Tag Archives: building lives

Parents as Builders

Integrity is the key to building a solid life that will last for eternity.  The foundation upon which the builder’s life is established is critical.  We can not transfer our foundation to the life of another, but we can live in such a way that our foundation is revealed as trustworthy, valuable and worth imitation.Continue reading “Parents as Builders”

Building Relationships

“There is no beauty in domination. Control is a cheap substitute for partnership.”   Anna Blake  Relationships matter!  We have shared before some principles taught in an equine coaching program that offer solid wisdom for our human connections.  In a relationship: If it’s not good for both, it’s not good for either. A healthy relationshipContinue reading “Building Relationships”

Be A GATE!

The Gate to see God is being: Genuine.  Accepting.  Transparent.  Encouraging. Genuine: Real with God and others.  Pat phrases are not what get us through life! Accepting:  God meets us where we are at but loves us too much to leave us there.  Accepting doesn’t mean there are no ‘rules,’ it means walking alongside untilContinue reading “Be A GATE!”

The Value of Emotions

Feelings are good things–even when the feelings are bad.  It has taken me a lot of years to truly understand that truth in my heart.  The only comic strip I have ever cut out was a Lockhorn comic on feelings:  the grumpy husband said, “I am in touch my feelings.  I just don’t happen toContinue reading “The Value of Emotions”

Divinely Designed & Equipped

Individual Design Intuitively we recognize differences in people.  We see natural tendencies, areas of giftedness and weaknesses.  Education, experience and personality traits shape designs.  In the Church we speak of ‘spiritual gifts,’ understanding that Scripture is clear God gives gifts to His children.  Typically the passages of scripture discussing gifts are taught as a partial listing ofContinue reading “Divinely Designed & Equipped”

Restoring life!

Vines invaded my fig tree this year.  They choked the life out of some branches and devastated the crop of fruit.  I’ve battled these vines for three years…this year they were mad.  It seems that every year they have come back stronger.  Truth be told, I was afraid of them.  Someone told they were poisonContinue reading “Restoring life!”

Glory Glimpse: Misjudging Jesus, the Nazarene

Our human tendency is to hear and see that which promises pleasure: preferring power to persecution is human self-preservation. It is comfortable for us to be blind to Truth when it does not fit our plans and pre-conceived ideas. Our Jesus, the Nazarene, calls us to seek the Father’s perspective and His acceptance above all else. Jesus of Nazareth reminds us that God’s ways our not our ways.

Just as man erroneously judged the village of Nazareth, so, too, man mis-judges Jesus. As Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah, Jesus was ‘despised and rejected of men’. The plans of man have no room for suffering. Yet, God chose Nazareth as the hometown of the Savior because rejection of the world is the path to acceptance of God.

Can we use an Exacto Knife on the Bible?

If I believed in the ‘exacto-knife’ approach to reading the Word of God, this verse would have been eliminated years ago. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.   Matthew 7:14 I wear the proverbial ‘rose-colored’ glasses wheneverContinue reading “Can we use an Exacto Knife on the Bible?”