If I asked, "Do you think you pray enough for your kids?", my guess is you'd say no. Or maybe you'd say you don't feel very good at praying for them. Maybe your best shot is, "Thank you, Jesus, that I didn't kill them today. Again." When it comes to prayer, a little structure can be super helpful. One of my favorite ways to pray for my children, and now my grandchildren, is to pray the Scriptures over them. Here's one idea: the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. Read a chapter a day, and then choose one or more verses and personalize them as a prayer Continue Reading
How the Valley of the Shadow Points to a Hopeful New Year
On December 30th, I got the phone call. That phone call. It was my mother, letting me know my father had passed. I sank onto the couch, wind knocked out of me, seismic shift wrenching my soul. Dealing with death is a strange way to enter the New Year. No matter how elderly a loved one is, no matter how many physical challenges they have, no matter how much we realize they are close to the end… death is still a shock. My son Sam described his feelings this way: “It’s like going to a movie with lots of plot twists that never resolve, and then all of a sudden the credits are Continue Reading
How to Keep Christmas all Year (Hint: it’s not by Buying More Stuff)
You've opened all the pretty packages, you've sung all the songs, and you may or may not have eaten a little more than you should. Now you're feeling a bit of post-Christmas slump. But wait ... it doesn't have to be that way. As the infamous Ebenezer Scrooge said in Charles Dickens's classic "A Christmas Carol," “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.’’ How can we honor Christmas all year long? Not the presents and music and food; how can we Continue Reading
The One Best Thing You Could Receive This Christmas
Eighteen-month-old Aviella pushes her new doll stroller while three-year-old Reuel sets up his “Planes” smoke jumpers’ course. The adults chat over wine. It’s a nice little Christmas celebration –except we’re about to find out it’s much more than that. We’re gathered to celebrate an early Christmas with our son Sam and his new bride, since they are slated to spend Christmas with Jamé’s family. After a sumptuous meal, we make our way to the living room to exchange a few gifts. Sam searches for a music video; Danny plugs his phone into the stereo to play it. Cloverton’s Continue Reading