Mary Hamilton
Five years ago on my birthday, Mom entered the hospital for the last time. And five years ago today, she entered eternal life. Though I often think my dad had the greatest influence on my life, realistically that credit goes to my mother. She was the wife of a pastor and camp director raising a …
“I love to wait,” said no one, ever. Most of us associate waiting with uselessness—waiting in traffic, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in the grocery line to check out, waiting for a repairman, waiting for a teenage son or daughter to come home, waiting for your flight to board and take off. Recently, …
Now and then, I find a book that significantly changes my way of thinking. One of those books is The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg. The author describes how, in the first century AD, much of the rabbinical writings dealt with circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, and dietary laws. …
On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” (John 2: 1-3, NIV) Ever wonder why Mary spoke to Jesus about …
House-hunting has given me a new understanding of the importance of foundations. Our rental house shows several cracks in the brick siding that indicate the foundation is shifting. While the slab itself appears to be intact, sitting at our kitchen table gives one a slight sense that the floor is sloping toward the back yard. …
Someone once commented on the way we approach reading the Bible. We tend to read certain chapters more than others, shying away from those that seem hard to understand or boring. We pick and choose sentences, verses, passages, but never read the book as a whole the way we do other books. How much would …
Have you seen this plant? When I was growing up, I recall my parents having a gnarled old plant like this in a metal bucket. Most of the year, it looked thorny and ugly. But when it bloomed with small round flowers all over, it was beautiful. The Crown of Thorns is associated with Passion …
For several weeks now, I’ve been studying different prayers recorded in the Bible. Last week, I spent some time on the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. It’s so familiar–like the 23rd Psalm and the creation account–that it’s easy to gloss over it and think I already know everything there is to know about it. But …
Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God so clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not also clothe you–O you of little faith? But …
Have you ever studied the prayers of the Bible? We have much to learn from the men and women whose prayers were recorded for us. Moses, David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Jonah, Paul, and even Jesus himself.. One of the first things I notice in these prayers is the immediate focus on the character of God. I …
My guest this week is my good friend Joanne Sher. I met her at Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference last year. When she mentioned this date was her spiritual birthday, I knew she needed to be my guest today! I think you’ll enjoy her story of how she came to faith in Jesus Christ. …
