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review / recommendation

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One View on Immigration

heli_manI’m married to a man who loves the truth. It shows in his deep commitment to God. It pops up in his appreciation of civil but “vigorous” discussion. And it definitely appears in his penchant for researching and analyzing complex problems, be they technical or social. He has a compulsion to dig in and uncover the facts on any controversial issue, rather than simply going along with whatever hype the news media is currently pushing.

Of course, facts are always subject to interpretation. But one thing I appreciate about Pete’s approach is that he tries to separate the two—making a distinction between what is known to be true, and his opinion about it all.

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How to Pray for Terrorists

Last Friday I listed four ways we can do something to help the Christians in Iraq—stand in solidarity, write letters, give generously, and, most importantly, pray.  When I mentioned prayer, I gave some guidelines, including the need to pray for the ISIS Muslims who are deceived captives of the enemy.

In spite of my suggestion, I wasn’t sure exactly how to pray for them. Sure, we want them to stop what they’re doing and turn to Jesus. But what does that look like? Is it all right to pray that God clobbers them?I’ll admit, this is one time when I want my big, powerful, angry God to do some serious smiting!

Then I came across this blog post that neatly summarizes just what we should be asking God for, when we pray for our enemies. It’s even specifically aimed at praying for Al-Qaeda and ISIS.  I know I’ve stopped my Tuesday posts for the time being, but this was just too timely and appropriate to pass up. Please read:

3 Ways to Pray for Our Enemies

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Better Late Than…

Pete with our adorable distraction.

Pete with our adorable distraction.

If you read my previous post, you know that we’ve had family in town. Our daughter and her daughter (daddy had to work and couldn’t come) came to Colorado to give our other daughter a baby shower. I spent hours playing with, feeding, and snuggling with our 14-month-old cutie. I cut up fruit and veggies, skewered chicken, and arranged platters of food for the shower. In between we enjoyed time with our very pregnant daughter and her almost-a-daddy husband. Somehow, in the middle of all that, Friday’s blog post never got written. Gosh darn.

I realize it’s now Monday instead of Friday, but let me make it up to you. Here’s a link to one of the best posts I’ve read in ages (mine included). The writer had Sunday School in mind, but really his point applies to any sort of “Christian” education and discipleship. If this article is typical, I think I’ll be checking out Beliefs of the Heart on a regular basis!

I Wonder If Sunday School Is Destroying Our Kids

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Sharing the Perfect Life

Facebragging-woman-builds-friends-character-1I was going to post some thought-provoking, deeply insightful comments about something I noticed in Matthew 26 during my Bible reading this week. Honest I was. Then I made the mistake of cruising through my Facebook feed, and I found this gem, shared by my brother-in-law. It’s just too good to pass up.

Please note that the “blog” featured here isn’t real. LarkNews.com made it up to prove a point… and a good point it is. In fact, the rest of their blog is pretty funny too. I recommend it.

Facebragging

Know anyone like this? Could it be me? Now I feel compelled to go back through my Facebook posts and see if I’m guilty. Yikes!

My original post for today has been rescheduled for next week. See you then.

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Spring for an Easter Garden

Celebrate Easter. Celebrate spring. Sometimes it seems as if there’s a tension between the two. The stores advertise cute little lambs and chicks, jelly beans and hollow chocolate rabbits. Us more spiritual types prefer to concentrate on the resurrection.

Spring and Easter do not need to compete for our attention. Budding plants, baby animals—they should all remind us of the new life possible because Jesus died and rose again. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the renewal of life and the resurrection of Jesus happened at the same time of year. (Of course, those living in the southern hemisphere miss out on this connection.)

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Sick Thoughts

I’ve been unwell the past few days—a bad reaction to a new prescription preceded by either a worse reaction to another new prescription or a 24-hour virus. My mind has been off wandering aimlessly around some abandoned part of town while I got to spend 48 hours in bed, waiting to feel better.

Normally, I’d be giddy with the thought of spending some time lounging around, reading books I’ve wanted to read, with no responsibilities and no interruptions. But when every part of your body is on strike—my skin even protested the gentle spray from the shower, and more so the towel afterward—and the thermometer says 102.3, lying around loses its luster.

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A Recommendation

Have I got a treat for you. Every so often, I highlight another blog I read. This time, I want to point you in the direction of Frantic Believing. Ever since I discovered Jordan’s insightful writing, I’ve been addicted. As she writes on her About page:

I am young and foolish.
Married and in love.
Captivated, rescued, adored by God.
On a journey, because I am sent [John 20:21.]

(You might notice that I’ve also added Frantic Believing to my list of Blogs I Read at right.)

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Read That, Not This

I spent yesterday working through my to-do list, trying to check off what I really need to accomplish before everyone arrives next week for Thanksgiving. One of the items at the top of the list was “write Friday’s blog post.”

I didn’t get it done.

Then my good friend Cynthia posted two back-to-back blogs that are much better than anything I would have come up with. So I’m sending you to her blog, while I take a much-needed break (and clean the house, buy a turkey, catch up on the laundry, edit a book, post-process about 200 photos, water the houseplants, pay the bills…).

First read this.

And then read this.

See you Tuesday.

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Mnmlist

My daughter was all excited about a promotional give-away. Seems you can register online at the HGTV website to win a “green” (as in “environmentally friendly”) house, car, and $100K. She had already entered and was urging me to do so too.

I have to admit, my first thought was “Wow, we could really use $100K!” But that was quickly followed by a bunch of other considerations. We’d have to sell the house. Houses are not selling well right now; it could take months or even years. Most of the money would go to cover taxes on the whole deal. The vehicle was nice, but not one we’d normally choose for ourselves. Even if we beat the odds and won (a very remote possibility!), it would create a ton of work!

As I pointed all this out to our eager daughter, I explained that I was choosing not to enter the contest. We just didn’t have the time or energy we’d need to deal with the prize.

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Eagle’s Flight

I recently added Eagle’s Flight to my blog roll (see the column to the left). Maybe you didn’t notice. Today I’d like to introduce Clark, and let him tell about his blog in his own words.

Pete and I have known Clark for years—since our college days. He’s one of the most insightful people I’ve ever met. He also has an amazing way of stringing words together into blank verse. I have a hard time reading poetry—he manages to do an exceptional job of writing it.

I’m so glad that Clark is willing to share his work with us. You can read each poem as he posts it to his blog, or wait and purchase them all together in his soon-to-be-published new book, Eagle’s Flight. Meanwhile, his first volume, The Walk of the Eagle, is available from Amazon, and no, I’m not getting a percentage of sales.

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