Abba's Girl

Last week I saw several young men currently in BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALS) running down a beach in CA. I don't know how many weeks into the 6 month course they are, but I know they work incredibly hard in an attempt to become a Navy SEAL. They train hard mentally and physically. As I watched them, I wanted to applaud them as well as cry. Sometimes I wonder where my spiritual life would be if I approached time in the Word and prayer with an attitude of going to war against evil. It is an aspect I don't think about too often on any given day. In Ephesians 6 we read about our armor: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore ta...

The other night a friend and I met for a quick dinner at a local restaurant. As we talked after our meal, a young man of 16 or 17 years old came over and asked if he could clear our dishes. We said yes. He put Mella's dishes on his tray, was about to pick up my plate when Mella's knife catapulted off her plate, did a few somersaults in the air, landed on my wrist, bounced down to my thigh, then up to the table and landed with a clatter. A couple spinach leaves landed on me as well. Mella & I started laughing. The waiter was appalled and very apologetic. We laughed more, he apologized more. After seeing the knife in action, I could believe there was one shooter in Dallas up in the book repository. The waiter said he would ask the manager to comp the meal. I told him not to worry, it was an accident, no harm done. He thanked me for being nice and not cursing at him. I asked if people would curse at him for such a tiny thing. He said, "Yes, and in fact people way older TH...

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. In the Bible the word stone appears 324 times in the English Standard Version. Stones on the ground, various minerals are described as stones, they are building materials, things to be thrown, and hearts. As a Christian, I consistently search my heart. Is there (or are there) an area in which it is stony instead of surrendered to God? Do I have a hardened heart towards a person or situation? The honest answer is yes. I have shut down regarding a person I've known too many years to count. If I describe the cause of the shut down, I fear I will sin further by describing it because I might add a few adjectives, a few adverbs, and far too many nouns to cause the person to look bad and I might come out smelling like a rose. One of the things on my heart this year is to freely love this person again and to pray with fervor for...

I am sipping coffee and typing away on my laptop this quiet New Year’s morn. The power went out about 2 hours ago. (The blessing is 2 fold: the coffee was ready and it is not our main season in Southeast Texas which is HOT.) Read the Bible by flashlight, the dog is under the covers, and the quiet is only disturbed by an occasional train’s engineer blowing his horn loud enough and long enough for people 50 miles away to hear. When I was young, I never valued quietness or solitude, now I relish both. In 2014, I hope to spend more time in the Word and in prayer. 2013 was dismal in some ways, I was sick with pneumonia for over a month, then sick again from May through Sept. with a respiratory virus. Both took a lot out of me. I lost friends/family members to disease. There were horrific tragedies in our country and around the world. However, 2013 was also filled with joy and blessings too numerous to count. I hope no matter what circumstances are thrown our way in 2014, we can say ...