“How can I make time for reading the Bible? I don’t even have time to shower some days!” you might protest. And yet it’s actually a stress-reliever. Here’s how.
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Sometimes, just like we can’t get past our embarrassment about lagging grades, we can’t get past the stains of our past. Sins can feel like a bad report card grade, can’t they? Like they’re on your permanent record, blazing bright for all the world to see, like a scarlet letter or a stamp that says “no good,” “worthless,” “shame on you.”
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Today will be my first Thanksgiving without two important people in my life. With all the focus on family gatherings, their loss hits hard this time of year.
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What had started out a joy-filled Christmas shoebox project had become a chore… until the spirit of love and generosity began to flow through me once again.
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Sometimes I like to think of heaven and earth as one giant game of Red Rover, with Jesus calling our name so we can run over and join “Team God.”
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We found him in the backyard of our house when we were doing a final yard cleanup before our move—a huge brownish-black turtle burrowed deep in the overgrown grass where my box garden had once been, dehydrated and desperate. A reflection on thirsty turtles and living water…
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I know I’m not alone. My sister feels it. So do countless female friends—that constant strain of being a mom, a wife, a working professional, a child of God. That pressure to keep all the balls in the air even as we simultaneously learn to juggle. But… perhaps we’re exhausted because deep down we think we should be steering the wheel, not God. (Ouch.)
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If I’m sick, the rest of my family will steer clear and let me sleep, but not my cat. She’ll sit on my pillow and gently knead my head, purring loudly as though she alone can drive the illness away. My cat even looks at me differently when I’m sick, like she sees right through me and straight to the illness beneath my skin, like she’s some fierce guardian angel there to battle on my behalf with The Evil Flu or The Dreaded Sinus Infection. It’s both stinking cute and incredibly comforting. The love we have for animals—and our animal friends have for us—is a beautiful thing and, I’d argue, a biblical call. Who’s to say God doesn’t want us to love our animal neighbors just as we do fellow humans?
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We called it the “Gratitude Pumpkin,” and every member of our family was given a marker and instructed to write down anything they felt especially thankful for that year: Sunshine. Hugs. My pillow. Guess what’s on my shopping list this week? You’ve got it: another gratitude pumpkin.
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