I started to read Psalm 16 with the intent of using it in the blog. But the more I read and studied it, the more Psalm 23 kept coming into my mind and rather insistently, too. So instead of just one Psalm, doled out sparingly like candy, I am giving you two. Both are in…
Month: January 2020
I’ve Never!
“Oh, don’t the days seem lank and long When all goes right and nothing goes wrong, And isn’t your life extremely flat With nothing whatever to grumble at!” W. S. Gilbert in Princess Ida I’ve noticed recently that I grumble and complain a lot. It’s fun, easy and I’m very, very good at it. But…
Critter Feeding
Lord, all living things depend on you. You give them food at the right time.You give it, and they eat it. They are filled with good food from your open hands. Psalm 104:27-28 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Squirrels visit the birdfeeders, too; we have a squirrel-baffle attached to prevent easy access, though. But one particularly enterprising squirrel invented…
Watch the Birdies!
O Lord, what an amazing variety of all you have created!Wild and wonderful is this world you have made,while wisdom was there at your side.This world is full of so many creatures, yet each belongs to you!Psalm 104:24 The Passion Translation (TPT) We justify the expense of feeding the birds by calling it a “Kitty…
Psalm 13: Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I plan what to do in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will those who hate me rise above me?Look on me and answer, O Lord, my…
Chinese New Year
Welcome to the Year of the Rat! Chinese New Year is usually celebrated on the second new moon after the winter solstice. It is traditional for every family to thoroughly clean their house beforehand, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. There is plenty of decorating, feasting,…
Psalm 11
How dare you tell me, “Flee to the mountains for safety,” when I am trusting in the Lord?2 For the wicked have strung their bows, drawn their arrows tight against the bowstrings, and aimed from ambush at the people of God. 3 “Law and order have collapsed,” we are told. “What can the righteous do but flee?”4 But…
Suffering
Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed, or afraid]. Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day. For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a…
A Memory
One of my earliest memories is in my grandparents’ apartment. I was maybe 3 years old, swinging my feet into the air between furniture and enjoying myself thoroughly. “Be careful,” cautioned my grandfather. “You might break something.” Do 3-year-olds ever listen? But then my hand slipped – and something broke. I ran to burrow into…
Known and Knowing
Tap. Tap. Tap. What on earth was that? I looked up. Missy was coming, carrying, vertically, the feather duster. The feathers completely obscured her face, the handle gently struck the floor as she walked, straddling it. Tap. Tap. Tap. Carefully she negotiated the step into the kitchen. Then, with great deliberation, she laid her burden…