Author: LAH

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Leaving Your Comfort Zone

Misty2Ahhh. My own bed. My own pillow. All my stuff, just where I left it. Familiar food in the fridge, a choice of clothes in the closet, and an extremely disgruntled cat demanding to be catered to. I’m dead center in my comfort zone.

After two back-to-back trips, one to Arizona and one to Puerto Rico, we’re finally home after more than three weeks of almost solid travel. The trips were great, but it sure feels good to be back.

My husband and I love to travel, and try to take advantage of every opportunity to do so. But that’s not true for everyone. One of Pete’s college roommates made it to the ripe old age of 22 having never left the state of California.

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Supplementing Your Health

Supplements_Walmart_20100329_LAH_1219Do you take vitamin pills? How about herbal supplements or cures?

There’s so much hype about the benefits of this or that bottle of pills, it’s hard to know what actually helps and what is a waste of money. I was so glad to find this source of scientifically vetted information. This website isn’t trying to sell anything. Rather, it presents “just the facts, ma’am.”

Information is Beautiful summarizes information, then presents the data graphically. The site’s various graphs are works of art; you won’t find a single pie chart. If you’re curious about the underlying sources, simply click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Since I was interested in the value of nutritional supplements and herbal cures, I navigated to the page titled “Snake Oil? Scientific evidence for popular health supplements….” It was just what I was looking for. Continue reading →

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Oblivious

“Oh! Flowers! How long has that been there?” It had just registered with my absent-minded husband that a pot of blooming daffodils was sitting on our normally empty stair landing. It had been there for several days, but I was still impressed. Usually he doesn’t notice such things at all.

Let’s just say that Pete isn’t the most observant guy around. This used to bother me greatly. I would buy a new outfit (a very rare occurrence, since I really hate to shop). When exaggerated mannerisms didn’t work, I resorted to more desperate ploys. “Sweetie—notice anything different?”

He would invariably answer, “Nice haircut.”

It got to be a joke. Rearrange the living room. “Nice haircut.” Paint the white hallway a lovely shade of peach. “Nice haircut.” Replace the photographs in the frames over our couch. “Nice haircut.”

In fact, the only change I could make that wouldn’t elicit “nice haircut” was to actually cut my hair.

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Supporting Short-term Missions

k at elephant temple

Karin at elephant god temple in Nepal

 

Dear Friends and Family,

  • Would you contribute to my ministry trip? I’m going to the Philippines this summer.
  • I need to raise $1500 to go to Afghanistan.
  • My church is sending a team to the Dominican Republic to build a church building—can you help?

Yup, the letters are arriving right on schedule, as both teens and older adults are making their plans and raising prayer and financial support. We always set some money aside in our giving budget to support these short term mission efforts, partly because we believe they will make a difference in the area where they will be working, and largely because it is a life-changing experience for the fledgling missionary. There is a vast gap between hearing about the world and seeing it with your own eyes.

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Signs in the Stars?

Do you read your horoscope when you see it in the paper? Or do you subscribe to one of the astrology apps on Facebook or Google?

Do you consider yourself a Bible-believing Christian?

Lately I’ve noticed that a number of acquaintances, both from church and otherwise, are making references to their horoscopes for the day. Since I’ve always believed that God got pretty angry about people consulting astrologers, I was quite disturbed by this. How had I arrived at my opinion? Was it Biblical? Seems like it was time for some research.

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Congratulations, Graduate!

We’re attending a graduation today. Perhaps you are too—there are plenty of students graduating this month and next.

At all those thousands of graduations, thousands of graduation speakers will be thanking their parents, faculty and school administrators for their help and encouragement. They’ll comment on how hard everyone worked to get to this point, and they’ll offer advice for the future. Perhaps they’ll tell their classmates that learning doesn’t stop, just because their formal education is over. Or they’ll encourage them to press onward for a higher degree (a popular choice in the current dismal job market).

Andrew, whose graduation our family is celebrating, didn’t take an easy route to get to this point. There were major detours, times when achieving even this first college degree seemed like an impossibility. Yet his outstanding success at this point illustrates the fact that it’s never to late to change directions.

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“Sunday’s Coming”

Why do we go to church?

I was wondering about this lately, after talking with a friend who hasn’t been to a service in almost a year. They hadn’t stopped believing in God. They hadn’t lost their faith. They just didn’t see the point of going to a worship service.

Lots of people feel that one can be spiritual without sitting in a pew. I know I feel closer to God when I’m out in nature than I do in most church buildings. A popular book, So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore, by Jake Coleson, deals with some of the many reasons people give up on church, and offers an alternative. You can agree with his viewpoint or not, but he has clearly hit a nerve.

In response to a growing movement away from traditional worship services, many churches are seeking cultural relevance. If your church is anything like ours, you will recognize it in this hilarious video.

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Los Cabos Chicken Soup

cabosanlucas-lah

Necessity was the mother of invention for this recipe. We were on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula, and I needed something easy to make for dinner in our tiny kitchen. These are the ingredients I found in the supermercado, and they added up to a wonderful Mexican soup! The second time I made it, I added leftover refried beans, and it still tasted muy delicioso.

When we got home, I checked online, and found that I’m not the first to have this idea. I guess lime, chicken, and rice just go really well together!

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Is God a Slot Machine?

coke3God is not a vending machine. How many times have we heard that statement? We know that we can’t manipulate God—that while he does promise to reward us when we follow Him, that reward is only guaranteed to arrive once we’re in heaven. A quick read of Hebrews 11 makes this abundantly clear: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” While prosperity preachers may promise riches here on earth if we’ll only send them our money, our true treasure is waiting for us in heaven, safe and secure.

Yes, I know very well that God is not a vending machine. But this morning He woke me up and reminded me that He’s not a slot machine, either.

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Fifth Friday Fotos

It’s the fifth Friday of the month, and the perfect time to take a break. Today, instead of writing a post, I figured I’d let some photographs do the talking.

Why not join me in appreciating God’s handiwork by clicking on this link to spectacular panoramas of some absolutely incredible scenery. Then tell God “thank you” for making such a beautiful planet!