I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 (NIV) When we’re young we’re full of vim and vigor. We think we can do anything. Then, as we get older we find out that we can’t do life very well in our own wisdom. As …
Category: Death
I knew one day during this cancer journey, that at some point, I’d likely be curled up in a ball of pain. It happened a few weeks ago after a shot of Neupogen, a medicine to spur my white blood cell count. It brought about excruciating pain in my joints and bones. In the middle of that pain, I realized I have a choice. Stay inward, focused on the pain and my needs – or direct my eyes to the …
My mother died on a Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 10:30 in the morning in Indianola, Mississippi, a small town about 22 miles from Greenville, our hometown. She went on to a new life with the Lord while my sister Libby and I stood at her bedside. It was a sacred moment of watching a life well-lived end on this earth, then head to golden shores. I suspect it was the Lord that led me to write this poem some …
For many years I trusted God but resisted His pull for my whole heart. I would (and still can) so easily turn from God to pursue my own way. It was as though some days I was living life on a razors’ edge – a non-committal place, yet a place of tremendous peril. In this poem I try to convey the two sides – the pain and darkness of turning away and the light and joy of being …
My 40th high school reunion is coming up October 2019. Seeing familiar names on the reunion email, got me thinking about elementary and middle school. I began to reminisce about time gone by riding my bike to the park near our home and wandering through the nearby woods all day with friends Walt and Newman. ~ That same week a dear friend, David Gilley, died here in Atlanta. He and I had grown close and were collaborating on some …
Sometime early in the fall, the earth begins to tip upward and those of us in North America begin the march toward winter, when the sun is furthest from the earth. Moving away from the sun, brings on cold temperatures. Sap that once easily moved in trees to supply life, eventually slows down and leaves get less and less nutrients, so they turn colors and die. Leaves fall to the ground and pile up everywhere. The formerly lush green …
And we know that for those who love God all things (no matter what the season) work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (emphasis added) …
I was at a retreat center recently on a cold, windy drizzly day. I had a raincoat, boots and a sweater but even with all that, I still didn’t want to wander outside too much. The dark colors, broken limbs, dead leaves, gray sky and harsh wind all reminded me of the seeming death in winter. Yet, in reality, things are just sleeping in the winter and spring will come. Green will emerge, grass will grow, the sun will warm …
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 ESV The process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly is one of the most dramatic natural phenomena that I know. The poor caterpillar only knows one world….climbing on limbs and stems eating leaves. Caterpillars are slow and are significantly susceptible to being eaten by other prey, like birds. Yet, at some point, the earth-bound insect dies, dissolves into a glob of enzymes and proteins, and emerges as …
I was at a local County Fire & Rescue Department recently conducting training when everyone’s radios began to squawk with alarms. Two fire captains launched into action and left what I thought was quite valuable training! 😉 A call had gone out for a house fire. Not too soon later they returned to the training and shared that the call was a “false alarm”. Someone mistook the smoke and flames from a controlled burn for a house fire. …