Christian Author and Speaker
Kathi, I’ve chosen you – I’ve adopted you through Jesus. I’ve redeemed and forgiven you with the riches of My grace. I’ve enlightened your heart so that you might know the hope I give you, and the riches of my inheritance, and my incomparably great power. It’s for those of you who believe.
He has chosen you, too! Click here to learn more about becoming a believer.
Father, thank you for choosing me. 
Ephesians 1
It’s been three years since both of my parents passed. They were old; they had health problems; but those details did not lessen my loss. After their passings, I looked back upon their last minutes, their last days, and their last years. I saw the fulfillment of God’s word to both my Daddy and my Mama:
“I will be your God throughout your lifetime until your hair is white with age,” He said. “I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” (ESV)
And I’m so thankful He did – care for them, carry them, and save them.
As I think about those last years of their lives, I wish I had been a bit more patient with them, a bit more loving to them, and a bit more compassionate for them. In other words, a bit more like the Father.
If you still have your parents or grandparents, how will you carry them along until their “hair is white with age”?
Loving Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness to me, even through my old age. Help me to be faithful to my parents and my grandparents through their old age.
Isaiah 46:4
Psalm 71:17,18
1 Timothy 5:8
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Consider the paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4: 25-27
We, Michiganders, believe that nothing is more beautiful than Michigan in autumn. We relish its jumble of colors; we inhale the spices of its drying leaves; we crave its briskness on our faces. And, if possible, we abide in it – every possible moment of every possible day – captivated by its presence, knowing that we possess it only a short time.
~~ ~~ ~~Living on a country lot of twenty-some acres, I walk autumn, and I run it, and I occupy it as much as I can in its short season.
Along the way, however, autumn’s striking colors and its fallen leaves camouflage some perils. Dangers often hide below its stunning surface.
For instance, I’ve learned to tread carefully as I walk and jog the lanes throughout our beautiful acreage. Autumn’s veil of color conceals ruts and roots along those trails, and those destructive obstacles are just waiting to trip me and make me fall.
It reminds me of the paths of life that I take, of the times I stumble, of the times I fall, but of the faithfulness of my God, as He lifts me up, brushes me off, and holds me up, once again facing the right direction. It’s only through His Word that I know my way. He tells me to look straight ahead, to fix my gaze directly before me. He tells me to consider the paths that I take and to take only those that are firm.
So I let Him direct me, through His Word, toward His light at the end of my pathway, and I delight in the beauty of the season He’s leading me through right now.
Further reading: Proverbs 3: 21-26 
I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)
We were busy that summer, several years ago – so busy that my husband, Ron, didn’t have the time or the opportunity to cut down the dead little cherry tree and chop it into a small pile of firewood for the coming winter.
Not a single leaf had developed on the tree that spring. No blossoms in late spring. No cherries in the summer. The branches were withered and barren. The once beautiful and bountiful domestic cherry tree was lifeless. It must have been the hard winter, we each thought, and we spoke about it occasionally throughout that busy summer. After all, cherry trees have a life span of about 20 years. This tree is already nearly 30 years old.
As winter neared, Ron began cutting wood, but he had his eye on bigger trees, providing mega piles of wood, so he still neglected cutting down the dead little cherry tree in the northeast corner of the yard.
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Winter came. The house was heated from maple, ash, and walnut – not from the wood of the dead little cherry tree. As spring neared, we talked about getting rid of that dead little cherry tree before we got busy on other spring projects.
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Finally spring arrived. As usual, we marveled in the delight of new life outdoors. We started the yard work. When we went to the northeast corner of the yard and saw the little cherry tree, we were in awe! It was no longer dead!
The little tree had budded with leaves.
Shortly thereafter, it burst forth in blossoms. 
Then those blossoms turned into cherries, and the tree flourished again!
We had given up on the tree, but it still had life!
New life!
Full life!
You see, Ron and I don’t know much about cherry trees. We had merely looked at it from the outside, unaware of all it had to offer us – unaware of its potential.
Since its dead summer several years ago, that cherry tree has repeatedly produced fruit. In fact, its harvest was so great this summer that the weight of the cherries split a limb off the tree.
– further evidence that Ron and I don’t know much about cherry trees.
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It should have been trimmed and pruned. It needed care. We had neglected it.
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The way we cared for that cherry tree is SO unlike the way our Heavenly Father cares for us!
He takes what others perceive as dead – and He brings new life!
He offers full, abundant life to us.
When we open His Word, we find it.
We bud.
We bloom.
We flourish.
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That beautiful, bountiful, broken cherry tree
and the awesome, stirring Word of God
speak to me.
I look at myself.
I look at others.
And in place of dead, withered, and barren, I begin to see life.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
Zephaniah 3:17
Simple sounds have turned to cacophony.
Music has turned to dissonance.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
As much as she tries to rid herself of the bondage, the grief remains.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
Waves are crashing.
She can’t hold her head above water.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
She feels stifled. She can’t breathe.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
She sees nothing but pain ahead – pain and disappointment.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
She can’t take another day.
She is confused, frustrated, angry, overwhelmed.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
She wants to give up the fight.
It’s not worth it any more.
” . . . The Lord your God . . . will quiet you with his love.”
Matthew 11:28, 29; Zephaniah 3:17
Just say a prayer, something like this: “Lord Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner, and I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. I believe that you rose from the grave. You are my savior!”
Please read Romans 10:8-13
No matter how steep the mountain–the Lord is going to climb it with you. –Helen Steiner Rice
“Lay Down Your Burden; I Will Carry You” Sung by Amy Grant
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4
God used so many people to comfort me – close friends, family, acquaintances, neighbors, high school friends. God comforted me so that I can comfort others. I hope to. Comfort others.
My friend is hurting. Her mother passed away. Her mother was her best friend. My friend is an only child. Mother and daughter were as close as seems possible. I wrote her a note of sympathy. In that note, I called her relationship a blessing and a curse. A blessing because of the many wonderful years of memories. A curse because it makes the grief and pain of that loss so much greater.
I used that rhetorical phrase because I have experienced both the blessing and the curse.
The blessing of being so close to my parents, both my mother and my father – the blessing of living close to them, our children back and forth between our homes, often worshipping, working, and vacationing together. The blessing of long life – many years to love and enjoy them – many years of experiencing their love for me.
The curse doesn’t come until the end of the long, blessed life. The curse comes when the suffering begins, and you suffer with the parent, for the parent. The curse comes when he/she passes away and the pain and grief seem unbearable.
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Everyone doesn’t know the curse. I once spoke with a woman whose father had passed away. She said she hadn’t shed a tear! I sat, dumbfounded, listening to her. I didn’t judge her. I was happy for her that she hadn’t suffered grief – that she hadn’t suffered the curse, but sad for her that she hadn’t experienced the blessing!
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The great hope for the believer is that the curse eventually dies. Because God IS the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, the curse dies, but the blessing remains. And the blessing grows and develops, like a beautiful summer flower, with the expectation and hope of eternal life.
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The blessing of eternal life – forever to love and enjoy them – forever of experiencing their love for me.
My friend, I write this for you, today. May you find comfort in the arms of the Father of compassion.
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“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Jesus. (Matthew 25:40)
Further Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
More to come on what I must now do.
(Be sure to read my previous post, “God Is Using You.”)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
2 Corinthians 4:7
Just imagine it! Imagine those clay jars, which have been placed around you, on the shelf, on the floor, on the table–placed there–for us–for you and for me! They’re free. And they’re filled with treasures.
I pick up one jar. It’s heavy. I’m hesitant. I’ve heard that the treasures are magnificent, but I’m still hesitant. I lift it and slowly begin to pour the content out! I pour it only on my feet. I’m hurting–it heals me. I’m grieving–it consoles me.
I become a bit more trusting, so I begin to pour it on my legs and arms.
I’m praising–it enables me.
I’m homesick–it comforts me.
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The clay jar is still filled to the brim! But it’s not as heavy now! I lift it up, over my head. I pour it out.
I’m famished–it fills me.
I’m thankful –it blesses me.
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I don’t want it to end. I’m anxious–it fills me with peace. I’m suffering–it fills me with hope. The content–the treasure–saturates me!
And it never ends.
It never runs out.
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Today, pick up that jar of clay–pour out the treasure–saturate yourself with it–let it fill your mouth and penetrate your heart:
“. . . that is, the word of faith (I) am proclaiming”
Read about it in Romans 10:9-13.
Thanksgiving! Turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie! Sounds wonderful! Our family usually gathers around the table, and before asking the blessing, one by one, we tell what we are thankful for. But this year was different. We didn’t gather. One family went to Decker, Michigan ; one family went to Richland, Michigan; and one family was separated by . . . well, if you have been reading my posts, you already know.
So on this Thanksgiving, Ron and I didn’t feel like sitting around the table.
We are thankful that our children and their spouses love and honor God.
We are thankful for our nine grandchildren and for the two baby boys on the way.
We are thankful that God continues to be our refuge through our most difficult year ever.
We are thankful that we have hope and a future.
Further Reading: Jeremiah 29: 10-14