Author: Wendy

Children and dogs

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I was watching the morning news today and it showed a short clip of a little boy with Down’s Syndrome and a yellow labrador retriever. The story was the little boy didn’t like to be touched. He wasn’t big on physical contact. The dog would touch him with his foot and the little boy would back up. The dog gently, but diligently kept at it until the boy relented and leaned into him and gave him a hug. I’m a sucker for YouTube and I couldn’t help myself; I went and got my laptop so I could see the full video. It was one of the most innocent, beautiful pictures I have ever seen of  God’s love. I have shared a link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8VJh0UJtg

The first thing that jumped into my mind is that Jesus loves children. I have always told my own kids that children are his favorite. They are the most innocent and the most open minded. They are most likely to believe and accept faith at face value. Jesus said “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left. Matthew 19:14-15 NLT Need I say more?

The second thing that sprang to my mind is that our relationship with Jesus is a lot like this lab and this little boy. He’s gentle, but relentless in his pursuit of us. He wants a lifelong relationship and he’s not willing to take no for an answer. He can’t get enough of us. He’s wants to run and play and sit and contemplate. He wants to hold our hands and lean in for a hug. He wants to stand by us in the good times and the bad. He will be our faithful friend as well as our fearless protector and we will never encounter more loyalty in any relationship. All we have to do is ask.

This short video has had 10 million hits, 10 million. Think about that number for a minute. That’s more than the entire population of the state of Georgia. What does the viral success of this video tell us? I think it says that we are longing for more beauty in our lives. We are longing for more gentleness, patience, kindness, and faithfulness . We are longing for a happy ending. What we are longing for, is more Jesus.

Guess what? I have great news. All we have to do is open our hearts and ask and we can have all of the above for eternity. Check out the clip and then say a prayer of thanks to our heavenly father for children and dogs. They really do represent some of God’s best work.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Faithful Friends

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The text read, “Please say a prayer for me. Unspoken…I know I need a prayer warrior right now. Thank you.” That was it. I had no further details. It came from a friend of mine with a really stressful, busy job who never texts me during the day. Of course, I was in a place where I could immediately give my full attention to her request for prayer. (and no, I don’t believe for a moment that was a coincidence; I have come to believe there are no coincidences where God is involved) I found myself praying for her when I had a quiet moment all through that day. I still don’t know what her specific need was and it really doesn’t matter. She asked for prayer at that moment and I prayed for her.

That seems like an awfully simple way to help someone doesn’t it? The Bible has a fabulous story about how Jesus recognizes and rewards the faith of friends. In Mark 2:2-5, Jesus is talking to a group of people which as was most often the case when he was speaking, had turned into a huge crowd. The house was literally packed and no other people could get inside. There were four men carrying a fifth man on a mat who was paralyzed. They had brought him to see Jesus because they believed he could heal him. The room was so packed that they dug a hole in the roof and lowered him through it. These guys were determined to see Jesus that day no matter what.

Try picturing this scene, wall to wall people, the son of God is speaking. There is a whole menagerie of humanity there from everyday town folk to teachers of religious law, likely ranging from the most educated to the least. All of a sudden, a hole is cut in the roof above where Jesus is standing and man is lowered through it who can’t walk. I picture Jesus stopping and looking up and silence following as they lower this man to the floor. The text says they lowered the mat right in front of Jesus. What does Jesus say? Is he shocked? Is he outraged at being interrupted ? Nope. The scripture says, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child your sins are forgiven.” Further down in verse 11, he says, “Stand up, pick up your mat and go home.”  The man does exactly that.

Jesus performed many miracles while he was on earth. I think he healed people because he loved people, all people. But, what makes this particular miracle unique, is he saw the faith of the man’s friends and rewarded him because of their faith. The story tells us nothing about the paralyzed man’s faith. This is really comforting when I think about the times I have asked for prayer from friends. I got another text last week from another friend who I asked to pray for me. It simply said, “I hope spirit week is going okay, prayers for my sweet CC and her momma too. Hugs.” I shared on Monday’s blog how I felt God’s hand all over me last weekend. Was it perhaps due to the prayers of a friend in addition to my own?

I will probably not get the answer to that one this side of heaven and that’s okay. But, I’m really starting to see the value of these prayer texts. Whether they are asking for prayer from me or letting me know they are praying for me, they allow me to feel closer to Jesus and we know from the friends story in the Gospel of  Mark that Jesus clearly values the faith of friends. I’m going to try to be more diligent about letting friends know I am praying for them. Text seems the perfect way to do it. Using technology for Jesus is just one more way to throw a pebble and watch the waves.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

All Things are Possible with God

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Faith, the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.
Faith, the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.

I am currently reading through Genesis with a friend of mine. We touch base every few days through e-mail and share our thoughts and questions. We both were being nudged into some kind of Bible study and had been unable to find one that worked with our schedules. We just decided to make it happen. As two busy moms, our system is working out beautifully.

I was reading through the Abraham and Sarah story when a verse jumped out at me. Abraham was visited by three strangers. There is much debate on who they actually were. Some Bible versions say at least two were angels. The NIV says one may have been the Lord. Abraham refers to one as the Lord. They have come to visit Abraham and tell him his wife who is 90 years old, will have a child. Sarah doesn’t believe it and actually laughs. Here’s the verse: “Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:14  Sarah does in fact, have a son. I remembered reading a very similar verse in the New Testament.

The second scripture that I was reminded of is also a birth story. A young unmarried girl named Mary, is visited by the angel Gabriel and told she will have a son. When she asks how that can be possible, the angel replies : “For nothing is impossible with God.” Matthew 19:26  Of course, this came true when Mary gave birth to Jesus just as the angel said.

Then in Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Jesus himself is telling us all things are possible with God.

Let’s think about this for a minute. We have an Old Testament verse and two Gospel verses. The words come from the Lord, an angel and Jesus. They are: nothing is impossible for God and all things are possible with God. Read that sentence again. As Christians, knowing that, we should be able to strike out into the world and do all we are called to do, no worries or anxiety whatsoever, right?

It’s not quite that simple. Our human side seems to always struggle with our spiritual side. Whether we are called to do something really big like go out in the missionary field or start a church or something smaller like attend church every Sunday, read the Bible everyday, start a Bible study or start a blog, we have a million excuses why we can’t. We don’t have enough time or enough money or enough knowledge or enough patience or enough…. (You fill in the blank here) We tell ourselves it’s just not possible right now.

But and here’s the big but, “All things are possible with God.” I think the biggest reason we don’t do what we are called to do is fear, fear that we will look silly, fear that we will fail, fear that we may have to be uncomfortable or just un-named fear. I think that’s okay. I think God totally understands our inability to grasp His complex plan for this thing we call life. I think He understands and He loves us anyway. Mary asked how Gabriel’s message could be possible. Sarah laughed when she heard she would have a baby. Did God strike them down for questioning? No, He reassured them and followed through on His promises.

What have you been called to do today or lately? Have you been feeling some kind of nudge to “do something” you don’t normally do? If so, say a prayer and go forth remembering, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Watching for God

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It was a crazy, exciting, anxiety filled weekend at my house. My 14 year old freshman was preparing to attend her first homecoming dance along with 14 (or so, depending on the day), of her friends. These girls didn’t have dates, but decided to go together as a large group. There were other groups who went as friends as well. I find this to be a really cool trend among these kids; back when I was in high school, if you didn’t have a date, you didn’t get to go. Sometimes traditions change for the better.

We bought her dress over a month prior to the big event and had shoes and alterations done well in advance. Still, my daughter was very anxious. Would anyone ask her to dance? Was her dress as pretty as everyone else’s? How would she do her hair and make-up? While these are normal teenage anxieties, I found myself overwhelmed with my own. Would all of these girls be kind to one another (teenage girls sometimes aren’t). Would we have enough cars to drive all of these girls to the places they needed to go? Would the restaurant be able to handle such a large reservation on a UGA game day? There ended up being twenty kids.

I took a walk and prayed for God’s hand to be on the evening ahead. I prayed that he would touch all of the girls’ hearts and help them to be kind to others and each other. I prayed that he would give them courage to stand up for what is right. I prayed for everyone’s safety and I prayed that they would have a night filled with fun.

The evening went off without a hitch. The girls all got ready at one house and we heard lots of laughter from upstairs. Then we caravaned to a little farm with a pond and got some beautiful pictures, some of the entire group and some individuals and some in smaller groups.  After that, three of us drove to a restaurant where they had dinner reservations and no, the reservation was not a problem. When I arrived at the restaurant, I realized I left my purse at the house where the girls got dressed. I prayed I wouldn’t get stopped by the police. I didn’t mind a ticket at this point, but I was on a mission to get these girls safely to the dance. The girls finished dinner and we were on our way.

We arrived without incident and I felt a little sigh of relief. I dropped them all out and told them I would return in a couple of hours and take them to another girl’s house so they could have a bonfire and spend the night. I retrieved my purse, went home for a little while and returned to the high school. The girls all came out laughing and with great stories. They had a blast. There had been an incident earlier in the evening with inappropriate dancing and quite a few kids left in protest to the administrations’ rules, but these girls stayed together and made some fun memories. I drove them on the last leg of our evening’s journey and helped them unpack their things. I bid them all goodnight, hugged my daughter and headed home.

It was 11:30 when I got home and I was exhausted. I slept in on Sunday and a friend brought her home. She had a great evening. They stayed up late watching movies and talking. She had great memories of her first dance. I was so thankful. I prayed little prayers of thanks all day long for God’s loving hand on the situation. My husband and I, went out later that afternoon to get groceries. We smelled coolant coming from the engine. We turned around and went home to check it out. The van was leaking coolant and was low on oil; it may have an oil leak too.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck and my eyes filled with tears as I thanked God once again for his hand on the events of the evening before. I had driven a van full of girls all over town, in traffic, then late at night. I drove home alone after the final drop off and not once did I have any indication that there was anything going on with my car. If the car would have stalled on the way to the dance, those girls would have been heartbroken, but it didn’t. I had prayed for God’s favor on the evening for the girls almost non-stop and he delivered as he so often does, in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

I won’t know until sometime tomorrow what kind of repairs my van will require, but I will never forget the gratitude that I felt at the very moment I realized that so often when I pray blessings for someone else, God answers with blessings on me. I am just so thrilled that I had my eyes open wide enough to see it.  I could have missed it being upset about the repairs that we will have to pay for, but not this time. This time I saw the blessing because this time I was really looking. How about you? Do you look for the blessings in every situation? How do you watch for God?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Beautiful Power of Friendship

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Pansies add a lot of winter color even though they are only around for a season.
Pansies add a lot of winter color even though they are only around for a season.

I believe that friendship is truly a gift from God and all friendships are beautiful in their own unique way. Even those that only bloom for a season can add fabulous color and beauty to our lives in the moment. Even Jesus, surrounded himself with friends. He really liked being around people and although he had many friends, he had a few besties too. Peter, John and James were the only three who got to witness the transfiguration.

I was recently reading the Daniel story. Remember him from Sunday school? You know, the lion’s den guy? He also had three friends, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego. They were the guys who were thrown into the fiery furnace. There was a crazy king who had a bad dream and not only did he want the dream interpreted, he wanted someone to tell him what his dream was as well. Of course, no one could do this, so he was going to have all of the astrologers, magicians and wise men in his kingdom killed. This also included Daniel and friends. Daniel, first asked the king for a little time and then he asked his three friends to pray that God would reveal the answer to him. They prayed and guess what happened? God answered them and revealed the truth to Daniel. The king was happy and told Daniel he could leave the palace and rule over all of Babylon. Did Daniel take the offer? Nope. He asked the king to put his three friends in charge and he remained in the palace. Daniel put his friends before himself. This is also a fantastic example of how asking friends to pray for us works.

In a later story in the Book of Daniel,  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are told if they don’t bow down to a golden statue, they will be thrown into a fiery furnace. They all stood together and refused. How do you think the story would have ended if one of them caved? They all stood together. There’s great power in friends who will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the face of adversity. There are probably few things here on earth that are more powerful. They all got thrown into the furnace, but survived without a hair singed on their heads. The scripture says their clothes didn’t even smell like smoke. Keep in mind, the fire was so hot, that the officials who threw them were burned up.

The fabulous thing about friendship is that it can be beautiful and unbelievably powerful and strong at the same time. There are many examples of friendship throughout the Bible. It is definitely a gift from God and something to be treasured no matter how long it may last. Today, I’m going to say a special thanks for the many blessings of friendship I have been given. Will you join me?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Being Thankful

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Today is cleaning day at my house. Good times! Believe it or not, I have some of my best conversations with God when I’m doing household chores. Weird right? A few years ago, when I was scrubbing the toilet, (one of my least favorite jobs), it struck me that I really should be thankful that I had a toilet to clean. Not everyone has toilets or even running water.

The World Health Organization reports that 1.1 billion people have inadequate access to water, (ie: no toilets, showers, sinks, not to mention modern luxuries like washing machines and dishwashers). That’s a lot of people. It kind of makes me want to hang my head for complaining about cleaning a toilet. If these people don’t have water, you know they don’t have electricity. I remind myself of this fact when I’m vacuuming or ironing.

Most of us take our modern conveniences and luxuries for granted and to be fair, we really don’t know any differently, but it wasn’t that long ago that the majority of people didn’t have dishwashers and washing machines not to mention coffee makers and computers. My dad remembers his family’s first light bulb and my mom (if pressed), will admit to having used an outhouse. We’ve come a really long way in a relatively short amount of time and living in western culture gives us even more luxuries. We should be a very thankful people. But are we?

Thankfulness is definitely learned. How many times have you heard a mother tell a child when they are given something, “What do you say?” I still remind my twelve year old to thank the parents of whichever friend he has spent the day with. Being thankful doesn’t seem to be a natural state for us. In the Bible, when the Israelites had seen all of those plagues and the Red Sea parted, they still complained about nothing to eat and then they complained about lack of water. Although God generously  provided these things , the scripture never says they were thankful.

Paul tells us that we should be thankful in all circumstances in Thessalonians 5:18. Does this mean I should be thankful when I’m scrubbing tubs and toilets. Yes, I think it does. I read a book recently called the 4:8 Principle, by Tommy Newberry.  The book is based on Philippians 4:8 and it was life changing for me. When you really start to list all you have to be thankful for, you find there are usually way more pluses than minuses. God is a genius with accounting. I’m glad I get to work for him.

Thankfulness is a state of mind and one we can all learn. I remind myself of this when I’m cleaning dinner dishes. If there were dinner dishes, then there was dinner. I give thanks for food to eat. Try to make a list of your many blessings. You will be surprised and the next time you have to do something unpleasant like cutting the grass, make a mental list of what you have to be thankful for like: that you have a mower, that you have a yard, that you have arms and legs to push a mower (or enough money to have bought your riding one), that we are out of drought… This is another one of those endless lists, yet another reason to be thankful because God is so generous. So let’s all say thanks and watch for all of the blessings that surround us.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Rain

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If we weather a little rain, there's often a reward.
If we weather a little rain, there’s often a reward.

My daughter came downstairs this morning sporting a new pair of ankle boots that she has been dying to wear to school. When we got ready to go, it was raining. She was disappointed, trying to decide whether to wear them or not because she was worried about ruining them. In the end, she decided to go for it. What do you know? The rain had slowed to a light mist by the time we arrived at school. I promised myself I would take a run today (okay honestly, it’s more walking than running; but running sounds cooler ) Anyway, when I got ready to go out, it was raining, but slowing. A huge part of me was thinking, “oh well, it wasn’t meant to be,” but I ignored that little voice and went anyway. And you guessed it, the rain stopped.

This rain dilemma really got me  thinking. How many opportunities do we miss out on because of a little rain. How many times do we skip church because it’s raining or too cold? How many chances to get together with friends do we miss because we are too tired? How many walks do we miss? How much beauty do we miss because we decide to stay indoors where we are safe and dry?

As I pondered this, I dug a little deeper. How many times have I said, “I would love to do a Bible study, but I don’t have time?” I also often hear someone  say things like “I don’t live in a friendly neighborhood.” I wonder, has that person, personally tried to organize a neighborhood get together? I also often hear, “I would love to participate in (you fill in the blank here), but I don’t want to organize it. Why not? Someone has to take the first step. Why not you? Why not me?

When we first moved into our neighborhood, my husband and I thought it might be fun to organize a neighborhood hay ride for Halloween. I got together with another neighbor of ours and we put a flier on every mailbox. What do you think happened? Our neighbors were thrilled. The people with young kids were happy to have a safe mode of transportation and a large group. The older neighbors were tickled to get to hand out candy to little goblins who were supervised by their parents. And the kids, well, they were eating candy til Christmas. All it took was printing some fliers and talking to some neighbors. Not all that difficult, right?

We all long for the world to be the way it used to be, where everyone knew their neighbors and we didn’t have to lock our doors at night. While we can’t go back, there’s no reason we can’t re-establish community. Your community may be your physical neighbors or people you go to church with or people you work with or people you went to high school or college with; this is another one of those endless lists.

The point is, I think we all want to be part of a community; it seems to be inborn, (remember wanting to be part of a group in middle school or high school?)  I think God designed us this way. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT , tells us “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ” It goes onto say that three are even better than two.

As adults, we have many choices on what our community will look like, but if we want to be part of a loving, caring and supportive community, we may need to be the one to take the first step, even if it’s raining or the house is a mess or we’re tired or busy. If we wait for the perfect time, we may be sitting in a nursing home. Somebody has to go first. Why not you?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Learning to Listen

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When you cast a stone, you never know how far the ripples will go.
When you cast a stone, you never know how far the ripples will go.

My church has been going through some rocky times lately. While this is not uncommon, it still can be kind of miserable when it happens at your own church. The thing about churches is that they are run by people; they are people trying to serve God, but still people. People are broken by nature. Think about what a glass looks like when it’s broken; it has sharp edges. Broken people are like that as well. Most of us have certain parts of us that are sharp and we can cut others as well as get cut ourselves. Feelings sometimes get hurt and people leave the church altogether.  Who wins then?

I was recently talking to a dear friend of mine about our church and its current troubles. She had become very frustrated and was wondering what she should do. (Just for the record, we take turns encouraging each other and that day just happened to be my turn.) We talked for a little while and then we hung up. But, this particular day, I felt like God was in my ear and was putting the idea of pruning in my head, so much so, that I had to call her back and share it with her.

When you prune a tree or a bush, it’s very ugly for a time.  Sometimes you prune way back and sometimes just a little; either way, there’s a season where it looks bare and sometimes, it looks completely dead. But, then something amazing happens. The season changes and that ugly little tree or bush will burst out in growth and bloom more beautifully than it ever did before.  Jesus tells us in John 15 that the Father is a gardener who cuts off every branch that bears no fruit and he prunes every branch that does so that it can be even more fruitful.  She thanked me for calling her back and agreed that maybe I was right.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, she sent me a text and told me how a good friend of hers was going through a really  bad divorce. The friend called her late one evening for some encouragement. She shared the pruning story. She said her friend began sobbing and told her that was exactly what she needed to hear.

When I read the text, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. God gave me a message and told me to share. I did. My friend then shared it with her friend and was able to bring her some comfort. I think this is part of  God’s plan for us while we are on this side of heaven. I think we are supposed to bring comfort when we can and show kindness and encouragement to our fellow humans.

Jesus told us that the most important commandment was to love the Lord your God with all of your soul, mind and strength and then he said the second most important was to love your neighbor as yourself. He said there was no greater commandment than these two. (Mark 12:28-30) That seems simple enough, right?

Apparently not, just turn on the news. I have to ask myself, how am I doing with loving my neighbor and I have to admit I have a ways to go, but I’m really trying to listen to God’s voice and to take my direction from Him. I probably miss way more opportunities than I take, but that particular day, I think I got it right and I’m so thankful, that my friend listened as well and was able to share a positive outcome. Sharing the love of Christ through loving your neighbor is like tossing a pebble in a lake; you never know how far out the ripples will go. Let’s all toss in a pebble and see how much of a splash we can make today.

Have an awesome day.

Wendy 🙂

Children of Light

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How can you be a light in someone's darkness?
How can you be a light in someone’s darkness?

I recently re-read the creation story. The thing that’s so cool about the Bible is that it speaks to you wherever you are in your faith walk, wherever you are in your life. When I read one of the books or stories  of the Bible and then wait a few years and read it again, it speaks to me in an entirely different way. It meets me where I am. How awesome is that? It’s like a Mona Lisa with words.

What jumped out at me this time I read it was God’s very first command. He had created the heavens and the earth and it was covered in darkness and God said, “Let there be light.” We all remember this story, but do you remember what scripture says next? He saw that the light was good. What does this tell us about the nature of God? God creates good things. He loves light; it made it to the top of the list and what He creates is inherently good.

If we skip forward to the New Testament, Paul tells us that “You are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 1 Thessalonians 5:4 NLT  Jesus, himself said, “I am the light of the world; if you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. ” John 8:12 NLT

When I Googled the word light and the Bible, my search turned up 102 verses. God seems very concerned with light verses darkness. Guess what? Light wins every time. This notion gives me great hope. Life can be pretty dark at times. Sometimes it can be pitch black, but our faith can help us overcome the darkness. Have you ever been in a completely windowless room with no light at all coming in? If you haven’t I have an experiment for you. Step in a closet or somewhere totally dark. Stay there a couple of minutes and then turn on a tiny amount of light, like a small flashlight or a led candle. It’s amazing how that little amount of light can cut through the darkness.

So as children of light, how can we combat the darkness of our world? I think we begin by lighting our own way with prayer and worship and then we share our light with others. This is the really cool part where we get to use our individual gifts that God has given each of us. Yours may be a kind word or a smile. You may be able to invite someone to dinner at your house or to church or to a Bible study. You may be called to take someone a meal. You may be called to share light through your art or on Facebook. I feel like so many of us freeze when we are asked to share the love of Christ. We cringe when we think of those folks who run around quoting scripture and  we don’t want t be labeled “one of those people.” But, we need to remember that those people are following their calling which may be entirely different than yours and that’s okay. There are so many different ways to share light; the list is possibly endless. I think God designed it that way.

You are the only one who can share light in your own wonderful, unique way. How will you share it today? Ready, set, go!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Fences

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My family has always had dogs. We love them and just can’t live without them. They make us happy. Because we have dogs, we have always had  a fence around the yard. Not only does the fence keep them in and safe from being run over by a car, it also keeps predators like coyotes out. Our fence also keeps deer from eating my hydrangeas and hostas. When you put work and money into growing something, you don’t want just anything coming along and destroying it, right?

Our current fence is a simple field fence. When we put it in, it was really plain and ugly, but over time, parts of it have been covered with honeysuckle vine that smells wonderful in the spring. Other parts have been covered with wild muscadine vine that produces very sweet, edible grapes in the fall. We didn’t plant these vines; they just grew. We can hardly see the fence itself anymore.

As I was checking out the fence the other day, it reminded me of the Bible in our lives. When we first start reading it, it can seem confining like a fence to keep us in. There are rules and things we as Christians, are not supposed to do. But if we keep reading it, we find that the rules are meant to keep us safe inside God’s plan and will for our lives and just as importantly, it keeps predators out, not just the really scary kind like coyotes, but the kind that seem gentle like deer, but still want to harm or destroy the good things we have planted. When we read the Bible regularly, the fence starts to fade and we no longer see it because it’s covered with the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Those are found in Galatians 5:22 if you want to look them up. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What would the world look like if we all produced that kind of fruit? I think it has to start with reading the Bible. If we want to be at peace, live in joy, have patience with our kids, spouse, co-workers, neighbors, if we want to learn to be faithful in all that we do, if we want to learn self-control (this includes no extra piece of cake after 9:00, otherwise known as will power!), if we want to learn to be a gentler person or a kinder person or even a better person, the Bible is a great place to start.

I know, it’s easy to get bogged down and can be difficult to read, but try an updated version like the NLT or The Message. Try for just one chapter a day. Get a buddy to commit to read it with you. That’s what I do. Keep at it and watch the fruit grow!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂