The Meandering Mind of a Christian Woman

There is a reason that this blog is “meandering”; I often begin thinking on one topic and soon find myself somewhere else entirely different. As I was walking today I found the sun to be much warmer than I had imagined it would be in the early morning. (Early is a relative term.) I was quite pleased when I stepped into the shade and was quickly cooled. So began this meandering. I thought; would I appreciate the shade had it not been for the heat of the sun? Or enjoy a day with free time had I not had a day filled with planned activities? Eventually, I pondered the questions that most philosophers approach at some time or another; can there be good without evil? It is in experiencing contrast that we have greater appreciation for anything. Without contrast all things blend together into a homogenous blandness. Yet, when I consider good and evil I am reminded that the bible tells us in Genesis that at one time the world was good, and after God created man he declared it “very go

            Today we were placed on a tornado watch. The National Weather Service declared that the weather conditions in our area were favorable for a tornado to develop between 2 and 10 p.m.. So, for the next 8 hours people will nervously watch the skies or storm chasers excitedly follow the clouds and lightning. What if the NWS declared a Jesus watch? Truth be told, conditions are favorable for Jesus to come back. Conditions have been favorable since the time of the apostles. It doesn't mean he isn't coming; he is giving mankind every opportunity to turn to him and not away. How many people will gladly take a tornado over Jesus’ return?             What does it mean to be ready for the return of Jesus? I think it means to be about the work God has given us to do. Certainly, we cannot just stand around staring at the sky. God has given us things to do and people to love, lots of people! Years ago, I was part of a women’s bible study and we had gathered the morning afte

            I routinely see memes on Facebook about loved ones that have passed away watching over us from heaven. While I admit, it is a heartwarming thought, I do wonder if they do truly watch over us? Certainly, the viewpoint is such that they could but there must be other things to do in heaven than watch what is going on here on earth. We are often searching for our purpose here on earth which leads to the question; what is one’s purpose in heaven?   There must be purpose, right?   All I have ever heard is that we will praise God in heaven. Don’t get me wrong, I believe heaven will be beyond our imagination of fabulous. Perhaps that is why we don’t know much beyond praising him because we cannot conceive the vision.             I have no conclusion to draw on this topic. It does comfort me to think that Don might be watching over me. I want to believe that he knows all that is going on in our family life and that when I sense him close by it is more than my imagination. I d

            After several days of humid heat we were blessed this morning with a beautiful, sunshiny, dry, day and a touch of cool breezes; it brought an instant joy to my soul. Elsa and I got out early for our walk/jog and went twice as far as we have been able to the last few weeks. The breeze is so refreshing! I had a grin on my face throughout the walk.             The Greek word πνεύμα ( Pneuma) is translated to wind or Spirit. I was dwelling on this as I strolled along the path. It is quite appropriate that wind and spirit are interchangeable, we can see neither yet we can feel them both. The Spirit refreshes us daily in our walk with the Lord. The Spirit also gives us our voice to speak right words; the voice is produced by pushing air (wind) through the vocal cords.   Job 33:3-4 “ My words come from an upright heart;      my lips sincerely speak what I know. The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”   We have new life in Christ on a dai

I frequently ask for God’s guidance when I pray. Perhaps you have seen the acronym from the word guidance = God U & I dance. Dancing with God can be a beautiful thought; if you are one who is graceful likes to dance. For wallflowers it might be another story but God can change that. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. The thing about dancing with God is that he is strong partner and can lead us through the most difficult moves. Life is a lot like being on the dance floor. We have stages in life that are like a slow dance, easy, flowing, and wrapped in someone’s arms. Then, someone changes the tune and now we are expected to move more swiftly, perhaps running out of breath trying to keep up.   I tend to see line dancing as keeping up with the neighbors, we should all make the same steps at the same time and it is embarrassing when we misstep.   In line dancing we don’t really have our partner to guide us; we rely on those around us to help us figure it out. It is a good r