In 2016 I had a scary experience with my eyes.  Noticing that my vision was deteriorating, I had made an appointment to see the Optometrist in the town nearest to my new location.  He was an elderly doctor who had practiced forever in his little clinic.  As he was examining my eyes, he asked how many fingers he was holding up to my left side.  I couldn't see his hand (and I internally gulped).  He proceeded to ask how long I had noticed that "curtain" in my vision.  I was a bit baffled - how long had I had an entire part of my vision missing?  I knew something was wrong but I didn't realize HOW wrong it was.  And it had been off for a while too - a least a few months and maybe even more when I considered the fact that I had been experiencing floaters in my eyes for a year but figured that was just normal since my previous optometrist told me it was nothing to worry about.   Apparently, when you see a shower of black specks in your eyes, that's NOT normal!  And so

  Psalm 100  Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth! Everyone, everywhere should be filled with the JOY that comes from the LORD alone. Worship the LORD with gladness come before Him with joyful songs. The secret to happiness?  It's in worshiping God.  When He comes first, everything else falls into place. Know that the LORD is God It is He who made us and we are His; we are the sheep of His pasture. When I stop trying to be in control of my life and I recognize that He IS my good shepherd (the Sovereign One), then I can rest and be at peace in His pasture.   Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; Give thanks to Him and praise His name.  The way to come to God is with a boundless list of gratitude, recognizing all that He is for us.  His name is great - He is called Emmanuel (God with us), El Roi (The God who sees us), Jehovah Jireh (our provider), the Alpha and Omega, the Prince of peace and the King of kings. For the LORD is good and His love endures fore

One of the best ways to learn how to pray powerful prayers is to look at prayers in the scriptures.  Today, I'd like to unpack a favorite scriptural prayer as you might pray it over your children, or the children you serve daily if you work in a school or are part of children's ministry.  Of course, these biblical prayers are applicable to all believers and can guide in how we pray for each other in general.  Pray this along with me for the children (big or little!) in our lives and across the world: Colossians 1:9-12    For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God... to fill you with the knowledge of His will Father, we pray that our children will know Your will, that they will know deep in their hearts what You require of them and how You have called them to live according to Your laws. through all spiritual wisdom and understanding... Lord, we know that wisdom is knowing how to apply our knowledge of Your truth (Your W

 My adult children have all left the nest, the last one off to college just this past month.  As they find their new independence and live far away from home, I am reminded of my great calling to pray for them regularly.  The best way to pray for someone is to follow the models we find in scripture, so I started with this Levitical blessing from Numbers 6:24-27.   The LORD bless you... We pray for our children that God would bless their lives, knowing that in this world there are many troubles and He never promised to keep us from them (John 16:33).  However, we know that blessings follow obedience and blessings are always found when living in His will.  We pray that God's good gifts would come to our children (Luke 11:11-13) because He is a good Father and He loves our kids just as much as we do!  May He bless them with peace that is beyond understanding no matter what challenges they face (Philippians 4:4-7).  May He bless them with good jobs, godly spouses, children to love, and

   For our first day of inservice this fall my superintendent showed the funny commercial where cowboys are riding around in the fields herding cats.  Some days, that's definitely what this job feels like if you've ever tried to teach a cat to obey (dogs love to do tricks; cats not so much!).   But I think a more apt description of my job (as a school leader) is that of a shepherd.  I read John 10 this morning thinking about how much I appreciate the imagery of God as my shepherd: John 10:2 - 3 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.   The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The first thing I notice about Jesus as my shepherd is that He KNOWS me and I know Him.  We have a valuable relationship and I trust that He has my best interests at heart.  He knows my name and He leads me individually even as a part of the whole flock.   As I imitate Jesus' example of leadership,

 My dear friend, You asked me how you could be certain that when you cross the threshold from this life into the next that you will be greeted by the welcoming arms of our Lord.  The very fact that you are questioning this core element of faith tells me something about your heart; it says much about the state of your soul.  You see, in one of Jesus' first sermons, he declared what God was looking for, what type of person might enter the kingdom of heaven..   Matthew 5:3-5 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.   Blessed are those who mourn,  for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek,  for they will inherit the earth." You have looked deep into your heart and you know that you are not worthy of the Holy God Almighty.  You know your humanity, your weakness, your sin and you sense that you could never stand in the presence of a holy God, the God who IS worthy .  And with all of your heart you have worshiped Him as the only One who is worthy.