Petals of Friendship

  Your story, God’s story The past, present and future…all parts of our story. I am intrigued by history, especially my family’s history. The people, where they lived, the origins of their stories. Knowing my roots and where I came from is not only a part of their stories, but my story. God’s story. While I may not always pay attention, God has been weaving a unique story through the generations of my family. I’ve tried to capture those stories, mostly in small bits and pieces through the memories of my mother and father. The good, the bad, and the ugly parts of it have been shared. No one has a perfect story, and I think we’d rather forget about the bad and the ugly parts, but we have to wonder, why were those unwanted parts written in? We can stay stuck in those past parts, but God offers something better. Throughout the Bible, we find stories filled with the reality of hard things. Highs and lows are scattered throughout the lives of the people yet, in those stories, God shows u...

  Living a disrupted life Everything has changed. Our lives have certainly been disrupted. And if you really think about it, nothing over time is new. When I think about the many changes and challenges from the beginning of time, I am led to several of the stories in the New Testament where peoples' lives were disrupted by many things, especially as Jesus appeared on the scene.. When Christ showed up, it was a definite disruption to the life and culture of the day. He created a stir and things changed. People tried to figure out who this man was. Many recognized that he was "The Way", but there was so much to learn and sort through. There was mystery and misunderstanding. Did he come to break the rules or give new ones? Jesus crashed into the lives of people who were outcasts, hopeless, and in desperate need. He fought the establishment and made a way for those who needed love, compassion, and grace. Stepping in when the culture was ready to convict those same people, Jes...

It is a mystery.   My husband held his hand out and in it was a lovely sea shell.   He heard it land on the driveway from out of nowhere.   We both wondered where it came from. Maybe a bird found it and dropped it in flight.   Or maybe the shell was caught up by the wind and happened to find its resting place near where Joe was working.   It was the last thing he expected to see.   The shell appeared delicate in structure, and it would seem the fall alone could have chipped it, but it didn’t.   Researchers have learned that sea shells are formed with a strong and resilient design structure.   This design endures the stress of their environment and allows fractures to appear where they would do the least harm to the organism inside.   It’s all about protection.   Isn’t that amazing?   What a great picture of how God uses His strength and resilience in our circumstances.   How He takes on the stresses so we don’t “break”. ...