“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23: 1-6 ESV) These are verses that I have read and listened to in sermons quite often. Sometimes, however, I feel like my mind is on autopilot when I listen to them, but there is so much truth in hope in the 23rd Psalm. Continue reading “Stop Being a Crumb-Catcher”
Is It Time to Say Yes?
When someone learns that I teach piano and voice, there is an automatic assumption that I spend my days working with children. For the overwhelming majority of my students, that is true. But I have a feeling you would be just as surprised as anyone to learn that I do teach adults, too. One of the ladies I work with is hardly a beginner. She has been the pianist at her church for a couple of decades, and I’m really more a coach in keeping her skills fresh and a consultant as she plans what she will play for her church. It has become a great friendship, and often the “lesson” turns more into a conversation about the things of God and our journeys with Him. Continue reading “Is It Time to Say Yes?”
Flying Blind
Most people have heard of the saying,“Everything has a purpose.” Have you ever thought about how true that statement is? Like the little things… maybe something in your house, couldn’t sell it for a dime, but it has a purpose for you because you like it. Maybe you have a car. That has a purpose to take you places. Right? Sure, why not. Even you were created for a specific purpose. But what about those other things that make you say to yourself, “Why was this created? What reason does it have for being here?” Something like those pens you buy from the store and don’t work two days after you get them. Have you ever seen something you thought had no purpose but taught you something? Well, here’s a little lesson. Continue reading “Flying Blind “
Fear or Faith
What is it that you fear the most in life? Is it failure? Perhaps death? A terminal illness? The loss of a job? The end of a relationship? Maybe you fear being the victim of a violent crime. All of us deal with fear at times, and some of us struggle with fear all the time. In his inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt made a statement that has become famous, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Continue reading “Fear or Faith”
Are We Saying Beautiful and True Things About God in Ways That Make Him Angry?
I recently attended the Passion conference in Atlanta, which was an incredible experience. For those of you who don’t know what Passion is I will explain. Passion is this huge gathering of people 18 to 25 years old. There is a lot of awesome worship and preaching, and it’s designed to ignite my generation to change the world. I have attended three times now, and it is special each year. For this article I want to discuss an idea that was presented by John Piper in the introduction to his message. I must confess this idea made me think so much that I had to go back and re-watch the rest of his talk because I was not paying any attention. Continue reading “Are We Saying Beautiful and True Things About God in Ways That Make Him Angry?”
Who Told You?
Ever since I entered the youth group at my church, it has been my biggest dream to attend Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Every year I would hear the seniors come back from Passion with amazing stories of what God had done and how awesome the worship and speakers were, and each passing year I longed to go even more. Everyone knew how excited I was to be blessed with the opportunity to FINALLY go to Passion with the other seniors and college students because I literally wouldn’t shut up about it every day leading up to the day we set out for Atlanta. Continue reading “Who Told You?”
A Lesson Learned Off-Road
Should someone allow hobbies to become more important than family or friends? I think we all know the answer to that question; however, sometimes a hobby will turn into an obsession before you realize what happened. Please understand I am not condemning healthy recreation. I think it is necessary for mental well-being and healthy living. Allow me to take you down a road that could have consumed me.
The Call
If I’m being 100% honest, I was pretty unsure of what to do this blog about up until about thirty seconds ago. Then all of God’s signs finally clicked, and His plan for just a simple blog was made known. I think it’s cool how God works – how He can do that. He is just so able and makes it known in the simplest ways, yet it is so reassuring. Continue reading “The Call”
Trust and Obey
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”
I have some friends who have a “word of the year.” It’s a word that the Lord has impressed on them, and He seems to be teaching them all the time about that word. Everywhere they turn, they are being shown a new thing by the Lord about their word of the year. I totally get that, because for about five years, God was impressing a word onto my heart. As in, it took FIVE YEARS for the word to truly sink in. And the word is….
Winter Thoughts
As I write, it is 29 degrees and 1:00 in the afternoon, odd weather for Mississippi. It is Monday, New Year’s Day. The day started out at 17 degrees. It’s beautiful outside, though, sunny and blue skies. I’m sitting in the coveted favorite chair, an old but very comfortable recliner in front of the fireplace. This fireplace is one of the joys of winter. Continue reading “Winter Thoughts”