Our Father Who Art in Heaven

Our Father Who Art in Heaven

How great is it that God the Father is God our Father? I’ve taken great encouragement lately from this truth, that “Our Father who art in Heaven” is always available to us for anything from the mundane to the eternally significant. One of my greatest privileges is having an earthly father whose lessons and leadership remain practical in my day-to-day life and show me glimpses of how good our heavenly father is. Even as a 40-year-old who long ago left home and has been married for over eight years, I continue to be grateful for the intentional ways my dad guides me.

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I Saw the Sign: How the Law of God is a Helpful Guidepost

I Saw the Sign: How the Law of God is a Helpful Guidepost

“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.”  Psalm 19:7a NIV

This summer at Willowdale Chapel, we’ve been hearing how various members of our pastoral and teaching team find refreshment…I have spent part of this summer meditating on Psalm 19 in my various travels… Refreshing, restoring, reviving and renewing sound wonderful, but I wondered… How can a law accomplish all that?

Pursuing Solitude

Pursuing Solitude

Life is busy. It doesn’t matter what phase of life you are in, we are in a society that tells us more is better when it comes to our social life. I know that even my days off get scheduled with chores, dinners out and Netflix. It makes me wonder why. We all would probably say we are tired and worn out from the everyday stress of this life even if we are happy and content in our circumstance.

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“This Much but No More”

“This Much but No More”

The question hit me like cold water on the face, “Where have I said to God, ‘This much, but no more’?” Where have I stopped short in trying to live a godly life? I was reading 2 Kings 10, (admittedly a pretty violent chapter) about Jehu, King of Israel, who killed the wicked King Ahab and his beautiful but evil wife Jezebel. He then purged the country of all the priests and prophets of Baal. Jehu was on the right track to point his country back to God. 

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Refresh-MINT

Refresh-MINT

A few of my favorite ways to cool down in the heat of summer are sipping an ice-cold glass of mint tea by the pool, jumping in the ocean after basking in the sun or floating on a tube in the lake. The common thread? Water. Without water, the heat would get to me. I get dehydrated very easily and begin to feel sick, tired, and parched. This is much like how my flowers look after I forget to water them; sad and droopy.

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Intimate and Simple

Intimate and Simple

If there’s one thing that will consistently prick my anxiety, get my nerves going and make me start to sweat, it’s the thought of having to share my faith with someone. What if I say the wrong thing? What if it’s not perfect? What if I miss something? It’s intimidating and scary and most of the time I try to avoid it. But the thing is, when we look at the example of Jesus in the Bible, when He shares the Gospel, it’s not intimidating and scary. It’s intimate and simple.

The Slippery Slope of Alcoholism

The Slippery Slope of Alcoholism

To borrow from the greeting of a recovery meeting: “Hi, my name is Bonnie and I am the granddaughter of two alcoholics (both sides of the family tree), daughter of an alcoholic, sister of an alcoholic, and aunt of an alcoholic.” Alcoholism runs strong and deep in my family tree. As the old proverb says, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” I mean that literally! Had I not found Jesus at 13 years old, I believe that I too would have been in that number.

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Are We Good Enough?

Are We Good Enough?

A message I’ve repeatedly heard on social media, in written commentary pieces, and even in talks from Christian leaders is that “you are enough”, while some even take it further to say “you are good enough.” 

When taken with a grain of salt, I understand the message that we don’t have to perform up to someone else’s standard to be worthy of love – we are “enough” just as we are. But, even as I type that it still doesn’t sit right with me, because I see the sin in my heart, thoughts, and actions and I don’t see them as a qualifier or disqualifier for me to be loved.

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How I Found Wholeness After My Mental Health Diagnosis

How I Found Wholeness After My Mental Health Diagnosis

For almost 30 years, I’ve lived with a clinical diagnosis of a mental health condition. For the first half of my life after hearing the words “bipolar disorder,”  I hid under an umbrella of shame not wanting anyone to know. It felt like a shadow looming over me …

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Glory in the Humdrum: A Prayer for the Bored, Weary, or Wilting

Glory in the Humdrum: A Prayer for the Bored, Weary, or Wilting

Heavenly Father,

You know my heart, so you know I am struggling to find joy in this current season of life. I feel stuck, crawling through this wilderness with no end in sight. I look desperately for meaning and purpose in days that feel long and mundane. I have dreams for my life that seem bigger than the place where I wake up. I wrestle with the disappointment of both what is and what has not yet come.

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How to Help Those Who are Hurting Emotionally

How to Help Those Who are Hurting Emotionally

Having lived through the trauma of a verbally and emotionally abusive marriage and the ensuing chaos that extricating myself created, I’ve tended to avoid similar situations in other’s lives at all costs.  Just the recovery from that time in my life was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do. But I vowed to the Lord that I would obey Him in His promise to turn the broken and dirty ashes of my life into something beautiful that honors Him. 

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