Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Jan 9th, 2012
Vonnie, a pianist and one of my clients, shared with me an incredible true story that happened to her the week before Christmas. I thought it was a perfect reminder that God is a God of miracles, any time of the year.
For years I have almost been crippled with this stabbing sensation of [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God, Inspiration, Stories on Jan 6th, 2012
I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the LORD was watching over me. –Psalm 3:5m NLT
A good friend of mine, Cathy, had a near brush with death a few months ago. Here is her story.
On October 25, 2011 I had a heart attack.
The problem was, I didn’t know [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Oct 14th, 2011
In my work now, helping people heal their “heart issues”, I hear some incredibly sad stories.
Stories of nearly unspeakable cruelty, doled out by people who themselves are damaged.
You and I walk among wounded people. Some people hide their scars pretty well. Some do not.
One man told of being at a church gathering. Because of health [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God, Inspiration on Apr 22nd, 2011
One day in church–it was Good Friday, actually– I was sitting in the back of the church and a dad was quietly explaining what was going on to his young son. I thought, “I never did that with my kids. No wonder they say they don’t believe in God now.” I felt [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Apr 12th, 2011
My family has always been rather fortunate with cars. We have never spent more than $10,000 out of our own pocket, and two of the cars were, essentially, free. (My very first car was free; the story is in Abundant Gifts. )
Our latest car was not only free, but has an amazing story [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Jan 28th, 2011
Since my birthday is on Christmas Day, sometimes I decide to celebrate it later. This past Christmas was so hectic and stressful, I’d decided to designate another day.
So it’s today. January 28. I didn’t want it to be too far after the real date, or it wouldn’t happen. Made that mistake once. One year I [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Dec 9th, 2010
It was the first snow of the season.
Beautiful.
And treacherous, as it turned out.
As I embarked on my morning walk with my Bishon, Millie, the snow was still coming down, muffling the world with quiet.
I passed my neighbors as they cleaned off their driveway. “Be careful,” warned Greg. “It’s slippery. The Big Guy already went down. [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God, Meditations on Nov 23rd, 2010
Giving thanks for obvious blessings is not difficult. Giving thanks for the tough stuff, the things that look like anything but blessings, takes real faith.
I’ve written on another Thanksgiving about giving thanks for what I call “disguised gifts” in Abundant Gifts. I wrote that when we give thanks for things that don’t seem on the [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God on Oct 13th, 2010
Every day, I read a section of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.
Three Old Testament passages per day.
One theme constantly emerges: how important it is to “fear the Lord.”
It’s the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, Psalm 111:10) . It’s a life-giving fountain (Proverbs 14:27). It characterized the Messiah’s life (Isaiah 11:2). I could [...]
Posted in Abundant Gifts from a loving God, Abundant Gifts from the Word, Inspiration on Aug 23rd, 2010
Do you know what the central verse in the Bible is?
I didn’t.
Now I do, and if you can extrapolate that perhaps the central verse of the whole Bible might be the one thing God wants us to “get,” then it’s worth knowing, even memorizing.
Enjoy!
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Stephen James and David Thomas Virtual Book Tour on Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys
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, on "the story behind the story" of Don Piper's amazing trip to heaven--and back.