I think it's God's kindness to us that the first Spring flowers are yellow--daffodils, tulips, and this amazing beauty covered in blooms. No leaves yet, but splashes of brilliant yellow that sing "The sun'll come out tomorrow!"
During the month of February, we meditate and memorize the definition of love from 1 Cor. 13 (You know which ones I'm talking about--the wedding verses. Even Jim and Pam had them recited at their wedding). Our family needs refreshed in this, so it's nice to have this tradition to bring us back to it each year. We read and repeat the entire passage, but then focus on one element daily. "LOVE IS KIND" --today's focus. I asked the kids, "What does 'kind' mean?" Middle sister asked if she could give an example rather than a definition. With permission, she joyfully retrieved two stuffed animals and used them to demonstrate kindness by sharing. Brother and sister followed her lead and also acted out kind gestures between fluffy friends. "Very good," I affirmed them, "You obviously know what it is to be kind." This is where, in years past, I would have ended the lesson. We would adjourn by praying round the table, thanking ...
What'd we do before cell phones when our car broke down? Well, we had to walk, and if walking was too far, we had to approach someone for help and hope they weren't a murderer. Here's my story (spoiler alert, I wasn't murdered). ;) The summer my husband Karl and I got married, in a year that began with the number 19, we moved into a small apartment in our college town. It seemed almost like a ghost town in summertime--the roads and businesses that were usually packed were practically empty. We didn't have even one friend who had stayed in town for a summer class, but since we were high on life, that didn't matter much to us. The weekend we returned from our honeymoon, we joined a church and hopped into a newlywed group. I remember how the pastor encouraged the congregation to applaud for us, partly in congratulations of our marriage, and partly because the first decision we made as a wedded couple was to join a church. We decided to forego the "colleg...
Keith Johnson, director and organizer of the seminary classes, wrote an article about the music of the gospel. He said to imagine a young man sitting in a chair listening to his ipod play music through headphones. He taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and juts his chin with the beat of the music. Keith then had us imagine a deaf guy walking into the room, and out of curiosity, he picks up an ipod, puts on the headphones and begins performing the same actions. The deaf man taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and eventually even learns to jut his chin in synchronization. Keith asked us, “If you are an outside observer and walk into the room, what do you see? Two people apparently doing the same thing, listening to the same thing. But is there a difference? Absolutely.” Keith continued, “The first guy hears the music and his actions are a natural response…being deaf, the second guy is merely imitating. He is not listening to anything. There is an important spiritual parallel here…” M...