Week 2 The Fragrance of Love
What does Easter smell like? Close your eyes and think of as many spring fragrances as you can. Did you smell fresh flowers, orange blossoms, rain on the desert or pavement (Petrichor), newly cut grass? Even breezes have a smell. What do you suppose Jesus smelled? What fragrances were at the first Easter? The spices…
Week 1 The Mind of Love
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Ps. 90:12 What does it mean to number our days? It’s not the ability to count how many days we have lived or to predict how many days we have left. Numbering our days means realizing the brevity of life. It…
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. On this day many people put on dark clothes as a sign of mourning for the sacrificial death of Jesus. Some folks continue this until Easter Sunday. Also, people go to church where their foreheads are marked with ashes in the sign of the cross in memory…
Pancake day!
Traditions are the things we do all the time and eventually pass on to the next generation. They can be good or bad, ruts or memorials, fun routines or boring rituals. Sometimes we do things in a certain way for do long that we forget the reason and the meaning for doing it. What are…
Easter Kaleidoscope
This is from a devotional I wrote in 1991 for my junior high students at First Baptist of Scottsdale: Lent is the old name for spring; it means that time of year when the days lengthen. It now is the traditional time of repentance, self-examination, and fasting lasting for forty days and leading to Resurrection…
We all are born with Super Powers
I read this article that talks about the miraculous ability of babies to read minds! It really isn’t mind reading but it is the amazing ability to read body language and facial expressions super acutely. They can also see things in extraordinary ways, distinguishing between sights and sounds that actually diminish as they move from…
Save memories and make memories
This year’s resolution: I am going to try to save some memories and make some memories. What I mean is that while I spend a lot of time remembering and living in my memories, I have not spent much time making new memories to save. I have spent a lot of time saving up my…
Blue Christmas…reflecting on living between the advents
It is hard to admit because it feels shameful to be sad, but the fact of the matter is that this season is not easy for me. I guess I feel guilty and embarrassed that I can only outwardly appear to be composed and at peace when inwardly I feel that my grief is so…
12.13.14
Perhaps it is just me, but I have this file cabinet in the back of my mind that is full of memories based on random dates and adventures and celebrations. I remember birthdays of people I knew in kindergarten but have not seen in years, historical facts, and way too many trivial details. I am…
Saying Goodbye
Saying Goodbye to the Callahans One of my favorite musicals is The Sound of Music and one of the most bittersweet songs is the one that the children sing at the party that is all about saying goodbye. They try to lighten the mood with something that is not fun or easy to say. In…