They line up the streets as I enter my subdivision. A festival of white and pink bloom, cheerful reminders of warmer and brighter days to come. I utter a prayer of thanksgiving - spring has sprung! After a dreary winter, I can finally walk outside and breathe in the beauty of God’s colorful majesty. As I open the garage door, I gaze at the front yard, where our very own dogwood tree welcomes me home, its first blooms cheering my winter-struck flower bed. Spring is my favorite time of the Continue Reading
The One-Mile Marker. Time to quit!?
Click for PDF: The One Mile marker 03.17.15 Passage: Exodus 9 Key Verse: “‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Exodus 6:6 He left the presence of the Lord, repeating the words God had given him several days before. “I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements”. He hung on to that promise as he got Continue Reading
Get Over it: You Are NOT Qualified
Click for PDF: Get over it 03.10.15 Passage: Exodus 4:1-20 Key Verse: “The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” v.11 I could see my younger daughter muttering something under her breath as she stared at the beam in front of her. It was time for the frightful cartwheel on beam, part of her gymnastics routine. My heart skipped a beat. “Thank God I’m not a mother of boys,” I Continue Reading
True Love Doesn’t Need Fifty Shades of Gray (Weekend Column for the AJC)
The frenzy is on. Hollywood has released the much-anticipated movie version of the international best-selling book "Fifty Shades of Grey." I was visiting my husband’s family last weekend when our niece told me that the movie was sold out for all showings on Saturday, Valentine’s Day. It certainly was a strategic release date for the producers. In my humble opinion, it couldn’t be a sadder picture of what many people out there have decided to call love. On the day when Americans chose to Continue Reading
Believing Lies About Yourself (Excerpt from Patricia’s Book “12 Inches”)
Print PDF: Believing Lies about Yourself 02.17.15 Passage: John 10:1-10 Key Verse: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and [a]have it abundantly." It was almost ten o’clock at night. I was tired and a bit grouchy. When the commercial played, I rolled my eyes, annoyed. Another miraculous skin rejuvenating product, promising to restore my skin’s radiance and make my crow’s feet vanish in 8 weeks. The model’s face beamed on the screen, Continue Reading
We Can Change Our Destiny by Changing Our Words (Weekend Column for the AJC)
A blind man sat at the bottom of the steps of a courthouse, where he knew many regulars would stop and drop change into his old tin can. He basked in the warmth of the sun on that chilly morning. He heard the first steps in his direction. Cling. A good soul dropped a coin. He reached into the can. His fingers recognized the quarter. He heard several more steps as giggly young women walked in his direction. Their chatter turned into a silent reverence as they read his sign. Cling, cling. Several Continue Reading
