The word, “verily,” is an old English word, and if you grew up reading the King James version of the Bible, you will recognize it. It means, of course, “in truth,” It also carries the meaning of “certainty and confidence.” Jesus was often saying, “Verily, verily I say unto you….” In other words, this preface indicated His certain confidence of the truth of His words. One of my favorites is John 5:24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (NASB) And in John…

It is about this time every year that we put a deposit down on a house at the beach for our Summer family vacation. It’s months away, but in order to claim our spot we have to plan this far in advance. So, for a few days in the middle of Winter we let ourselves think about the sandy shore, the hot sun and the pounding waves, and we choose the place, set the date and send our money. That done, we put the tantalizing thoughts of our beach vacation away until early Summer when we will pick up the reins and gallop toward our annual trip to the salty…

Going to an arcade while on vacation is something I’ve enjoyed since I was a young girl. My father introduced me to pinball when I was small enough to need a stool to reach the pull that releases a ball, and I could barely reach the buttons on either side. The ones that cause the levers to come up and save the ball and keep it in play. Matter of fact, I remember he would sometimes have to pull the spring back for me because I wasn’t strong enough, and he would manage the side buttons because I wasn’t fast enough. But once that ball was loosed, and it started…

Here at the beginning of a new year, I’ve been challenged to let the Lord search my heart for what motivates me.  Why do I do what I do, say what I say, live how I live?  As a believer, it’s easy to give a superficial nod to these questions.  Almost by default, to say, “Because He called me, and I answered.”  When the reality is there are still areas in my heart where I am, at best, striving in my own strength to accomplish His will, and at worst, straining to self-preserve and self-promote. In Titus 3 Paul exhorts, “Remind them [us]….to be ready for every good work, to…

In this first Sunday of the New Year, I am finding myself strangely reluctant to let go of the one just finished. I’m not sure I’ve ever come to the end of a year and not been eager and excited for the new one to unfold. It is not so much that I am timid at approaching 2021 as it is 2020 was so full of abundant life and pivotal happenings. I find in retrospect that I have lived and experienced a surprisingly rich and greatly fulfilling year of leaning in to the Father with more and more dependence. The year began with a bit of tumult as I had…