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Spend This Valentine’s Day with Your Soulmate!

Soulmates?

Soulmates?

What do you think about when you consider Valentine’s Day? Frilly Valentine cards? Flowers? Dark chocolates in a heart-shaped box? Finding your soulmate and living happily ever after?

Especially if you’re single, you may feel discouraged on this most romantic of holidays. Valentine’s Day is truly a day for two. Two place settings for a romantic dinner. Two people sharing moonlight and roses. Two lovers sailing off into the sunset. Often, those in a relationship, married or not, seem to have found something you’re missing. Looking at two starry-eyed lovers, we can easily imagine that they’ve found their soulmates.

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Being Polite to God

Karin Gwen Willow_BlkForest-CO_LAH_0313-001For the past week we’ve enjoyed the company of our out-of-state daughter and two granddaughters. Gwendolyn is now three months old, Willow recently turned two. I’ve loved every chaotic minute. I’ve spent the week reading cardboard picture books, filling sippy cups, and moving sharp or breakable objects to ever higher shelves.

Like all grandchildren, our grandkids are nearly perfect, but they still need a lot of civilizing. They weren’t born polite, considerate, well-behaved little girls. Our kids are doing a wonderful job of teaching and training, but if you’ve ever wondered about the concept of Original Sin, just spend a day with a toddler!

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Molehills to Die On

What are your core beliefs? If someone asked you to explain what you’re all about—the central convictions that define who you are, what would you tell them?

Our adult Sunday school class was talking about different world views. The speaker explained that as Christians, our world view differs from Muslims, Hindus, humanists, atheists, etc. Then he asked us to list five things we absolutely believe to be true about our faith. He claimed that most people would have trouble making such a list. Of course, with a challenge like that, I pulled out paper and started writing. The more I wrote, the more items I thought of. I soon realized that if I wanted to pay attention in class, I’d have to finish my list at home.

Later that evening I was still working on my list. (I’m kind of one-track like that.) As I finally ran out of Truths I was sure about, I realized that there were still a lot of truths (small “t”) that I believed but knew I could be wrong about. So, I made a list of those, too.

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Romancing Jesus

“Jesus loves me, this I know…”

But do I really?

In my most recent post, I urged you to pick up a copy of Skye Jethani’s latest book, Futureville: Discover Your Purpose for Today by Reimagining Tomorrow. This book is worth reading for many reasons, but there’s one major point I didn’t mention in my review.

In a small, seeming innocuous chapter near the end of the book, Jethani asks, “What is your treasure?” Of course, just as in Sunday school, the answer is supposed to be “Jesus!” But is He truly my treasure?

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Happy Mother’s Day

A few years back I wrote a post for Mother’s Day, and I really can’t add anything to what I thought then.  So instead of repeating myself, please go back and reread “What I Want for Mother’s Day.” Then scroll down and enjoy some glimpses of motherhood as seen through my lens.

I thought our kids left too soon, but elk calves only stay with their mothers for about a year.

I thought our kids left too soon, but elk calves only stay with their mothers for about a year.

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Will You Be My Valentine?

Today is Valentine’s Day, the day we celebrate love. We’re bombarded with opportunities to declare our passion. Flowers and chocolate, some pretty steamy Valentine cards, Victoria’s Secret displays all focus on romantic love, or is it romantic lust? But for some, this is a difficult time. Not everyone is in a romantic relationship. Does lack of Special Someone mean you’ve completely missed out on love?

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Just Give It All Away!

Do you tithe?

Not many people do. Some believe that tithing isn’t taught in the New Testament, so it no longer applies to us. They explain that we’re living under grace, and tithing is legalistic. Others insist that all Christians are supposed to tithe, because of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23. I’ve heard many sermons on Malachi 3:10, where the pastor explained that the local church is the “storehouse” and we must bring our entire tithe to them, with any other giving counting as an “offering” above and beyond our mandatory 10%.

Clearly, there’s lots of room for interpretation regarding tithing. Matt, at TheChurchOfNoPeople.com (one of my favorite blogs) recently wrote about tithing. I think he gives us a lot to consider, and urge you to read what he has to say. Matt inspired me, thus today’s post.

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Foolish and Stupid Arguments

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you interpret the Bible correctly.”

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to convince everyone that your way of reading the Bible is the only correct one, as he commanded us.”

The news has been full of last Tuesday’s debate between Bill Nye (the Science Guy) and Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum. No matter what your take on the outcome, or where you fall on the creation-evolution continuum, (and it isn’t as black and white as some would have us believe), the whole scenario bothered me. No one was seeking common ground. Rather, it was designed to polarize the audience.

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” (2 Timothy 2:23)

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Bringing Light into Darkness

Turning off the main highway, our minibus bumped over the rocky gravel road toward Gege, Swaziland. Tree farms, with their orderly rows of pine and eucalyptus, gave way to grassy hillsides, cattle, and the occasional small cinder block building. I tried to snap some photos from the moving bus, with limited success.

About ten minutes into our 40-minute ride, we bounced past a run-down homestead flying a worn, solid black flag. Odd, I thought, and asked our missionary host what the flag signified. He explained that some Swaziland belonged to a cult that worshiped a nasty snake idol/demon, and the flag meant that a snake “church” met at this home. Apparently, Gege was the epicenter of this cult.

Swaziland_LAH_9879-001

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