In my own faith journey, I have come to know that following Jesus by living as he lived is not easy.During Holy Week we celebrated the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is belief in this truth that is at the heart of what defines all Christians.  We embrace the death of Jesus and His resurrection, proving He overcame death.  We live in eternal Hope that for those of us who live out our lives as Jesus did,

A reflection for me is a very personal heartfelt part of me. Sometimes when I have thought about this writing I have wavered on the subject. I was waiting on the Lord to bring to mind something that is very deep in my soul and memory. This morning Peter and I were talking and out of the blue my dearest cousin Tammy’s name came up. I knew right away that she will be my reflection. We grew up together in

In one of our women’s bible study gatherings, I remember someone asking how to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us; and someone else said that it might be a thought planted in our head. After 6 months or so of attending the Praise & Worship Center (PWC), there was an occasion where I was standing in my bedroom closet and the word TRANSFORMATION came to my mind. I believe that “God moment” in my closet was the Holy Spirit

Peace Be with You… One of the most common greetings we hear from Jesus are the words, “Peace be with you.”  In every resurrection account up to His ascension into heaven Jesus always greets his friends with this beautiful salutation. The disciples needed to hear these words because they were living in fear. The world as they knew it was just turned upside down. Many ran and hid behind locked doors in fear of being attacked. Jesus wants to give

Stretcher Bearers “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it,

The Concept of Little Easters We all know what the meaning of Easter is!   Jesus died for our sins on Good Friday, and on Easter morning he breaks forth from the tomb and conquers death.  Easter is the most important day to any Christian, indeed, to any person who hopes for eternal life. I hope and pray that the joy of Easter fills our hearts in a special way this year.  We could use a little more Easter in

Judgment As I grow older and hopefully wiser, an apparent need to address my addiction to “Judgment” has risen.  It appears to me that much of what I view goes through this filter of judging.  Let’s take a car I see while driving along or any object for that matter.  I may think I don’t like the color.  It is too big, too small, the tires too little.  Then there are even people I meet …too fat, too skinny

Psalm 23 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.” We sang this several weeks ago on Sunday morning giving kudos to artist Kathy Triccoli. The music has been resonating in my head and heart ever since. Coincidently, I was asked to write a reflection about that same time.  The timing was perfect. I knew Psalm 23 well from grade school when we could still

A Reflection From My Heart The new direction in my life has brought about a transformation in me that has awakened my soul to the Holy Spirit. As I stumbled through life, being swallowed up by indulgences and weakness, I wasn’t sure that God was there with me, so I chose to shut him out rather than allow myself to feel his presence.  Then, one frightening day, when my body was sick and life felt hopeless and my path

Thank You We gathered tonight around a hospital bed with a dear friend on hospice. We held his hand; shared words of affirmation and then began to sing songs of praise with him. John and Mary turned an ordinary living room into a piece of heaven. Angels gathered in that room, around this special man through the gift of their ministry and music. One chord at a time, one note, one lyric moved everyone in that room one step

I am a Friend of Jesus! Recently, I have been reflecting on “I AM A FRIEND OF JESUS” He calls me friend. What did I do to deserve to be called his friend? Am I worthy? Why? I love the song “I am a friend of Jesus.” When I first heard it sung in church by Joyce Bailey, it made me feel so special to be called a friend of Jesus. Thank you, Joyce! As I spend time in prayer

Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.  I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:16-17 NLT Last Christmas I was honored to receive one of the most loving and tender gifts of my life.  The gift was the joy of

Luke 4 Every time I read the Scriptures; I find new insights that help guide my life even though the written words have not changed since my last reading. There is clearly something else at play and my experiences of that create a sense of Wonder in me making me eager to surrender evermore so as to draw ever closer to this source of deep knowing of me. Behind God’s Word there is something that knows me deeply and knows

How Jesus is Working in My Life Have you ever noticed how we act more formally when talking to someone we do not know very well? The same thing is true with God. Our understanding of what God is like, helps shape everything else in our lives, which includes our prayer lives. I want to continue to grow my relationship with our Lord and sometimes when something is on my mind, I will share it with God. Since having

Love is in the Air Love is in the air as we approach Valentine’s Day, February 14.  Hearts, cupids, cards, and candies started appearing on the store shelves before we had completed our Christmas and New Year celebrations.  But did you know Valentine’s Day or St Valentine’s Day originated as a Christian feast day honoring early Christian martyrs named Valentine?  Only later did it become associated with romantic love. There are so many Bible verses that talk about love,

Women’s Ministry Retreat Reflection I was asked to prepare a reflection on the Women’s Ministry Retreat which was held on January 7 and 8, 2022 at the Hilton Garden Hotel in Chandler. After attending and assisting with some of the retreat preparations, I began to organize my thoughts on how to share this experience and what I thought our women took away from our retreat. A general definition of a spiritual retreat is a time set apart to be

A Sense of Belonging The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was

As I’m sitting down to write this reflection it is the first of December. I find myself thinking back about this past year and all the circumstances of life, good and bad, that have occurred, and all the hopes and dreams that either materialized or will be continuing on into next year. So, I guess it’s time to dust off the list of New Year’s resolutions and try again. Let’s see, on January 1st I’m going to lose weight,

Happy New Year 2022! Once again it’s time for our annual activity of well-meaning New Year’s Resolutions, followed by the inevitable inability to sustain them for very long. I propose that we use the COVID 19 pandemic as the most powerful teaching moment of our lifetime as we make this year’s resolutions.Chatham House is a world leading policy institute with a mission to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world. They state: “The pandemic has

A Time to Reflect As I write this reflection, it’s still 2021. While it is tempting to look toward the new year and things to come, it is fitting to first reflect on the past and learn a few things from it. So today I am taking time to reflect on my life and thank God for the gift of another year. It’s not so much about what I accomplished this year, or which goals I met – that’s

The End is Just a New Beginning “Here we are at the end of another year.  We will gather with family and friends and pop the champagne at the stroke of midnight and sing “Auld Lang Syne.” That song means times long past, and the eighteenth-century poem was a time to reflect on all the blessings we have experienced and a time to reconcile any conflicts so that we can start new.  This time of year, it has me reflecting

After months of planning, I am leaving to go fishing with my three friends Larry, Tom and John.  I am all checked in, through TSA and at the gate.  Now I am faced with getting in that aluminum tube and climbing up to 30,000 + feet. The flight to Seattle is very smooth, pleasant, and uneventful.  I met Larry in Seattle and decided to check the weather between Seattle and Sitka. Big mistake! The screen on my phone looked

Giving Praise to God on Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is right around the corner and as we all know a national holiday in the United States.  In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.  From that time forward, Thanksgiving has been celebrated as a day to give thanks to God for being

A Tattoo I have never been a fan of getting a tattoo.  It seemed to me that by getting a tattoo you were marking your body with permanent ink even though the words or thoughts you were putting on the body were temporary. I can picture a young man, who is only nineteen years old, and he marks his arm with the words “I love Barbie”.  Unfortunately, he grows older and never sees Barbie again, yet his arm bears

Lingering at the Table One of my favorite memories as a child is going to my Grandma & Grandpa York’s for a family gathering. Grandma, Mom, and all her sisters/sisters-in-law would be in the kitchen preparing the meal.  They filled the kitchen with talk, laughter, and love. As the family gathered around the table for the meal, the talk, laughter and love continued. When the meal was over many would linger around the table to continue the fellowship of