Christmas is Emmanuel
A cheerful, roaring fire crackles at the hearth. Aunts, uncles, and cousins arrive in their Christmas sweaters, piling out of minivans with presents under their arms. Grandma stands at the kitchen counter putting the finishing touches on her world-famous yeast rolls and pies.
Christmas in Mexico
It was over 50 years ago that we moved into a tiny village in Mexico to start a Bible school to allow those of little financial means to study God’s Word. Every area of Mexico is different - food, fashion, climate, and even dialect, but my experience is from the state Tamalipus, in the northeastern corner of Mexico.
Christmas in PNG
Christmas in the remote highlands village of Kiari, Papua New Guinea is lovely. You should see our breathtaking mountain vistas, framed by poinsettias that grow to 20’ or more. Although it’s technically summer here in the Southern hemisphere, at 6500 feet, it’s not hot, and being so close to the equator we don’t really get the extremes that make it feel like summer or winter anyway. Rainy season begins in earnest about this time of year, and the chilly mist and rain actually remind me a little bit of winter in Old Virginny. I dearly love Kiari and honestly feel more at home here than anywhere, but I would have to say that the actual holiday is very much stripped of many things that make it “feel like Christmas” to an American country girl like me.
Christmas in Chile
I still remember how strange everything seemed to me my first Christmas in Chile. When I walked downtown and looked into a store window, instead of seeing a “winter wonderland,” I saw a beach scene, palm trees with ornaments on them, and mannequins in bathing suits! Since Chile is south of the equator, Christmas comes in the summer. Talk about “culture shock!” I mean, seeing a Santa Clause in Bermudas and Hawaiian shirt is a little hard to get used to. It just didn’t “feel” like Christmas! But over the years, I guess we’ve gotten used to it. In fact, my kids think it’s great that we can go to the beach on Christmas Day!
Christmas in China
Christmas music, warm vanilla scents, twinkling lights, decorations, sweet hot cocoa, family time, Christmas programs at church, and red and green fuzzy scarves are all hints that this special time is upon us. At least they were… until I moved to China five and a half years ago.
Christmas Among the Macushis
Christmas! What wonderful memories this word brings to many of us. Gifts, Carols, decorations, trees, tinsel, parties, and we could go on and on. But what about all the people in areas that do not have these memories?
Christmas in the Basque Region of Spain
When we came to Spain over 36 years ago, our family was surprised by the Christmas customs. They weren’t at all what we were used to! For one thing, there were hardly any lights, trees, or decorations. This has changed a little over the years, but it’s still true.
Memorization Techniques
Are you good at memorizing? I am a second-grade teacher. My 7- and 8-year old students are amazingly adept at assimilating new information. I admit that I used to be just like them. I had a reputation growing up of being able to sing dozens of songs with the lyrics perfectly memorized. Can you relate? Were you a kid like me, or do you have a kid like me?
Three Kinds of Fear
When I think about my life’s events since childhood, I realize that fear has been with me all my life. Consider the typical life of a child: a toddler fears his mommy or daddy won’t come back when they leave, even for just an evening. A child often fears the dark when going to bed at night. As a teen, fear of not fitting in with peers or being laughed at is very real. Fear grips the heart of young wives at times when they begin to wonder if their husband may not love them as he used to or that their marriage might take a terrible turn. Young mothers fear having children and wonder how will they protect them, teach them correctly, or make right choices for them. Sending children to school brings a whole new set of fears. The fears only grow as those children leave the nest to seek their own futures.
God’s Providence in the First Thanksgiving
I grew up attending a Christian school which strongly emphasized Thanksgiving. As primary students, we dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians each November, celebrated in our classrooms with our own feast, learned poetry about the special event, and memorized Bible verses of thanks to God for His goodness in our lives. I’m so thankful for that heritage.
Line Upon Line
In recent years, I am sure I have visited most every doctor in the county, as well as taken most every test offered by the medical profession. Most of those tests take time. While the technicians say that I may breathe, which is kind of them, I am also told to lie perfectly still. During those times, the best way for me to occupy my mind is to quote Scripture. That keeps me from realizing my nose itches or I need to scratch my arm or - worse yet - my toe.
Practice Makes Permanent
Growing up, I constantly heard that “practice makes perfect.” One year while at teachers’ convention, I heard this revolutionary sentence:
Who, Me? A Missionary?
I’m sure you have heard the sentence, “A failure to plan is a plan to fail.” So encouraging, right? This is 2020. Has anything you planned this year played out the way you imagined? Guess what? Things are working out the way God planned. You can be a part of that.
How Sin Thwarts God’s Design for Marriage
My heart breaks for the women who tell me their stories of marriage problems, discord, and even abuse. What is most concerning to discover as their stories unfold is the obvious failure to follow God’s design for marriage. There are many reasons for this breakdown, and in all reality, problems in a marriage are rarely one-sided. In counseling, I focus on the responsibilities of a wife and the changes that she can make on her part to correct the situation.
Autumn of the Soul
My husband is hunting in the beautiful mountains of Colorado this fall…while I am stuck sweltering in the still-summer heat of Arizona. The only way to recognize that it’s fall here is to keep scrolling through my Facebook feed, looking at all of my friends’ gorgeous fall pictures. You know the ones they take - apple picking, pumpkin carving, leaf gazing, marshmallow roasting, jeans and sweaters and cute boots wearing. I hate flip flops.
Write Bible
It all started in September 2016, when I shared an article on Facebook about beautiful examples of penmanship! My friend Stephanie commented on the post that she writes down the Bible. What a great idea, I thought! Aiming for at least one chapter a day, I began writing down the Bible in my own handwriting.
Change: Why, Lord?
This is the fourth and final week of our study on change. How should we respond to it? How does God use it in our lives? How can we be sure the changes we are experiencing are coming from God? And today, we will look at that familiar question that nearly all hearts cry when something difficult, unexpected, or shocking comes into their lives: Why?
Destination: Known!
When I was a teenager, we once took a teen activity to a “Destination Unknown.” Our parents were told ahead of time where we were heading, but none of us knew until our van pulled up . . . to a cemetery! Although it was a most unusual location for a teen activity, our youth pastor took it as an opportunity to teach us to “number our days” and consider the importance of investing our short lives into doing God’s will.
Change: How do I Know this is from God?
I recently asked my Facebook friends to share their most life-changing experiences. Out of 21 answers, all but two at least referenced their salvation. Many described how they were on a path of destruction, a downward spiral, when Christ rescued them.
Righteous and Kind
The Lord is righteous in all his works and kind in all his deeds. Psalm 145:17