Peace in a World of Violence and Death

Last week, I attended a friend’s memorial service; tomorrow I will attend a similar service for another friend. This morning I read a Washington Post article titled, “Guns vs. Autos: How Americans Die” and learned that for the first time in over sixty years, more people are dying from gunshot wounds than from automobile accidents. […]

Joyce’s Gift

Earlier this week, I attended a memorial service for a dear fiend—Joyce Miller. During the service, one of the pastors read the familiar Twenty-third Psalm. While the entire psalm is beautiful, the phrase that I found most comfort in was this one: “He restores my soul.” This year, I’ve increasingly realized that what counts in […]

Reflections on Christmas Lemons

Yesterday, my mail carrier drove up my long driveway, knocked on my door, smiled, and handed me a large package. Inside that “Priority Mail” marked package, I found a gold-colored Christmas box that contained a very special gift—lemons! What makes this gift of lemons so special to me? Several things: They are tree-ripened, picked by […]

Choose the Path Marked “Unknown.”

Because I’m familiar with my daughter’s neighborhood, I often walk there. But yesterday I decided to go off in an unknown path. Assuming that all the streets had been laid out in rectangles like the ones I normally traversed, I walked a little further down the main highway and turned down an unfamiliar lane. I […]

My Thoughts Regarding Isis and Syrian Refugees

Despite the immense devastation that Isis-inspired terrorists have caused, they do not have ultimate power. There is one thing they cannot destroy—the invisible and eternal part of us called our spirit. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of people who can kill the body but after that can do nothing more to hurt you” (Luke 12: […]

Become a Distributor of Grace and Peace

In every one of Paul’s thirteen letters to the early church, he begins with this greeting: Grace and peace. What a contrast to the litany of news items we receive each night from media newscasts!  Because we want to be aware of what is happening in the world, John and I do listen to these […]

The Unrecognized Benefits of Worry

Until recently, I did not think of myself as a worrier. I wasn’t verbalizing my worry thoughts, so I did not hear my worry’s, and I didn’t know how much of the time they occupied my mind. What about you? Do you recognize your worry thoughts? They often take the form of phrases that start with […]

How Writing Can Heal Us

In the busyness and noise of life, it’s easy to become unaware of our inner thoughts and feelings;  a result of this disconnect is a loss of integrity. We don’t follow through on a commitment yet are clueless of the cause; we block out feelings of anger, fear, discouragement, anxiety, and guilt and have no idea why we are depressed. In […]

Give Yourself a Gift of Margin

I feel encouraged by those of you who told me that you’ve joined my “Early New Year’s Day Challenge”—thanks! It’s not too late to join; for the details, go here. I hope that you wrote out your red-light STOP list of energy-depleting activities and your green-light GO list of energy-renewing activities, and the made appropriate changes on […]

An Early New Year’s Day Challenge

Although I’m very excited about publishing my book, Emotional Freedom, I admit that I’m tired. I need to slow down. But how can I do that? October is already half over and the busiest season of the year is just beginning. It’s the time when I usually gear up for end-of- the-year celebrations. And how […]