I woke up, looked in the mirror, and, although the face was the same, something was different. I did not feel like myself. It seemed as though, sometime during the night, I had become separated from myself. Felt as though my mind had become a foreign country, and I did not speak the language there.... Continue Reading →
Using the definition of talisman as anything whose presence (and by extension, lack of presence) exercises a remarkable or powerful influence on human feelings and actions, I believe that love, by its presence or its absence, is the greatest talisman. This is why it so important that children learn that their parents love them. When... Continue Reading →
We were in the midst of a three week intensive class training missionaries. The day on group dynamics was almost finished, with everyone giving all the appropriate answers. Then a visitor appeared, a strong shift from the ordinary. He told us that he had taken the class in a previous year, his experience with the... Continue Reading →
Everyone who has ever experienced God's salvation in any form has a testimony to tell. It is in our witness that other people learn of the amazing power of God to save from seemingly impossible situations. In the psalm this week, Psalm 34, David, with eloquence, energy, and enthusiasm testified to the goodness of God... Continue Reading →
To compare oneself to someone else is a recipe for unhappiness and anxiety. One of my fellow Sunday School teachers refers to this behavior as "compare-tinitis." It is like an illness that invades the mind and the spirit, and the only cure is to come to see that not being identical to anyone else makes... Continue Reading →
I married into a family of wine connoisseurs. My sister-in-law wins medals for her wines. During visits to Douglas's family, wine is on the table and everyone is partaking of them and complimenting the different qualities of the reds or the whites,discussing the bouquet or the level of dryness. I never have a clue what... Continue Reading →
At the first blush of dawn, my hiking partner rudely woke me up saying, “It is too cold to sleep. Let’s forget breakfast and hike down to the camp.” We were bivouacking near the summit, which meant that we were only sleeping in our jackets with our ponchos wrapped around us. He had consumed all... Continue Reading →
I would imagine that the right person to date and marry has been one of the most frequent requests of God that women have shared with me. As a preacher who often speaks on the faithfulness of God in hearing and answering prayers, I have had many a woman tell me that they have given... Continue Reading →
I had a very mean father. Every time I wanted to do something fun, he said, “you have to finish your chores first.” He didn’t skimp on what we needed, though. Meals were always there, as was clothes and housing. He told me, “don’t worry about these things, You just need to worry about... Continue Reading →
As a professor, it was my job to incubate a love of learning and to encourage students that they could achieve and be all that God created them to be. As an incubator, I nurtured young minds to see the world as a place in which they were expected to make a difference, rather than... Continue Reading →
Help from Heaven 