This week’s article will be shorter than most, because it is quite the week for me and for our family. My mom’s birthday, my sister’s high school graduation, and my high school best friend’s wedding are all taking place within 4 days of each other, and I’m here in Tennessee to celebrate all three. Two thoughts have dominated my mind in preparation for this week: the thought of how blessed I am, and the thought of how busy I’m about to be. Recently, I came across this statement from Jesus in my personal study: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to…

If you’re like me, sometimes peace is hard to find. You would think that as a retired woman I would have plenty of time, fewer worries, less deadlines to meet, and be able to just do what I want to do resulting in peace in my life. You couldn’t be more wrong. I still have a lot of activities in my life. Along with the usual daily chores – doing laundry, cleaning house, buying groceries, cooking meals, organizing closets, etc. – I seem to be busy with lots of other things like writing, studying, praying, teaching Bible classes, mentoring young women, hosting guests in our home, counseling those who are…

The mood must have been tense that Sunday afternoon. Very few people had fully grappled with what had happened just days before, and it didn’t help that more rumors about more strange events that morning were starting to spread. Everyone was emotionally exhausted, everyone was physically exhausted, and nobody knew if there would be more innocents targeted by the mob’s fury, or who would be next if there were. It’s no wonder Cleopas and his friend decided to get out of dodge. After all, things hadn’t always been this bad. Just a week ago there was rejoicing in the streets over this great Prophet of the people. For years, His…

Recently, I was visiting one of our older members at West Side in the hospital as he was about to go in for surgery. While I was there, an RN came in to run through medications with him and his family and make sure everything was as it should be before his operation. When she found out that I was a minister, she revealed that she herself was married to a pastor (she never mentioned a denomination) and that they had been missionaries both within the United States and abroad in the past. She got even more excited when she learned that we were about to pray together and referenced…

In light of all of the storms we’ve had lately, I’ve gone back into my memory bank and recalled my childhood and what would happen then when storms were approaching. We lived next door to my paternal grandparents who had a basement which opened up to the outdoors. My grandma’s kitchen was in that basement and I spent many hours there with her.  As most children did in that time, I spent a lot of time playing outside. No one worried about me or the kids in the neighborhood with whom I played. That is, until a summer thunderstorm would blow up. As the clouds gathered and darkened and the…

Our young people at West Side are some of the best ever. Yes, I know I’m biased when I say that, but I do have evidence to back it up. About three months ago, a few of them approached me with a request. They had noticed that several people had expressed difficulty with daily Bible reading and wanted to set up a system for coming up with topical Bible readings and keeping one another accountable in their reading. They asked me if I could make a group chat that people could join and, if the members of the group chat would decide on a topic each week, whether I could…