If you have ever stood outside and watched the sunset on a clear evening, you have likely seen God's artistry at its finest. I have never seen the Northern Lights, but the sun setting over the Albemarle Sound is a masterpiece of color, technique, and artistry unlike anywhere else. We are so blessed in the Outer Banks to behold such beauty on a nightly schedule.

I had spotted her at events we both are required to attend, and felt her discomfort. An episode in our past that involved her adult son but did not directly involve either one of us had created an awkward and uneasy divide. I don't know how she had processed what happened, but I know we both have felt pain and discomfort since.

Ever wish you could stop time? As in, literally snap your fingers or push a button and have time stand still? Watching your baby daughter grow up right before your eyes, attending a family reunion knowing you won’t see each other for another year and wondering who will be gone then, starting your last semester of college, waking up to the first day of vacation...there are a lot of examples of situations when we might wish we could stop time and just linger for awhile.

Do you use a to-do list to organize your day's tasks? I do. Granted, sometimes it turns our to be nothing more than a nagging wish list, but it can help me damper some of my anxiety about having too much to do, it gives me some structure and a plan, and the best part is that at the end of the day I have proof that I did accomplish something.

Kids really do say the darnedest things. We took our grandkids to LEGOLAND in Florida while their mother started school a week before they did. This has been our family tradition for four years now. We stay in a large room with a kid side with bunkbeds and an adult side with a big bed. […]

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung developed a theory about recurring negative self-talk that he called shadow beliefs. A shadow belief is an unconscious belief that influences our entire lives – telling us what we can and cannot do, and driving all of our behaviors. They are born in our childhood and well fed by our family, friends, and ourselves as we grow up.

Do you have a favorite pen? Pens can be personal. Some folks like the popular Big Grip Bics, with their rubberized finger grip and convenient pocket clip. Others prefer fountain pens, ball points, gels, rollerballs, marker tips, or even the elusive space pen, which writes upside down. For when, you know, you need to write in space and they turn the module on its head just as you need to jot down a note.

I took a trip recently and was dismayed to realize that I had packed two left walking shoes. I like to buy the same running shoes when the old ones wear down so I have a selection of sneakers that all look the same in my closet. In my haste to get ready, I just grabbed two shoes and threw them in the suitcase.

Have you ever heard of the spiritual practice of watchfulness? This discipline is a call to active attentiveness to God’s activity and presence in our lives and in our world. By staying alert and awake, we are able to focus on what God is saying to us today and not fall into anxious speculation about an unknown tomorrow. Who seriously doesn't need that right now?

Eight US Navy personnel assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during a period that included when the ships undertook combat operations against Iran and the carrier...

This morning I am fasting for some routine blood work and I am marveling at what medical science can tell us about ourselves with an inside look at our blood. I am also missing my usual coffee-with-cream, but I'm grateful that somebody figured out that black coffee won't alter your results like they used to think in the old days. No lab technician with a needle wants to encounter me on a morning without my usual dose of caffeine!

Today's lesson will focus on tripping. And more importantly, how not to trip. I am an expert at both tripping and falling, so read this carefully. Hebrews 12 (Common English Bible) 12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. 

Today we continue our focus on Hebrews 12, where the writer encourages us to pursue a race with endurance that leads to a finish line of Christ. Hebrews 12 (Common English Bible) 12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.

Our Scripture today was written by the author of Hebrews around 65 AD, prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. The primary message of this book is that Jesus Christ is the completely supreme Son of God and is the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about a messiah. In fact, Jesus is greater than any prophet who came before him, any angels, and even greater than Moses and Elijah.

Let's talk about the Spiritual Practice of Intercessory Prayer today. This practice is one that most of you are probably already doing. When we pray in intercession for others, we effectively stand in the gap for that person by petitioning God to intercede in their situation. Intercessory prayer allows us to step into a situation and act as a bridge, taking the focus away from our own needs and centering our attention on the needs of the other.

Twenty-five years ago today our nation sustained a terrorist attack on our soil the likes of which had never been experienced before. A total of 2,977 (plus 19 hijackers) perished that day. Four airplanes full of passengers were crashed. The North and South Towers of New York City's World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and a field in Shanksville, PA were demolished and destroyed in a little more than an hour that morning.

Today we continue with Paul's warnings and encouragements to young Timothy in 1 Timothy. The subject is the use of money. False teachers in Ephesus were equating wealth with contentment, much like prosperity preachers of today. Paul encourages us to simply be happy with what we already have. Pay particular attention to verse 10! 1 Timothy 6 (Common English Bible)

In Paul's letter to his young apprentice Timothy, he issued a fair amount of both encouragement and warnings. In the Sixth chapter, Paul cautioned him against any teaching that isn’t consistent with godliness and doesn’t come from the sound and solid Word of Jesus Christ. Then he encouraged Timothy to pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. This technique of teaching between the contrasts was a uniquely Pauline device.

Today's devotional is a re-posting from 2024. We just celebrated my father-in-law's 96th birthday this week!!! Here's to you, Cap! I have just returned from a wonderful family weekend where we celebrated my father-in-law's 94th birthday. That is not a typo, folks! 94 years of life on this earth, working, loving, laughing, and providing for his family as a Naval officer for over 30 years.

Since 2020, more than 31 ocean front houses have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore area in North Carolina. These beautiful beach cottages had stood in place for decades, built when the coastline was many blocks away and the strong dunes covered in protective woven sea grasses and oats blocked the water from eroding the shoreline.

If you've ever had the opportunity to go to a new church, you probably remember how it felt to be a stranger among friends. Friends, as in a group of people who know each other, but not you. My husband and I recently started attending a wonderful church in Orlando and our first time walking in the door was a revelation.

I know a beautiful young woman who has struggled with an alcohol addiction for years. The 'life of the party' in a culture that loves to party, she was seen as the fun girl everyone wanted to be around. Slowly and very surely, the addiction took over, and drinking was no longer just a party favor, but a nightly thing. She almost lost her marriage, job, and family over it.

Let's talk about hope today as we finish our look at Romans 8. Romans 8 (New International Version) 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:18-27 (NIV) 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Batman and Robin decided to go camping. They set up their tent out in the woods and went to sleep. A couple of hours later, Batman woke his faithful friend. "Robin, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Robin, who is used to these midnight lessons, replied, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" asked Batman.

I have always disliked the kid's rhyme, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Really? In what universe? Words have the power to break a mood, break a spirit, break a childhood, and even break a life. Having broken a few bones, and also having received the tongue lashing of harsh words, I can attest to the fact that words hurt more.

A friend recently asked me why I started writing this devotional blog. I had to think back to 2019 when I wrote my first one on April 25th after spending a week with my daughter, who encouraged me and helped me figure out WordPress. But it began a few months earlier, when I had the blessed luck to fall into a seminar in Atlanta with a comedic genius named Jon Acuff.

Dogs love walks. They may not like leashes, gentle leaders, other dogs on the street, or rules, but in general, dogs love walks. When I used to walk my dog Georgia, her intense focus on the task almost pulled my arm out of the socket several times. We live on a cul-de-sac, so every single day we walked in the same direction.

A few summers ago I had the extraordinary opportunity to see the Broadway musical, “Beautiful”, which is about the life of singer and songwriter Carole King. Her story is fascinating. I had no idea how many songs she has written, and how reluctant she was to sing her own compositions. Many of her greatest efforts were recorded by someone else, as she took “second chair” to somebody else’s great talent.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." This beautiful prayer is a hallmark of 12 Step groups such as AA. The origin of it is somewhat disputed, but look at this longer prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

A few decades ago, Christians everywhere started wearing bracelets with the letters "WWJD". It was an attempt to encourage the wearers to ask themselves, "What Would Jesus Do?" as they made their way through the day. WWJD captured our imagination and quickly became the ubiquitous symbol of what it meant to truly follow Jesus. We might think of the WWJD movement as a recent development, but actually the wording has been around for more than 100 years.

I was disturbed this week by a headline that fairly jumped off the page in an advertisement from my denomination's publisher. It came unwanted and unbidden on a sunny day in August. You can probably already guess what they were selling: Christmas resources. It read: "Do you feel the anticipation coming?" Yes, it is time to order Advent materials. No, I don't feel the anticipation beginning.

Consider the history of the necktie. Legionnaires in the 2nd century B.C. wore the first neckwear, according to some historians. Their cloth bands were worn as protection from the weather. Other people cite the 3rd century B.C. terra-cotta statues of Chinese warriors as the first evidence of neckties. They wore neck scarves to protect the source of their strength, i.e. their Adam’s apples.

Have you ever had a never-ending week that turned into a never-ending weekend that suddenly became the middle of the next week, and you had not yet come up for air? And then it became a month, then a year, then a life of never ending-ness? I think this is why God created the second wind. Were it not for our ability to catch a second wind, we would have all burned out decades ago.

Have you ever seen anything more relaxed than a napping dog? Don't you wish that for a brief moment you could actually achieve this level of chill? Not a care in the world, not a thought in your mind, no worries, burdens or pressures of bills, flat tires, back-talking kids, cheating spouses, and lay-off notices. It's a dog's life! But for the rest of us....

Have you ever experienced a season that felt spiritually dry? We all experience seasons of dryness, times when we feel abandoned by God and isolated from his blessings. There is no shame in feeling that God isn’t hearing your distress or answering your prayers. Today's psalm teaches us that everyone feels that way at one point or another. Situations like illness, death of a loved one, betrayal, financial insecurity, divorce, addiction, rebellious children … life is full of times when we look to God for an easy out and are met with silence.

Have you ever been in a moment that seemed like it would go on forever? A first kiss, sitting in the Operating Room waiting area, the month before Christmas, a painful reprimanding by your mom, being in labor with your first child, church administrative meetings ... lots of things feel endless. Of course the end eventually comes and in hindsight, you realize that it wasn't as bad as you thought in the moment.

Parents of twins know that the two-for-one special you brought home from the hospital is very special indeed. Twins can develop their own language, often communicating non-verbally and verbally in ways nobody else can understand. There is an inextricable link between them, formed in the womb, that can't be broken. Several years ago we observed this in action when ours were about two years old.

A few months ago I found myself back in Atlanta traffic after an absence and it was a huge culture shock for me. In just 48 hours I received a hellfire-and-brimstone, full-immersion baptism of cars slamming on brakes, tires screeching, angry commuters, speedy lead-foots, impatient workers running late ... it is a vehicular nightmare. Then add road construction to the mix, and you will change your mind about going anywhere and decide to just sit in your back yard and stare at the trees.

A friend who is undergoing cancer treatment is finally having a good week. He feels good, he can walk without a cane, and he actually drove a car for the first time in three months. So he went out and bought green bananas. I love that last part. It is a glorious sign of recovery. It is an act of hope.

According to scientists, the average human head has approximately 100,000 hairs and about as many follicles. You are born with all your follicles and do not develop more as you age. Hair grows at a rate of half an inch per month, and we lose between 50-100 strands of hair each day ... unless you are the parent of a teenager, in which case you can double that.

Parents of young children eventually have a moment when words from their own parents come flowing out of their mouths and they hear themselves saying, “Life’s unfair.” I heard it a thousand times and I said it a thousand times. The bad referee call, the lead part in the play going to the teacher’s pet, the boy dumping you for the popular girl … life is full of unfair moments.

Over the last week my phone has pinged several times with a heat advisory alert. Is it hot where you live? It functions like a pavlovian trigger for me. As soon as I read "heat advisory" I get an instant sensation of thirst. Thirst is an issue in these dog days of summer. Being outside for even a nano-second (with mascara melting and sunglasses fogging) is an instant dehydrator.

A few years ago my daughter and son-in-law took us to a secret speak-easy in Orlando called Roka Hulu. It was located inside a restaurant with no discernible doorway. We stumbled around the large lobby for several minutes trying to find the door. Then someone came up to us and explained that you had to sit in chairs that were located next to a tall leopard statue and wait for someone to notice you and "buzz" you in.

Recently, I sat in my favorite chair by the corner windows overlooking Colington Harbour and I was startled by the sudden sound of jet noise. I looked up and saw Navy F-18s flying low in a tight formation. NAS Oceana is just over an hour away, and it is not uncommon for us to see Navy planes flying training hops over our beautiful island.

Today we are going to look at the John 14 passage again and focus our attention on Thomas' question and Jesus' answer. I love that Thomas was bold enough to ask what everyone else in the Upper Room that night was probably thinking! My teacher friends tell me that they always appreciate that kid with all the questions. They're the ones that get all the answers.

In just a few weeks, my household will expand to include four more adults, six children, two dogs, and a tortoise named "Bob." I have been getting rooms ready for this onslaught of family fun, and have enjoyed turning my upstairs office into a puppy palace for grandchild #4 to sleep in. I was just a little embarrassed recently when I looked at myself in a ZOOM call with my District Superintendent and other committee members and realized that you could see puppy decor hanging from the ceiling fan.

In Matthew 24, Jesus was being grilled by the disciples about his promise to return after his death. Like hungry children, they demanded to know the signs and the timing of his Second Coming. We can't fault them for being anxious. If we're honest, we're anxious too. We're confused by the many depictions of what the End Times will look like and we want reassurances.