our fellow countrymen in Oklahoma in desperate need of rescue from a monster tornado, those questions are very relevant. As I watched my home state ripped apart, wondered at the fate of my cousin in Moore, and grieved as children were pulled from the rubble, like millions of Americans, I prayed that God would rescue the suffering.  But what makes us think that we can ask such things, or that He is able to deliver such things? On this day of disaster when we desperately need a rescuer the voice of God reached out with the answers through the daily scripture reading. They are the answers that will hold up in our own days of disaster. 2 Kings 18 & 19  retell a crisis in the land of Judah under King Hezekiah&#

DAY 141: One of the things I like about reading the Old Testament record of the kings of Israel is the contrast: there were very good kings and the were very bad kings.  The scriptures put it simply. Either "He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" or " He did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord." In a predictable pattern, those Kings who did what was evil generally experienced turmoil during their reign - or at the least an unpleasant death.  Those who did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight often found success in their leadership. It was not rocket science, but king after king somehow missed the pattern that obedience brought blessing and rebellion brought calamity.  In the passage for today in 2 Kings 17 & 18 there is yet another crystal clear example. You might recall that the promised land of God's people was split into two separate territories  with a king ruling each.  At this time Hoshea was the king of the Northern tribes of