You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 (NIV)(Todd and Nicol celebrating Fourth of July at Nkara-Ewa, Congo, 1981)Where were you September 11, 2001? I was getting breakfast for my four-year, three-year, and one-year-old children when the phone rang. It was my dad."Shawn, turn on the news … [Read more...] about Freedom Isn’t Free
Encouragement
For My Baby Brother
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17 (NIV) June 28, 1979, was one of the happiest days of my eleven years of life on this earth. Into our weary, bewildered, and homesick-for-America family came a ray of sunshine that weighed exactly nine pounds. I had begged my parents over and over again for another sibling. Repeatedly, I had heard the word, … [Read more...] about For My Baby Brother
Taken Into His Confidence
"For the LORD detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence." Proverbs 3:32I am a product of Sunday School flannel graph lessons. Long before videos or DVDs taught Biblical truths to children in church classrooms, I would sit mesmerized and cross-legged on the floor as I watched my teacher press cut-out Bible story characters on a felt-covered piece of cardboard. Sometimes … [Read more...] about Taken Into His Confidence
The Poison of Apathy
"You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 (NIV)Grief must be acknowledged. It is a force so strong in intensity that we cannot afford to ignore it. Those who do not embrace grief and walk its dark road will slowly sink … [Read more...] about The Poison of Apathy
If These Walls Could Speak
“A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Proverbs 14:1Rob and I recently visited the one of the oldest plantation homes in the South open to the public. The uniqueness of this home was that we toured an empty house. All that we looked at were bare walls that last saw a paint brush over one hundred fifty years ago. The plaster ceilings were still … [Read more...] about If These Walls Could Speak
Children of the Heavenly Father
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.Matthew 18:10 We used to sing the following hymn during our Monday night devotions with Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth Ann Peterson and Uncle Dave and Aunt Joyce Falconer at Ubangi Academy, the boarding school I attended in Congo when I was in seventh grade. … [Read more...] about Children of the Heavenly Father
