There are numerous stories in the Bible of people calling on God, praying not only to God the Creator and Sustainer of Life, but to many different gods. It’s human nature to cry out when we’re hurting, we need help or are desperate. God knows this. He also knows that when everything’s going well, it is our tendency to ignore him. He warned against it in Deut 8:11: “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobe

There are many cities listed in the Bible. Jonah 4:11 cites population of more than 120,000 in Nineveh. City of Babylon reached a population of 200,000. Philippi:10,000-15,000. Thessalonica: around 200,000. Ephesus: 200,000-300,000. Rome: approximately 1 million. It’s easy to think of small villages when we read of Jesus and the disciples. However, historians report a Jerusalem population of 25,000-50,000 residents when the early church was born. “The whole city ce

Have you ever thought about stewarding your neighborhood? There is a man mows the grass along the roadside each year. It’s not his job, it’s what he likes to do, to see the areas along the road cared for. If you walk the streets in our neighborhood, what some might call a country subdivision, we have about 2.5 miles of road. It’s not a gated community, where there are rules about front yards. Some houses are far off the street. The area along the streets can sometimes be the

When I was growing up, community meant the neighborhood you lived in. Your life was limited to those who lived around you: friends, schools and work within bicycle or bus range. It was before federal school busing when kids went to school in their own neighborhoods. That was community defined as a “body of people having common organization or interests or living in the same place under the same rules.” Things have changed. The world was smaller then, not like today where co

You may have never thought about stewarding your dream life, but encourage you to keep a pad, pen and nightlight at your bedside. Jot down a little of your dream. You can fill in the rest later. Sometimes you can go back to sleep and finish the dream. There can be many reasons for dreams, many types of dreams. Troublesome worries, unfinished business of the day, indigestion, lack of health and unknown issues, pregnancy or change of hormones, poor ventilation in the ro

This is the last of five evaluations related to time. One of the first things new parents will hear about related to care for their baby is the value of a bedtime routine. The National Institute of Health describes benefits of a bedtime routine in young children along with studies published in Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics confirming that “children who follow a consistent bedtime routine and fell asleep at the same time each night displayed better contro

By this time in our 21 days of 20/20 vision, we’ve covered nearly every aspect of life. We’ve considered our work hours, travel time, household responsibilities, personal care, thoughts and words. Looking at our free time choices seems an invasion of privacy. That is why these are questions only you can answer. “What free time?” most adults that I know would ask, especially those who are parenting. Parenting does not have time boundaries. Hobbies can develop into work. S

2/14/26 6am We should have burned it years ago, when it was just a pile of rusted springsm and burned out tree limbs. “It’s too close to the house.“ We don’t have a hose.” “It’s too far from the water spigot” “This is No Burning season.” “We didn’t get a permit.” All excuses to burn the pile. Then the building project started. “Pile it over there?” yelled the boy laden with scrap pieces, trudging toward the pile. And so, the pile accumulated oddball shapes and sizes

The idea of a lunch break tends to bring the vision of people standing around a water cooler or sitting with lunch bags at an office kitchen socializing. Temptations like office romances and gossip come to mind. There is much spoken about food and meals in the Bible, including two lunch breaks with more than 4 thousand men and their families being fed. Food is mentioned many times, often as a sign of God’s provision, comfort, and health. The children of Israel had many very

Many people spend hours a day driving back and forth to work or transporting others to activities. Time in the car can be an opportunity to develop godly character. The fast pace of our lives, especially on the roads, requires concentration, alertness, purpose, and courage! “ So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming. ” Matt 24:42 In the past, I may have suggested car time t

Time: “A daily treasure which attracts many robbers.”* “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Eph 5:16KJV Time is the only thing we all have equally in common: 24 hours in one day. If you’ve been following along, you may remember that on Day One we looked at how many awake hours we each need. This week let’s take a deeper dive. Look back over one routine week of your life . You cannot change the past, but you can change your perspective on it. Looking b

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” 1 Chron29:11NLT Money is a necessary commodity in this world. For most people, it is the bargaining tool that lets us buy and sell, do business. The use of our money boils down to two things: how we get money and how we spend it. There are many verses reg

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Gen 1:27,28 NLT God has planned family relationships from the beginning of time. His desire to give life and purpose to Adam and Eve and to walk with Adam and Eve

“God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Gen 1:28NLT Today we will ask God to help us see our home from his perspective. We want to be good stewards of our home and possessions. A steward is defined as a steward as “a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of ano

“God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ” Gen 1:27NLT In Genesis chapter 6 we read that God gave specific instructions to Noah about how to build an ark which would allow 8 people and every kind of animal and bird survive a one-year flood. Later, in Exodus 25, Moses receives specific instructions for God’s sanctuary, the size and style of wood for the ark, the coverings of paint. We read in Exo

"Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my child ren have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.” Job1:4,5 NLT Job was a person who made and l

The Daycare director and I were on our way to lunch,. I had just shared that I would be leaving work in hospital administration to stay home with our four-year-old and our soon-to-be-born second child. As we pulled open the double doors to the cafeteria, she looked at me with amazement and said, “Why would you ever do that? You’re going to lose all your critical thinking skills and brain capacity.” Being new in faith, I didn’t know how to explain that I had just read

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Ps27:4NIV As a childbirth educator, it didn’t take long for me to see what happens the minute you speak to someone about changing their eating habits: Resistance! Denial! Lies! Actual eyes-glaring hatred! No one likes to have food restrictions imposed by someone else. In my early practic

I remember with bitter fondness the first time I realized what Psalm 141:13 was saying. I pictured one of those little G.I.Joe toy figures with a gun, sitting right alongside my mouth and pointed at the words as they came out of my lips, a silly picture. It was combined with the thought: only two things can come out of my mouth, either blessings (things that encourage people) or cursings (words that tear people down, whether consciously or unconsciously). From that time on,