“Lord, in the beginning you made the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will disappear into nothingness, but you will remain forever. They will become worn out like old clothes, and some day you will fold them up and replace them. But you yourself will never change, and your years…
Author: Dara
How We Smell
“As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us. To those who are not being saved, we seem a fearful smell of death and doom, while to those who…
Fear Always Hides
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the…
We Get What We Expect
Shae, our firstborn, cut her baby teeth earlier than most babies; and from the beginning, her bite wasn’t completely straight. She went on to lose her baby teeth early and had her 12 year molars before she was 10 years old. With each 6 month check-up, the dentist told us our daughter would need braces when…
Thinking Matters
“For as he thinks within himself, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7a (TPT) The way we think is very powerful; it determines who we are and the lives we live. My Grandpa W. was born in 1913; his older brother, Floyd, was born in 1911. Their father left the family early on, and though their mother…
Taking Things Into Our Own Hands
The Pharisees and the leading priests had given Judas a large detachment of Roman soldiers and temple police to seize Jesus. Judas guided them to the garden, all of them carrying torches and lanterns and armed with swords and spears. Jesus, knowing full well what was about to happen, went out to the garden entrance to meet…
Telling Time
Shane and I have been married for 33 years, 7 months, and 3 weeks. We are opposites in many ways. We tend to see things differently, and we have varying communication styles. One of our challenges is in the area of time. I attribute our timing differences to our parents. Shane’s mother is usually at…
The Argument
At the beginning of every year, I begin some type of Bible reading plan. My goal is to read through the entire Bible during the year, and though I don’t always succeed, I come closer than if I had no plan. This year I have chosen the One Year Chronological Bible in the New Living…
Oreo Cookies
My kindergarten Sunday school teacher enjoys telling a story about me. I must admit I don’t remember the incident. I was a very shy child, and evidently I have blocked the minor trauma from my memory. Our family had just started attending church, so everything church-related was new to me. One Sunday morning, Oreos were the…
Like Tonya
When I was a young girl, I spent a lot of time with my friend, Tonya. I wanted to be just like her. She was pretty and outgoing, and she was always doing something new and exciting. If Tonya liked something, I decided I liked it too. “I love green olives,” she announced to me…