Joyful Refuge

  • Minimalism and Christian Faith

    I am an artistic soul who loves creating and beauty and the idea of minimalism never appealed to me. I think I always viewed it as stark, cold, sterile and uncreative. I read an article on minimalism lately that had a quote that got me considering it differently. This quote comes from Joshua Becker of…

  • True Confessions of the Easily Distracted and What Helps Me

    I tend to either go to work on something that needs done and see six other things needing done so I flit around doing them. Meanwhile the thing I was trying to accomplish is still not done. Or I hyper focus on something and stay immersed for hours in it when other things truly need…

  • Our Good Shepherd

    Our Good Shepherd

    Psalms 23 is such a familiar psalm that it is easy to recite it and move on without seeing the rich blessings of love, care, protection, and guidance our Good Shepherd provides for us. I remember in VBS the summer between second and third grade getting a prize for memorizing Psalm 23. I could recite…

  • God in Our Scorched Places

    And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desires in scorched places and make your bones strong and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, Whose waters do not fail. – Isaiah 58:11 ESV What areas of your life are scorched places, where do you feel you are…

  • Nana I want a Flower Picture

    My three and a half year old granddaughter Ruthie came to me one day recently requesting I do a painting for her. “Nana, I want a flower picture that you painted for me” Ruthie said this with her big eyes gazing earnestly at me. “What kind of flower do you want me to paint?” asked.…

  • Soar with the Eagles: Isaiah 40 devotion.

    Chapter 40 of Isaiah begins with familiar words of our coming Messiah which are included in Handel’s Messiah, ”Comfort my people.” Verse 8 reminds us that “God’s Word will stand forever,” while verse 11 shows the tender shepherd-like care God has for each of us. The middle section from verses 12 -27 recount the greatness…

  • My Refuge from the Storms of Life

    2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. – Psalm 57:1-2  Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. Every time…

  • Trying to Flourish in 2020

    7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does…

  • Quiet and Content Like a Weaned Child

    Our world around us is full of strife and outrage. It is easy to cause offense or be offended. There are so many things that need changed or fixed in our world that we can get so caught up in it all that we become frantic, fearful or irritable. When we only consider all the…

  • Where is My Trust?

    Things in our world have shifted so much in recent weeks all because of a tiny microscopic virus. Our enemy is unseen. Life seems unpredictable and precarious, jobs and economy look uncertain and scary, and the future is clouded with unknowns and what-ifs. Most areas have restrictions for social distancing so many of us are…