life lessons – Matters of the Heart

Heaven Can Wait

I grew up in rural western North Carolina, where the closest grocery store was a 15-minute drive, but Baptist churches were on every corner. They dotted the roadside like watermelon seeds embedded in the sweet juiciness of family activities. The devout families attended church every time the doors opened–Sunday morning and evening, Wednesday evening, revivalsContinue reading “Heaven Can Wait”

Transforming Thoughts with Creative Metaphors

Things can always be described in a straight line to get to a point, but with a metaphor, your brain detours to a pivot point called “ah ha.” Metaphors make us think about things from a different perspective.

Joy

No one can infiltrate the things that bring you joy because joy springs from within, and happiness lives outside ourselves. – author unknown The best description I can provide of people with an innate capability for consistent joy is that they are reincarnated angels who have managed to keep their spiritual glow. Their internal glowContinue reading “Joy”

Peace

To solve our problems, and achieve our wants and needs, Christians are taught to pray to God as though that entity is external, somewhere in the celestial beyond and we wait for the prayed-for-fix. Often, the fix doesn’t happen. Does that mean peace is a pipe dream?

Hope

I don’t particularly like that we are living in history-making times. But here we are. When tough times have historically challenged us, people like you and me have made a difference.

Hibiscus

Hibiscus, my mom’s favorite flower, are symbolic of:
Persistence, courage, strength, and resilience

Wilderness of our Spirits

We all experience difficult periods where life and our spirits feel like a barren wilderness. Times when where we are physically or emotionally, is not an easy place to be. The stings of life’s scorpions come at us from multiple directions.

What If We Profiled Others As “Love”

I am contemplating how we Christians, at the beginning of December, started our celebration of Advent with themes of hope, moved into peace, then joy, and are wrapping these all up with love. In this chaotic world, are those obtainable ideals? As I consider the love component, what pops into my mind is a video IContinue reading “What If We Profiled Others As “Love””