“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’
Category Archives: Devotional
Prodigal or The Other Brother?
Celebrating Life!
Sometimes it’s difficult for me to notice the brand new life in things around me. I forget look at my life with fresh eyes each day. These are ongoing challenges of mine … looking for the fresh, new and positive in daily life as well as the people and things around me.
I am reminded of a popular verse; Lamentations 3:21-23
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Isn’t it amazing how such a refreshing and uplifting verse comes from a book named “Lamentations”?
Longing for Quiet
Have you ever had a day where everything seems particularly loud? The kids’ voices, radio, washing machine, dishwasher and television all seem to about ten decibels louder than any other day?!
I think as a mom we’re simply going to encounter days like that sometimes. But, I almost think the bigger question is…how do I react to everyone around me on a day like that?
Ouch! I don’t know that I want to honestly answer that question, because the answer may not be nearly as pleasant as I wish it was!
So often I feel like I have to be perfect, but I really never react the way I wish I had looking back.
A Dash of Salt
Until six months ago, I had something in common with more than 4 million teenagers. Nope, there are no Justin Timberlake or Taylor Swift ditties in my iPOD, in fact I don’t even own an iPOD. Nothing in my closet bears an Abercrombie & Fitch label, and if I say something is “off the bone†I’m probably referring to a breast of chicken, not a party. So what could this über quirky mommy of two possibly have had in common with a fifteen-year-old? It was all in my grin. My tin-grin. I wore braces as an adult.
When someone with small teeth and sensitive gums dons the latest in orthodontic fashions she’s likely to encounter a few canker sores or other mouthy maladies.
Immediately a rooster crowed.
Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
As I sat at my radio console at work, in walked one of our community service officers. Working for the police department has its perks, joking and laughing with one another is one of them. The woman began to peruse the discarded newspaper until she found what she was looking for, the horoscope section.
Waiting on God
I would venture to guess not many of us like to wait for anything. Most of us don’t like waiting in line at Wal-Mart, waiting at the doctor’s office, and we certainly don’t like waiting on God.
I’ve done my share of waiting this past week – on doctors and on God. My son has been in the hospital for testing to determine if he is a candidate for epilepsy brain surgery. The testing required that he have a seizure while hooked to an EEG machine.
We waited all week for him to have a seizure. We prayed for him to have one.
Looking for Wisdom? Just Ask…
Several years ago, when I was pregnant with our daughter, my husband and I started looking at new homes. We loved our house and neighbors, but with a baby on the way, we felt like we needed a home with a bigger backyard and a little more privacy. After looking for a while, we found a home we thought was perfect…it was on a court, with a swimming pool in the backyard, and plenty of room.
But there was one catch.
If we bought the house, and I quit my job to stay home with our daughter when she was born, things would be tight financially.
Onward Christian Soldier
I’ve been fighting a war for years…and losing. Though there has been no bloodshed and death, the war is real and damaging, mostly to myself but also to those I care about most. Some days the battles are fierce and endless and I bow my head in defeat. Other days I withstand the enemy and claim victory, knowing that tomorrow will be another day and another battle.
It’s a battle I’m sure you fight. The battle of the flesh.
Over the years I’ve seen my flesh grow weaker and undisciplined…
“Just 30 more minutes in bed. The kids can make their own breakfast.