All In A Days Grace

  “Dinner table” An elusive word that usually equates to a piece of furniture we have in our kitchen. These days many times we don’t even have that. There are high top chairs lined up to a counter. Everyone faces the same direction while eating, leaving no room for eye contact. What does it matter? In this high speed life of ours the goal is to “eat and run” right? If we’re not lined up at our counter tops for a quick “bite”, we’re on line at the local fast food place to get a quick dinner for our kids before soccer, baseball, dance…..fill in the blank. What does it matter? Its all part of life right? It’s just another day in the life of your average family. If we look at the other cars in the fast food car line we see others just like us, speeding to the “next” thing. Hebrews 12:1 says “ And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ” What is the word that stands out to us? Run. Run. Run. We get that word. It fits in with our lives. Run from one thing t...

  Did you know that the more storms a tree weathers the stronger it's root system gets and the harder it is to knock down?  Think about that for a second. The more it's pushed, pulled, weighted down by rain and high winds, the stronger it gets. The more adversity it faces the more it's roots grow deeper in the ground and anchor it. If you've also noticed when a tree is being pushed around in a storm it bends and stretches. If it were to stand rigid it would snap in half. It almost looks like a dance as it arches and moves in the strong winds. As it stretches and bends its roots hold it steady.  It's only through the roots growing deeper that the tree can withstand all of this and grow taller and stronger. And it's only through the storms that this building of strength can happen. Do you feel pushed on? Pulled on?weighted down? Is there a storm raging around you? We have so much to learn from nature.  It is in observing other living things that we can learn so mu...

  Why Pray? I’ve seen the frustrated Twitter and other social media posts aggravated with the offer of prayer. A tragedy happens and we see the internet light up with “Pray for_____" posts. Yet, among the people that see the power behind that request, are the people who say “What good is that? We have to DO something”. For the Christian, praying is supposed to be second nature.   When we can no longer stand, we fall to our knees. But where did we learn this act of faith? As always we have only to turn to scripture to see the roots of this understanding. Paul tells us clearly, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”-Philippians 4:6-7 Our prayer time brings us peace. Not just any peace, but the peace of God. If we need to follow the example of anyone we...