Focus on Eternity

     Many years ago a wonderful woman named Helen taught Sunday School to a group of about five or more girls.  The girls I remember, Denise, Karen, MaryBeth, Brenda and myself.  She was our pastor’s wife, and she engaged beautifully with us as young believers.  I would venture to guess that all of us have remained passionate followers of Jesus Christ.  One of which I know has been home with the Lord for the past 30 years now.  What a legacy Helen left, not only with the years she taught us (second and third grade), but also through us.  God has graced me with the opportunity to teach young people how to walk by faith in Him through my own Sunday School classroom of about a dozen kids.  This wasn’t my top choice of ministries, as a matter of fact I resisted it at first.  But the Holy Spirit’s message came through loud and clear to me one day as  I listened to some audio lessons from Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God program.  It wasn't my first pass through these materials, b

      Today as I write it is my oldest daughter’s 15 th birthday, and I cannot help but reminisce over the journey that we have shared.  Fourteen years ago today, we celebrated her birthday with a decorated cake but without a daughter.  We held her picture in our hands and dreamed…she was not with us at the time.  Two weeks following, we would travel to Guangzhou, China to receive a blessing of a lifetime.  It was only the second tax season that I can remember where work was the farthest from my husband’s mind in late March – early April.  There was nothing more important to him than becoming a dad.  Anyone who knows Pete knows how he values his family, even when we cannot spend time with him during this very hectic season.       Our daughter is now busy too.  Teenage years are known for this.  It is a rare occasion when our high school daughter doesn’t have something pressing on her schedule.  For the past several weeks it has been driver’s education and school work.  Now she

     I have fallen into the trap of research which is my excuse for not writing.  I’ve been enamored by the writings of Kathryn Maddox Haddad who has a special talent for creating fictional accounts of historical events that we read about in Scriptures.  Before embarking on her second book in a series called Intrepid Men of God, I realized that I would be committing about twenty-one hours to read PAUL:   THE UNSTOPPABLE in its entirety.  I have often been leery of reading fictional accounts of God’s Word because I do not want to pick up false information and assume that it is Biblical sound.  However, at first glance at this author’s credentials, I read that she commits an average of 300 hours researching each historical novel she writes and I can attest to her thoroughness.  She has written 66 books to date.  Since I have made many passes through the book of Acts and have studied Paul’s life and his journeys over the past several years using creative imagery to solidify my understand

     Today I recognize there is a lesson to learn.   I am at the stage of being caught between a rock and a hard place .   I'm caught between my role of wife and mother, and that of a daughter to an aging parent.   God is teaching me that I am not to presume that I know what I am supposed to do.  I need to lean into Him to understand what it means to seek His wisdom.        I received a phone call from my mother who no longer lives in a close vicinity that makes it easy to care for her needs.   That decision was made about fourteen years ago when she and my dad moved to Florida to escape the cold winter weather we encounter in Michigan.   It was at that same time that I, late in life, became a mom.   At the age of 44 and my husband 50, we became the proud parents of a twelve-month-old daughter.   God could not have given us a better gift, or so we thought.   Then at the age of 50 and my husband a few days shy of his 57 th birthday, we again became parents to another daugh

         In Scriptures, we read, "the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."  [1]   So, whoever might have been praying for me this week, I humbly say thank you.         I’ve sinned again, it's not the first time, nor will it be the last.  I must confess; I present a personal story of parenting that you might relate to depending on your phase of life.  In this story, you will discover a giver and a receiver.  I hope you will find your story more closely tied to the blessed giver; I was the receiver. You may even find that this story is about you, although I’ve chosen not to identify you with specificity.  I want you to see yourself through the eyes of the woman who has been blessed by you.  Most of you, my known