I am without doubt that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior on a cold, rainy evening in the fall sometime in my junior year of high school in 1979. I am also very aware of the decades that followed and the lack of ANY type of fruit that would have been evidence of a saving knowledge of Christ. This is not meant to be a list of excuses. I’m able to look back over decades and see God’s protection over me. (And if anyone needed to be protected, it was me - and mostly from myself). I’ll save you a lengthy paragraph, and just sum it up by saying my life was evidence of a lack of any kind of discipleship whatsoever. And, we’ll leave it at that. But when people committed to invest in discipling others divinely crossed paths with my sons and I, everything changed. ... View Post
Stop, Turn Around, Remember
Every now and then God allows me to just stop. Today, I stopped. I stood outside with someone I had known only for five minutes, enjoyed the fresh air of what I hope was our first day of spring, and I recalled the story of how my sons came to accept Christ. Amazing. On the same day. At the same time. That, my friends, is a miracle. Maybe more often than every now and then, I need to just stop. Turn around. Remember. Looking into the future can be so scary. It’s scary for me right now. I actually spoke that out loud today on a very long drive when we saw a road sign that read, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” Looking forward, my future has never looked so unsure. I am a little bit scared sometimes. But getting to share what God ... View Post
My Last 15
I remember the very first time I realized how much of an influence my circle of friends was, how quickly I found myself talking just like them, acting like them, even picking up some of the same mannerisms. Don't get me wrong - many of these things were good to pick up. But, many of them - maybe not so much. I even remember picking up a bit of a southern accent when I lived in the south. I'd always wished that would stick with me, but nope - I have my Michigan, like-no-other talk back. (It's NOT an accent, okay?) And that's okay with me ;) Last night I heard one of my all-time favorite preachers say that you can glance back at the last 15 text messages in your phone to get an idea of who will influence you going forward just this year. So I did what every other person ... View Post
Luther & Diane
My car has been in the shop for two days now. It's freezing cold outside, and although I'm native to Michigan, I have tropical bones and blood, so I'm shamefully going to admit to you that aside from going up and down the stairs, or back and forth to the dumpster, there has not been much exercise. I've rather spent the past two days reading, writing, ironing, & cleaning closets. And on one of my closet shelves with books from one end to the other, I was able only to move a couple of them to my "bathtub reading" shelf. Not one of them made it into a "donation" pile. Not one. I. Love. Books. "Seasons of the Heart" caught my attention, and I opened the cover. "X-Mas 95, From Luther & Diane" was handwritten beautifully on the first blank page. The book is in perfect ... View Post
Shelly’s “Lazy” Cinnamon Bubble Ring
INGREDIENTS (of "original" recipe from Shelly's Aunt) - 4 cans of biscuits cut in 1/4 and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. INGREDIENTS (of Shelly's "Lazy" version) - Cinnamon rolls cut in 1/2 and placed in Bundt pan. FROSTING DIRECTIONS: With either version - you also need 1 stick of butter with brown sugar melted over the stove with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. DIRECTIONS: Bake either the biscuits or the cinnamon rolls for 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Turn over onto a platter and spread frosting over the top. We enjoyed this deliciousness on Easter Sunday after a late night of egg coloring! A little history on my friendship of 30 years with Shelly: I was active duty Army and worked as the administrator for the 341st Military Police Company in San Jose, California in ... View Post
I Wish You Could See Your Nurse!
Often lately I go to a local restaurant in the mornings to have coffee with whatever book I'm enjoying. The waitress knows I like the corner booth - the one tucked behind a tall plant where I can remain unseen for an hour. I like to read, and I like it quiet - but not too, too quiet.... Just enough noise to enjoy being among people, and that corner booth is just right. During my most recent visit to this local neighborhood diner, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation from a table close by. A woman had visited her friend in a nearby hospital. Apparently, that hospital is the worse one in town. She spent the better part of two of my chapters hammering the place for what I have no idea were legitimate complaints and concerns or not, but I did wonder if she had anything ... View Post
Grace & Pizza
Grace. Several months ago someone asked me to define it. I gave my short answer of "getting eternal life that I don't deserve, instead of eternity in hell, which I do deserve," but our conversation did not last very long, so I've spent the last few months pondering grace - not because I don't know what it is, but because I've been trying to be conscious of it when I receive it (or not), and extend it (or not). This, I know for sure - It is by grace alone (not because of ANYTHING that I did, or even could do) that I am saved. It is by faith alone (that faith, being a gift from God, and again, NOTHING that I obtained on my own). And my faith is in Christ alone (not in an institution, not in a human, not in anyone other than in Christ). I've even enjoyed asking a few of the ... View Post
Baby dolls, Girlfriends, & Hubbies
Yesterday I attended the bridal shower for a young lady whose whole family I love. It was a sweet day, as I sat with people I'd never met at a table with several little girls, one of whom was quite chatty, and sat across the table from me. That bubbly little girl told me all about her best friend, Arthur. She told she wanted to be a Mommy when she grows up, and that she knew she needed to marry someone, but she wasn't sure who she wanted to marry. "I'll have to wait and see," she said. So I asked her, "Just what kind of boy do you want to marry?" Ready for her answer? "The kind that will stay at home and watch the crabby babies so that I can go to parties like this with my friends." She then told me that she left her little baby doll at home with HER daddy, because he was ... View Post