Categories
Devotional Memoir

Give thanks

Leaves crunch beneath my feet. Cold front moved in. So the air is chilled. Still.

Inside I’m scattered. 

Numb. 

Not sure how to process what’s happening. The unexpected hard.

“In everything give thanks”? How? 

Give thanks. Image by Armon Arani on Unsplash.
Categories
Devotional Making Disciples

Distracted

Keep your eyes on the prize. Focus. Don’t get distracted. 

“Just one thing: as citizens of heaven, live your life worthy
of the gospel of Christ.”
Philippians 1:27 

Traffic is heavy. Moving at 45 mph down a main road in the city. I glance over at the SUV in the lane next to us. 

The driver is holding his cell phone. In both hands. Texting. 

Distracted. 

He looks up once. Touches the wheel. Maintains speed. Then passes us. Still texting.

Distracted. Photo by Alexander Popov, Unsplash photos.

How quickly we buy in to the world’s version of what we should be doing. What we need now. What our message ought to be. Our eyes wander. Even in COVID-19 lockdowns, attention is scattered. Veers off course. 

And one day we’re “multi-tasking” down the road at 45 mph.   

Along the journey in His Word, I note those who get distracted. Identify with their struggle. Learn from their failure. 

Categories
Devotional Memoir

Hope during a tsunami

The slow but certain flood of a tsunami moves across the globe today.  

I’ve watched videos from the one that marked our lives in 2004. The wave that advanced silently. Powerfully. Into Aceh. The water just kept coming. Pushing further inland. One bright, blue-skied day. 

And then, as waves do, it pulled back out to sea. Leaving devastation. Empty communities. Unimaginable loss. 

Today. The other tsunami. Changing the topic of our daily conversations. To quarantines and lockdowns. Limiting spread to flatten the curve. Shortages of medical supplies. Death counts.

And I remember the Scripture verses that gave hope to the inexperienced. In the December 2004 tsunami and the year that followed.

Aceh. Devastation as far as the eye could see. Nearly two months after the tsunami. February 2005.