Where’s the Ash?

I felt so clever hitting Wal-Mart on my way home from the late movie Sunday night.  We got water and a few groceries in case we couldn’t drive for a few days (due to the ash) and then – nothing.  It blew and all, but the ash decided to blow a different direction and (so [...]

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Eruptions and other Interruptions

One of the concepts that makes itself at home in the simple life is scheduling in margin.  On a sheet of paper the margins are the areas around the edges that are left blank so that there is extra room.  This gives the page a sense of space and order but it also comes in [...]

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A Simple Start

My vacation was just short of two weeks and it’s taken me almost two full weeks to recover from it and get back to my normal pace.  What’s that about?
 
The good news I realized on my vacation is that, for the most part, I like my normal life just as well as a good vacation.  [...]

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Vacation

You won’t hear from me for two weeks.  I’m going on vacation and I’m not taking my computer.  Talk at ya when I get back…

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Shepherd’s little “Helpers”

Wednesday we talked about the difference between how a shepherd leads his sheep and how a butcher drives them.  Today I’d like to talk about sheep dogs.
 
Although ancient shepherds led their sheep by their voices, most modern American shepherds make use of another tool:  the sheepdog.  We had a sheepdog the summer Jonathan turned two [...]

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To Lead or to Drive?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Sometimes I think a good metaphor is worth about 10 pictures.  Jesus used a lot of metaphors.  He told simple stories about farmers and seeds that helped His audiences gain insights into the kingdom of God they’d never had access to before.  People were amazed by [...]

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One Day at a Time

Last week we talked about the journey of faith and how spending time with Jesus is the key to growing our faith.  But often when people hear those words they think, “Oh no, more to add to my already busy schedule!  Now I gotta squeeze Jesus stuff in there too!” 
 
For me growth doesn’t mean [...]

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Complete throught Christ

Monday we talked about how God designed us to be completed by His love.  Jesus is the key to completing our true identity, like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle.  That is why Paul wrote, “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.  Long before [...]

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Completed by Love

Plato recorded a story from ancient Greek mythology about a people called the “split-apart” – a race that lived when the earth was young in utter wholeness and happiness.  Each individual of this race had everything they needed within them (even the ability to reproduce on their own) and lived in complete contentment. 
 
But the [...]

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Unconditional Love

I really liked one of the slides that Jeff had up Sunday morning.  It was a black and white photo of an infant holding onto the finger of a grown-up’s hand.  Something about it seemed so tender and yet so solid – an image of complete vulnerability before a benevolent strength.  It reminded me of Psalm [...]

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