Getting God's Word In, So Our Faith Can Spill Out
Have you ever had your hopes dashed? The day I bought my wedding dress, my fiancé shocked me with his reaction:
“I’m not sure we’re not ready to get married.”
I was stunned, shocked, and heartbroken. We’d been planning our wedding for months, and when I called him over the moon with excitement about my dress, he dropped a bomb on me.
Joseph must have had similar feelings when he found out Mary was pregnant. [Read more…]
Have you ever noticed how God often works totally differently than we expect?
When my husband, and I moved back to America after 17 years in the Middle East, I dreamed of how in my new life, I’d decorate my home in shades of gray, blue, and white. I carefully packed my blue and white Turkish ceramics because I knew they’d be perfect for the living room I envisioned.
The only problem was we didn’t have any furniture back in Texas. [Read more…]
When I see her at the grocery story, I feel scared to smile and say hi. Her clothing intimidates me, and I forget there’s a real person underneath that veil. Just like me, she’s worried about her family, longs for friends, and hopes for God’s blessing.
When I see a woman in a burka driving her car on the freeway or walking in my neighborhood park, I confess that 9 times out of 10, I don’t even think of praying that God will reveal Jesus Christ to her.
During this Advent season, let’s remember that God sent Jesus into the world, so that all the nations of the earth might be blessed in Him. Long ago, God announced it to Abraham: [Read more…]
Can you remember a time you got excited about the arrival of a special guest? When my son Andres was eight, I invited a dear family friend to dinner one evening. Andres adored our friend and wanted to make sure he was the one to open the door for her, so several hours before her arrival, he pulled up a chair to the door to sit and wait.
What if we were that intent on welcoming and honoring our Savior during this Christmas season?
When an honored guest comes into our home, we stop what we’re doing to give him our full attention. All our work, cooking and cleaning, is done with an intent to honor our guest. We give him the best we have. [Read more…]
I’m pretty sure God did not have low-carb in mind when He created me. He certainly didn’t have it in mind when He sent me to the Middle East. With numerous bakeries in each neighborhood and a bread cabinet at every corner store in our city, bread is literally all around us. Most people eat it with every meal. The bakery is often their first stop on the way to work and their last stop on the way home.
This year I tried LOWER-carb eating—instead of low-carb, because progress is what counts, right? My biggest problem is that the bread here, in all its glory, is SO GOOD. Flatbread with sesame seeds, multi-grain bread with flaxseed, even basic Turkish white bread is delicious.
So it’s easy for me to relate to Jesus’ words, “I am the Bread of Life,” because for many people here bread is life. [Read more…]
