Category: Uncategorized
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Helping the Invisible Be Found
I am the queen of “out of sight, out of mind.” In recent years I’ve found myself focusing more and more on the things that are right in front of my face, requiring my attention right then, and forgetting all else. That means phone calls don’t get made (or returned), emails don’t get sent, chores…
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Being Someone to be Leaned On
When I was 13 years old I was asked to play the piano for Primary, the children’s organization in my church. It was a terrifying assignment. Even though I had taken piano lessons since the age of five, my skills were severely lacking. Oh, I could play, but anything with more than two sharps, three…
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Take It to the Lord in Prayer
When I was growing up and would go to my mother with a problem she would inevitably always say, before offering any advice, “have you fasted and prayed about it yet?” From my earliest years I have witnessed the immeasurable power of prayer. My survival from a medication reaction, the reversal of an irreversible eye…
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Slay the Dragon!
I’ve never been fond of dragons. Okay, not exactly dragons per se, but more dragon lore in general. It just has never been my thing (Don’t tell my daughter who loves the How to Train Your Dragon franchise). Anyway, Friday was the Feast of St. George, a day recognized and celebrated by many faiths, both…
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Free to Be You and Me
I experienced a brutal reminder recently of a certain personal skills deficiency. The picture up above highlights this, and the object has recently come back into my possession. When I was a child I made a dinosaur for my dad. Yes, that is a dinosaur. It might have an extremely short neck and no tail,…
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Fill the World with Love
I recently heard a story that I’d never heard before. On December 6, 1842 Robert Schumann was set to debut his much-anticipated Piano Quintet in E-flat major. The work was dedicated to his much beloved wife, acclaimed musician Clara Schumann, and she was to play the complex piece at its introduction. Unfortunately, Clara fell ill…
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Worthy Is the Lamb!
Several years ago I had a friend, Joanna, who would watch Evangelical religious programming all day, every day. I’ve never known anyone who openly and unabashedly loved Jesus more than she did. Every Easter she would chide us when we would greet her with a “Happy Easter” and give us a lecture on the secular…
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Oh, It Is Wonderful to Me!
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died. I marvel that He would descend from His throne divineTo rescue a soul so rebellious and pride…
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Palm Sunday Hosannas
I love Palm Sunday. When I was a child, I imagined myself racing along Jerusalem’s streets waving palm leaves and shouting, “Hosanna!”. That image adapted as I got older. I was a teenager or a young adult running along the street, and then, as an adult, I no longer ran in my imagination, but I…
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Don’t Be a Walrus
This week a story hit the news that was both fascinating and thought-provoking. The story was about a walrus who washed up on the shore of Valentia Island, an Irish island off the coast of, you guessed it, Ireland. This was the first-known sighting of a walrus in the wild in that country and it…
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Joyfully Waiting
Every Sunday during church I get a notification on my phone that my garage door was left open. This occurs about 2/3 of the way through the meeting and since that notification normally shows up after ten minutes of the door being left open, I know that I wasn’t the one to do so. The…
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When My Sand Runs Out
This week I lost a friend, a very good friend, to pneumonia. She was 64 and it was completely unexpected. I admit to struggling throughout the week to make sense of it. In the past year I have lost friends and loved ones to COVID, cancer, and pneumonia and this latest one left me reeling.…
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Live A Humble
I had a couple different ideas for this week’s post. I downloaded music for both Idea A and Idea B, but just couldn’t decide which to do. I even prayed about it, but didn’t get any clear answer that one was better than the other, so I was leaning towards Idea B. This morning I…
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Lemons, Lemonade, and a House by the Side of the Road
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about someone I knew who had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. I am sad to report that he lost his struggle and passed away this past week. The comments from family and friends all mirrored my experience – that he was giving words of love and encouragement…
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Scatter Valentines of Sunshine
Confession time. I have never liked Valentine’s Day. (For those who have known me through church for many years, that statement probably brought back the horrific memory of my announcing to the congregation during a short lesson when we were young adults that “I hate Valentine’s Day because it is so gaggy.”) Anyway, back to…
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Up With People: A Super Bowl Memory
Okay, I have to admit that I have never watched a Super Bowl. Not once. I’m really more of a basketball, baseball, and college football kinda gal, so pro football just never got my juices flowing. Having said that, back when I was little, in 1976, my mom let me watch the Super Bowl halftime…
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When the Going Gets Tough…
I love poetry and I believe there is often great wisdom to be learned from it. So it is with the writings of early-17th century English poet John Donne (he actually wrote scandalous poetry before become a philosopher and a secretary for the Church of England). In 1624 he wrote: No man is an island…
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Being a Light
Last week was an interesting week. I listened to friends who were bitterly angry about political events, or who had lost relationships in recent times due to having differing views. I learned that a friend was essentially kicked out of his family for requesting facemasks be worn, especially around high-risk family members, since those unmasked…
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We are ALL the Children of God
The lyrics of a beloved children’s hymn state: I am a child of God And He has sent me here Has given me an earthly home With parents kind and dear Lead me, guide me, walk beside me Help me find the way Teach me all that I must do To live with Him someday.…
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Ring Out, Wild Bells!
Today in church we sang a traditional LDS hymn for the new year, “Ring Out, Wild Bells.” This hymn is either absolutely loved or absolutely despised, depending on who you ask, but to me, the lyrics are powerful, showing great profundity and insight. And following a year of turmoil, loss, pain, and struggle, it is…
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 