Tag Archives: Security

What Do I Call You?

1 Reply

father-daughter-hands

In my first month of college, I met a student whose name was Elizabeth (name changed to protect the…well, neither guilty or innocent…just the named). I had heard others call her Liz, so when I actually met her, I asked her which name she preferred.

“My friends call me Liz,” she explained…and then continued, “You can call me Elizabeth, at least for now.”

Wow, I wasn’t quite expecting that. I never did have the nerve to ask her if the “for now” had ended. Frankly, I never got to know her well enough to think I was ready to ask. Elizabeth is a fine name, but in that relationship, it was a bit of a block. Continue reading →

5 Things You Never Have to Worry About

1 Reply

peaceful

1. God’s love for you

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.—Jeremiah 31:3

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:38-39

2. Christ’s presence in your life

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.—Exodus 33:14

… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.—Hebrews 13:5-6

3. God’s commitment to transforming you to the image of Christ

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren….What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? —Romans 8:29, 31

4. Jesus’ return for you

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.—John 14:1-3

5. Today, tomorrow…or the rest of your life.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.—Hebrews 13:8

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.—1 Peter 5:7

Sometimes we just need to refocus on God’s eternal promises. What promises are your focus points?

You Can’t Climb That High

Leave a reply

It’s a real bummer to be very competitive and very afraid of heights—especially when you’re a kid and your older sister loves heights and thrill.

The competitive side of me would say, “If someone else can do it, there’s no reason why I can’t too.” The scared of heights side of me would argue, “Yes, but you are about to fall and die.” (I know, fear is irrational. Most people don’t die from climbing to the top of the swing set and jumping down.)

Sometimes the competitive side won, and I would will myself to climb in spite of my fears. And sometimes the scared of heights side won, and I would say I didn’t really want to climb that day. (Actually, the scared of heights side always won because even if I climbed up, I suffered escalating stages of terror before I made it back down to the ground!) Continue reading →

When Safe Means Sorry

1 Reply

My earliest cooking experience resulted in pancakes that were three and a half inches in diameter and as hard as a rock. I don’t want to tell you about that time.

My next cooking experience was bound to be better. At least I convinced my dad that it would be. It turned out to be one of the most memorable evenings our family talks about.

My mom was out (probably grocery shopping for supper), and my dad was working upstairs on the addition he was adding on to our home.

I climbed the wooden stairs and stuck my head through the opening. There was my dad, framing in the rooms with the two Bible college students he had hired to help him. Continue reading →

No Moving in Heaven

1 Reply

I’m too young to fully appreciate the fact that we’ll never grow old in Heaven, but high on my list of “will never do in Heaven” is moving! And high on my list of dislikes is packing and unpacking.

Since the time I was two, our family has moved exactly two and a half times. (We lived in a temporary place for several weeks during one of the moves.)

But in the past three years, I have moved twice that many times—not even counting changing dorm rooms in college. And tonight, I just took the last of my boxes out to the dumpster from the most recent of these moves.

I knew in advance that each of the last four moves were temporary. Some were for a year, some were for a summer. So I was really looking forward to the “final” move of this week, because I thought of it as more long term. Continue reading →