Category Archives: Encouragement

Closer than You Think

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Note: This blog is part of a Thanksgiving series of blogs highlighting attributes of God for which I am thankful.

Have you ever felt alone? Forsaken? Abandoned? Forgotten?

There’s a pathos in Psalm 142:4 that I think we can all identify with: “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.”

And perhaps you’ve felt a similar anguish to Job’s when he seemed to search for God’s presence in vain: “Behold, I go forward,” he cried out, “but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him” (Job 32:8–9)

If you’re there right now, could I tell you something? Continue reading →

You’re Not Alone

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Note: This blog is part of a Thanksgiving series of blogs highlighting attributes of God for which I am thankful.

Over ten years ago, my cousin Jonathan was rushed to the Children’s Hospital in Chicago where his life lay in the balance. Of course, his family as well as our entire extended family was deeply concerned. Even as the doctors studied to diagnose and treat the infection, they warned the family of the seriousness of his condition.

Meanwhile, my uncle and aunt were juggling time in the hospital, time at home with the other seven children (who were all too young to be allowed in the room), multiple jobs, and paper routes. For one week of this time, I was able to travel to their home and relieve my aunt and uncle of home duties as well as a precious few of the job duties. My cousins and I made lots of memories that week…most of which I sincerely hope they won’t share. (That includes the “gooky” cereal, Kirsten! :))

But one moment took place which I will never forget.  Continue reading →

Fresh Daily

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Note: This blog is part of a Thanksgiving series of blogs highlighting attributes of God for which I am thankful.

Ring. The phone announced a Saturday morning caller.

“Hello, Bass residence, this is Michele speaking,” my sister answered the phone.

“Hi, Marcy.”

“Right now?”

“Ohhhh.”

“Yes, we will pray immediately. Talk to you later. Bye.”

We all waited to hear Michele relate the other end of her phone conversation with Marcy. “Marcy’s aunt and two cousins are visiting from out of state. Her aunt is not saved, so Marcy’s dad is witnessing to her right now. They would like us to pray that there won’t be any distractions and that her aunt will be saved.” Continue reading →

The Four Best Words I Heard Today

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Without a doubt, they were these:

“I’m praying for you.”

And to think, the friend who said them actually apologized! She said, “I wish I could say something really wonderful, but…”

Suffice it to say, she did say something really wonderful. Because I know she meant it.

Who have you sincerely prayed for today?

Ten Years Hindsight

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Ten years ago this weekend, I drove to our church’s youth conference with excited trepidation. In the back of the van were five hundred copies of the premiere issue of Stepping in the Light magazine.

Bound in each magazine copy was the compilation of four years of dreaming, much prayer, six weeks of intense labor (and sleepless, teary nights), and all the money I had been given for my high school graduation.

That night, we would be giving the magazine out—one per family—to the teen girls for whom I’d prepared it. I was thrilled with the way it had turned out…but I couldn’t help but wonder how it would be received.

This much I knew, we needed two hundred subscriptions just to pay for the printing and mailing of the next issue. I expected somewhere between two and three hundred, and I hoped for more. Continue reading →

The Scales I Couldn’t Pass

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I started taking piano lessons when I was about seven. And I started practicing my scales the very same day. Not just one scale, all of the major scales. My teacher (who ate ice cream during the lesson) wrote the letter of every scale out for me in a notebook. He sent me home with the notebook and told me to practice.

I knew right away that I didn’t like practicing scales. But I also knew that the more diligently I practiced the pieces I was assigned, the sooner I “passed” them and moved on to other pieces.

And so I labored over the scales. Over and over, day after day, I read/sang the note names in a tone-deaf fashion while I worked to program my fingers to coordinate: “C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C [weary breath]; D, E, F sharp, G…”

Every lesson, I dreaded the beginning—playing through my scales. And every week, when I finished my lesson, I left with instructions to work on those horrid scales. Continue reading →

The Best Part of the Trip

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If you like to make frequent stops, plan long sightseeing excursions, and visit area friends or friends of friends, please don’t travel with me.

If you would like a leisurely trip with a full scrapbook at the end, travel with my sister Michele. Health needs and back pain have made her a great scenic traveler…besides the fact that she’s just better at enjoying the journey than I am.

Ask Michele the best part of a trip, and she’ll answer “the journey.”

Ask me? “Destination, for sure!”

Sometimes Michele and I have traveled together. Often, in fact. Those were memorable trips. Continue reading →

What To Do When You Can’t Fix Your Friend or Her Life

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Don’t you hate it when your friend comes to you with a prayer request you can’t answer?

I know, the very fact that it’s a prayer request means that it’s supposed to be a need that only God can answer. But I confess, I like to answer them too. (Sometimes I even try to claim solutions that weren’t my idea. Like when the friend says, “I wonder if I tried…” and I say, “You know what, you should try…!”)

I like to suggest the answer that works.

Especially, I like to be the answer. (It’s far more heroic to be the answer than merely to suggest the answer.)

Sometimes, if I can’t suggest the answer or be the answer, and especially if I can’t even see the answer, I tend to lose interest in the need.

I guess I just like to fix it. Continue reading →

Today

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Outdated garage sale signs are one of my pet peeves. Not just any sale signs, but the ones that simply say “Garage Sale Today.”

If you put a date on your sale sign, you can leave it up for years, and it won’t bother me a bit. Leave it nailed to the telephone post until the poster is ripped and the corners are yellowed and curling with age—I won’t care.

But leave the date off your sign, lead me down a trail of undated signs to a two-week past garage sale, and I’m not a happy camper. So much so that while I love garage sales, I’m unlikely to follow undated signs. It doesn’t matter how fresh they look. Unless I see someone posting the sign, I’m assuming it’s old. Continue reading →

Plastic Bag Flights

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Perhaps you’ve never wanted to fly. I have.

Actually, what I most wanted was to parachute. I think I must have been about six or seven when I learned about parachutes and how they work. Ready to experience the thrill for myself, I found two ready-made chutes (a.k.a. plastic grocery bags) in the kitchen drawer and persuaded my sister to go parachuting with me off the top of our backyard swing set.

Quite honestly, it was a disappointing adventure. No broken bones, but no working chutes either. Continue reading →