“What are you thinking?” I asked my husband, Terry, who was staring at the lineup of 15 throwaway cameras that graced our kitchen counter.“Valentine’s Day,” Terry answered. You’re not married for 26 years without getting a glimmer of your spouse’s next thought....
As I stood at the deli, waiting for the lady butcher to slice my roast chicken, I found my foot tapping. The beat was contagious, so I had to comment as my feet lightly marched in step: “Is that Souza playing? I love patriotic marches!”The young lady slicing my...
After Mother went home to be with the Lord, the family held an
estate sale of her possessions that had been sitting in boxes for
years.
As I rummaged through the boxes of elegant china, laces and
linens, one box in particular caught my eye. This one smelled musty,
and a piece of straw was poking through the top. I pried it open with
scissors and began to sneeze.
Years ago, when my husband, Terry, and I were dating, I set
about to fix what I called the “perfect dinner” for Valentine’s Day. On the
menu were Terry’s favorites: baked pasta with marinara sauce smothered in
cheese, salad and buttery garlic bread. How difficult was that? In a word, highly!
You see I was a woman with an unsavory “kitchen past” and a
long list of disasters to prove it. My most recent one was when my popovers
(containing too much baking soda) exploded like hand grenades in the oven!
“Well, never mind,” I told myself, as I braved the kitchen
to fix the perfect dinner. Terry didn’t
need to know about my hidden disasters, just tonight’s grand performance of
undaunted love revealed perfectly on a red linen tablecloth.
“Call in! Your
chance to throw a brick or a bouquet!”
The radio host was inviting his coast-to-coast listeners to
air a grievance or grudge against someone—their chance to get even. Or they
could call in and compliment someone. The choice was theirs!
Most were angry callers with a grudge and a beef to air. The
disturbing thing was that they were taking fiendish delight in putting people
down and flattening them before the public. The radio airwaves were thick with
tension and hate.
Then came the call that changed things. A sweet lady was
calling in to tell her teenage niece how much she loved her. “I want to throw
her a bouquet tonight,” she said, “to express my love for her.”
It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve. I was getting ready
to pay a visit with my church cell group to The Meadows nursing home. Each of
the five members of our group was to take a plate of cookies, to mingle a bit
and to wish everybody “Merry Christmas.”
The phone rang and changed that. It was Miss Evelyn, our
group leader, giving me short notice with a tall order that our little group
was now to “sing like a choir” to the group at The Meadows. “Well, they asked
us in good faith, so it’s up to us to have good faith that we can do it!”
stated Miss Evelyn.
Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope lens to see a
picture form, only to turn the base and experience an entirely new picture form
before your very eyes? I had this
kaleidoscope effect happen to me one day—surprisingly, at a time when I least
expected it.
I was sitting on the couch, feeling overwhelmed by some
challenges, and feeling less than up to facing any of them. This is when I prayed. And this is when
the kaleidoscope thing began to happen in a way that I could only describe as
supernatural of God.
“Our shipment will be here tomorrow,” announced my husband, Terry, as he was reading his e-mails.The “shipment” was a beautiful bedroom set, consisting of a bed, two end tables, a chest of drawers, a mirror and a huge armoire – all sale-priced and perfectly designed...
“God bless America, my home sweet home!”
I sat in the small coffee shop
reading the morning paper. My attention was immediately drawn to a headline
that caught my eye. A well-known former public figure with clout had just come
out with his book—one proclaiming the news that there was no sovereign God. The
review presented it, without even questioning such a belief, as if it were
indeed the truth and that this man of great reputation had all the answers on
whether or not there was a sovereign God.
When I worked as a screen extra in the movies, one of the people with whom I was paired in the dining scenes was a man named Arthur. No one, including me, wanted to be around him. For one thing, Arthur had a foul mouth. He used it to complain and mutter obscenities and to fire off wisecracks under his breath.
And speaking of his breath—well, let’s just say you wouldn’t want to light a match within a foot of it. The smell of alcohol was a clue to the level of volatility. Then there was his attitude—it wasn’t pretty either.
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Consider the magnitude of God’s awesome power. It is without end or limitation. As believers, you and I can enter into His realm of supernatural power and experience thrilling adventures as we come to know His ways and His workings.
Sometimes it is the most desperate places in life where we learn the most valuable lessons. Often, these lessons consist of things we think we know. We believe that we understand what it is to forgive. Mercifully, most of us are never put to the ultimate test. But the Scriptures tell us of the Son of God, who showed us how far love could go. He is our example when we are tried, and by His strength, we can respond in genuine loving forgiveness that is beyond our human capabilities.
(Part 1)
God’s names carry great significance. As His child, You can claim His names as your inheritance and allow their meanings to broaden your understanding of who He is in your life. As you begin to apply these Scriptural names of God, expect to experience a greater move of His Spirit upon your life.