Joy in the Journey

    Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the winds and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to the disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:38-41 Have you ever tried to put yourself in that boat? I have.   What were the disciples thinking? “We’re all gonna’ die. We’re all gonna’ die!”   Then someone has the brilliant idea to wake up Jesus. By their reactions to his action, I can’t think they expected what happened to happen. I think they woke him up because he was the leader. It was his idea to go to “the other side.” Now it was his responsibility to get them there.   And he did!           At that point every...

  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7   The name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 Did you play tag when you were a kid? Do you remember home base or the safety spot? If you could get to that space before being tagged, in any given round of the game, then you were safe. No one could touch you.           I’ve watched as my students play that game and have even, on occasion been the “safe” space. They run and try as hard as they can to stay safe, to elude the catcher.           Sometimes I feel like my life is a bit too much like that childhood game. Running to evade or escape the plans of the enemy. Fortunately I have the same option as the players of the game, find the safe zone. Even better I don’t literally have to run.    ...

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 Just moments ago I read a message about the things God could have asked of us in order to secure our salvation.   It made me laugh because of course, the point was that grace is a gift. Grace is not something to be earned, thankfully, because none of us is capable of earning it.   It also made me laugh because of some experiences my husband and I have had at different churches.           In our search for a church home we visited a few places. One stands out as we attended there for several months. We were considering becoming members even though we weren’t quite sure it was the place for us.   Very quickly we would find out that it was not, nope, not at al...

    “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42   The little lady in the picture is the true representative of what too many of us feel at Christmas time. Every single year for the past four or five years, she has lost her head. (I was going to include the picture of the headless body but that felt a little gruesome.) Each year when I set up her beautiful town house she somehow falls or jumps to the floor, causing the loss of her head. She has friends on her little perch, a young boy and another woman. Neither of them has ever lost a head or any other body part. They remain serenely on the house while poor Sally crashes to the floor.           I call her Sally because it goes with stress and she reminds me of stress. Sally Stressed is freaking out over all that...

  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:6-7   No room available.   In reading an Advent devotional I came across this phrase, “Yet when the Son of God came into the world, there was no room for him.” Did you just gasp? I did.   My gasp was not based on events from thousands of years ago but on the state of the world today.   I think it is because of the way the sentence is written, “When the Son of God” (a name/title important enough to be capitalized) “came into the world” (a place in desperate need of help) “there was no room for him.”             No room for Jesus? Why? Who or what could be more important than Jesus? In defense of the inn keeper of Bethlehem, he didn’t know who he was turning away. Can we say the sa...

  Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” John 14:23   Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 There is a student in our school who never wears shorts, never.   We live in Florida and still he never wears shorts and is quite verbal about it. Even when he knows we’re going on an outdoor field trip, outside all day, no shorts. Or as he says, “No chorts!”           Imagine my surprise when he said, in his heavily accented English, “Mrs. Searsha, look… Chorts!” (Mrs. Tricia, look…Shorts!)   I expressed my surprise and asked him why he was wearing them.           “My God say!” He said, as if that should clear it up, which in retrospect it should have done.   When I asked what he meant, he told me that while he was sleeping he heard God say, “Fernando, wear shorts.” “So I wear.” He said wit...

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, This is a bit of a departure from my normal message style. Something happened that I want to share with all of you, to encourage you to reach out in Jesus’ name.           Yesterday I published a message on positive attitudes.   From that message I received a very heartfelt email from a sweet friend. She and I go back many years. We didn’t know each super well then. I met her because I was close friends with her brother. Through the years and the quick connect of social media, I have grown closer to her. This morning I read a message from her that tore at my heart.           The odd thing is I have been reminded of her brother quite often this week. He resides in heaven now and therefore does not need my prayers, so I focused them on his family, in particular his sister. As it turns out, she does need my prayers.*       ...