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Consider This: Living With Intention

  I loved the Kenosee Lake Super Slides! I loved the Freefall. I loved the Bonzi runs. However, as I got a little older, I started to enjoy the Lazy River. The Lazy River was the part at the bottom of the slides where you could sit on an inner tube, drink a Coke, and float around. The river slowly moved you around the park. There was nothing for you to do but sit back and enjoy the sunshine and the ride. Hanging out on the Lazy River is great for a while, but you never get anywhere. It always wraps back around to the place where you began. Also, because you are just floating along, it requires nothing from you, so there are no amazing stories to tell about it. In our real lives, it is easy to get caught in the Lazy River. It is tempting to do what everyone else is doing, not because we have chosen it, but because it seems to be the thing to do. We want to fit in, so we float along, assuming that wherever we are going is the right place to be. Often, though, the Lazy Ri...
Recent posts

Seeing New Patterns (1 Chronicles 29)

We experience life not as it is, but how we see it.   Scripture can help us see things better.   Here are two patterns we need to learn to see.  https://youtu.be/LiDKGWm9iKQ  

Consider This: Begin Again

One day, in 1888, Alfred Nobel awoke to a surprise; He found out he was dead!   In fact, it was Alfred’s brother, Ludvig, who had passed away, but a French newspaper mistakenly ran Alfred’s obituary instead, and Alfred did not like what he saw. The headline said, “The Merchant of Death is Dead!” The rest of the article described Alfred as a greedy, terrible man who invented dynamite and made his fortune at the misfortune of others. He was remembered as one whose invention escalated wars around the world and tore families apart forever. Alfred was disturbed by this harsh assessment of his life, so he decided to change it.   You may not have known that Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. It is more likely that you remember him for a much better legacy, the Nobel Prizes. Instead of giving his fortune to his family, he set up prizes for “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the benefit on mankind” in various disciplines. First given out in 1901, they conti...

Flee and Pursue (1 Timothy 6:11)

 One short verse that will help us focus on what is best and use our days well.  https://youtu.be/B-o2fUTjGKA  

Consider This: When Trouble Comes

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The last part of Jesus’ statement is comforting. The first part, not so much. If trouble is a guarantee, the question becomes, “What can we do when it happens? What is the best response?” The book of Job has some good advice for us, as seen in the initial actions of his three friends.   First, they show up! “When Job’s three friends… heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out… to go and sympathize with him and comfort him” (Job 2:11). We like to believe that everyone wants privacy, and we should mind our own business, but that is not true! Especially in times of trouble, we need connection and visible expressions of care. Listen to Paul’s words as he reflects on a difficult time in his life, “God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus… so that my joy was greater than ever” (2 Corinthians 7:6-7). Showing up matters, and it makes a di...

Bad to Better: How our regrets can make us stronger

 Everyone has regrets! You do not get through life without them.  So, the question becomes, "What do you do with those feelings?"  The good news is that God can use them for our good and the good of others, if we let him. Here is how. https://youtu.be/xTBmvPta3lQ  

Like A Good Mom (Job 2)

 Job may sound like an odd place to go to for a Mother's Day lesson. However, his friends do three things that we need to be reminded to do. They are things that Mothers do naturally. You can make a difference if you respond this way. https://youtu.be/Q7aIy2Us-jQ