Glory in Disguise is Published!
/
Great news, dear friends!
We hit the button…PUBLISH. So now Glory in Disguise is available in ebook form at many online outlets. Print book will be available in the next week or so.
Read More
Why the Fall Colors? by John Loyd
/
The fall is my favorite season. The colors overwhelm my eyes as every tree and bush shouts, “Here I am! Look at me! You didn’t even notice me as an individual all summer long. But now! Look how I stand out from all the other foliage around me, even though my neighbors are just as striking. But pay attention to me! Now you can see the full glory of all that I am!”
But why does all that color exist? What is its purpose? What is the point of all this color? From whence comes its vibrance?
Read MoreThere's a Ghost Inside of Me
/
Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4 NASB
… Predictably, we got to see the neighborhood again filled with ghosts and goblins, scarecrows and pumpkins, punctuating yards all around. .
Read MoreMy Burning Bush ... Every Day
/
…Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” …God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. … the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. Exodus 3:2-5 NLT
There is a “burning bush” in my daughter’s yard in Illinois. And it is ablaze with glory right now! So when three year old William and I came outside yesterday morning, we couldn’t help but notice the changes that seemed to happen overnight.
“It’s RED!”
“Yes, William, and it’s called a Burning Bush. You know what? God spoke to a man named Moses from a Burning Bush. It’s in the Bible.”
Read More100 Years Old? / Remembering my Dad (New Photos from back in the day)
/
I'm so thankful for the man that GOD chose to be my earthly father. I wish I had had more time to get to know him as a person. He died young ... just 60! But if he had lived longer, Conrad Renner would have been 100 years old on tomorrow, October 19, 2023.
Read MoreRomance: Loving Jesus
/
Another entry from our soon to be published book of meditations, GLORY in DISGUISE: Seeing God in our Every Day…
When my husband John and I were seniors at the University of Arizona, the Carpenters were at the top of the music charts. We embraced them as “our group” who sang “our songs” as we were "a-courting." Their mellow sound and rich melodies fed our romantic feelings toward each other and toward life in general.
Read MoreA Day of Reckoning...Put Off/Put On!
/
Today is a Day of Reckoning...but not how you think! Usually we use that term to mean to give an accounting, a calculation, a settlement of accounts. In fact according to Wikipedia, it can mean a host of things from the Final Judgment Day to heavy metal albums and Nintendo games.
But in the Bible sense, EVERY day is a Day of Reckoning. This word reckon in the Greek is often rendered consider. In other words, "count on something to be true". My reckoning doesn't MAKE it true. It already IS true, so I count on it and live from it. So each day is THE day to reckon to be true what God says is true...because it IS true. I can take it to the bank and live from it :)
Read MoreRe-Purposing ... More Than Containers
/
I’m the family “container queen.”
Actually, I’m obsessed with containers — cute ones, practical ones, and especially “potential ones.” You know, those containers — those boxes that come in the mail, that are sturdy and reusable, and even trendy looking … and those bags, like from the Apple store, or places like JJill and Trader Joe’s. They are perfect to reuse in practical and lovely ways.
Read MoreSuffering . . . Never Punishment
/
Everyone suffers.
You may be suffering right now, or you have recently suffered, or you may soon suffer. But for a child of God, suffering is NEVER punishment!
Jesus took our punishment to the cross!
Read MoreSunrise, Sunset: Remembering His Faithfulness
/
Just as a sunset brings closure to a day, so this meditation brings closure to our “Beach Series” for another year. May you be blessed as you reflect along with us — another selection from our soon to be published book of meditations, Glory in Disguise: Seeing god in our Every Day.
A Message on the Beach
/
I was walking one morning on the beach at sunrise, taking in the glory of the vastness of the Ocean (my favorite metaphor for God) and the littleness of me.
All of a sudden, I stopped dead in my tracks…Wait! I had just walked this way a few minutes ago.
Read MoreThe Sunrise Club: Receiving Morning Mercies
/
Hi Friends, we have returned from our wonderful family time at the Jersey shore, my happy place. As many of you know, my favorite thing about the shore is walking early in the morning at sunrise.
So here are some current photos from our “down the shore” trip, along with another meditation from our upcoming book: Glory in Disguise: Seeing God in Our Every Day.
I pray you see Him afresh as you read and reflect.
Read MoreThis "Branch" is going "Down the Shore"
/
From my very first year of blogging and just about every year since (sometimes several times in a year) … I’ve been blogging my journeys to my “happy place”…the Jersey Shore.
This blogpost is a trip into yesteryear — one of my early Jersey shore blogs, Aug 2016.
And actually today, we are again on our way to that favorite place on earth for me. It’s not just the ocean that calls me. It’s my roots — the precious loved ones (family and friends) and memories of my growing up years. So off we go for another adventure…
Read MoreThe Enough-ness of the Indwelling Christ
/
We live under the illusion that a mature person is supposed to be enough to do life on this earth. And then the longer we live, we begin to realize that we are not enough. Life on this fallen planet is too much for us, no matter how mature we are … or self-sufficient.
Read MoreI Am Not Enough ... and Neither Are You
/
… I love Linda’s comment, “So glad this isn’t telling me I am enough! I am not, but He is!”
I had to say AMEN.
We both hate the lie that is being propagated that “You are enough.” Nobody seemed to be saying the truth. But then I remembered the book I saw at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.
Read MoreFriends of God: "Be Thou My Vision"
/
For years this hymn has been my go to song…from the time I was “in the convent” back in the late 1960’s to this very day no matter my Christian context. And recently it has been my morning song as I awaken the dawn walking in my area — even as the darkness is departing and my neighborhood owl is singing out the final hoo-hoo of his “day.”
And so I sing…even aloud…despite the high school young people passing me by on their way to the bus stop, wondering about this weird, white haired woman softly singing. I love the focus. I love the plaintive melody. I love my indwelling God who draws me toward thoughts of HIM Alone. And I love the story behind the song…
Read MoreFriends of God: My Divine Dance Partner
/
God often speaks to my just awaking soul.
Today, I woke up with an interesting Holy Spirit “version” of a favorite verse (see Galatians 2:20 KJV):
I dance, yet not I, Christ dances in and with me.
Today He was reminding me of my favorite metaphor for walking in the Spirit, living from the indwelling Christ…the imagery of the dance.
Read MoreFriends of God: Never "Ghosted"
/
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her,
“You are a God who sees me” [El Roi]
for she said, “Have I even seen Him here and lived after He saw me?”
Genesis 16:13 NASB
Have you ever been “ghosted”? Made to feel invisible, not important, on the outside looking in?
Read MoreFriends of God: Faithful All My Life
/
… all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
When we sang these words of praise this morning in worship, it took my breath away. In an instant, my life flashed by my soul with a profound sense of gratitude….
Read MoreFriends of God: Speaking and Listening
/
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 ESV
One day, I had this conversation with my Friend:
ME: Yes, Lord. We are friends ... we go way back, don't we?
Read More
