“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.” (3 Jn 1:5)
Recently, an older gentleman with a small dog about the size of Lilly approached me when we were leaving the park after a walk. I needed to get to work and stopping for him was a minor inconvenience. But something about this man and his dog made me pause, and I waited for them to reach us. Continue reading “Strangers Among Us”
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” (1 John 1:7)
People are social creatures, and even the most introverted among us craves human companionship from time to time. We need to connect with each other. We need support and encouragement and love. Continue reading “Forming Deeper Connections”
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Rom 12:12)
Lilly pulls me down the street, tugging hard at her leash. She stops abruptly to sniff around the bottom of the neighbor’s trash can. She walks two steps and sniffs a spot on the ground, and then wanders into the road to sniff a piece of gravel. Satisfied, she takes off again, only to careen into the yard two houses down to sniff something in the grass that I can’t see. Continue reading “Lingering with Lilly”
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” (Mk 6:31)
On a recent drive home from visiting my parents, I thought of around five blog post ideas in the span of an hour and half. Because I couldn’t write them down, I dictated them into my phone to transcribe later. Once one idea formed, the rest flowed quickly – so quickly, I felt I almost couldn’t keep up. Continue reading “Time to Rest and Recharge”
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Th 5:11)
The long, cold winter and gray skies were bringing me down. It seemed winter would never end, and this year my seasonal affective disorder (SAD-an apt acronym if ever there was one) has been triggered more often than in many recent years. The older I get, the more I hate cold weather, which is common of many of us who have SAD. The combination of cold, gray skies, and short days is enough to send me into a spiral of irritability and sadness. I try to keep those feelings to myself so that I won’t damage my relationships, but my friends and family who know me best are aware of how I feel and try to encourage me and talk me through it. Continue reading “Battling the Winter Blues”