Month: July 2026

Another morning. So many bills. A growing, hungry family to feed. Just a few dollars. Too many days until payday.

Repeat.

I had learned to take advantage of a sale. We were blessed to have a large freezer, where I would store my discounted treasures. The children knew that if there was a great sale, mom would buy a lot! Embarrassing quantities. Little did they know that as mom was driving home, while they were fighting or singing in the back of the van, she would often be praying a prayer of thanksgiving. “Thank You, Lord.”

One such morning, when harvest was in full swing, I had taken the kids with me to do some errands. The ride home was quiet that day, with each of us lost in our own thoughts. As we drove along, we met a tractor-trailer coming the other way, piled high with shiny, red tomatoes. Quietly, from the back seat, I heard our little boy’s voice … “Wow. Someone found a sale!!”

Oh, how I love the sermons that children preach to us! Yes, Benjie … someone found a sale. Here I am, all excited about the bags of groceries in the back of the van, while there’s a whole semi load of blessings rolling right past me! Speak to me, Lord. I know You want to say something to me …

Come. Walk with me. We’re going to be traveling back in time to a small freshwater lake in Israel. Look! Look over there. See the boat floating close the the water’s edge? See the man in the boat speaking to the people on the shore? That’s Jesus. Oh, I wish we could hear what He’s saying.

Oh, look! He’s talking to one of the fishermen now. I can hear Him. Listen. He’s saying, “Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Poor Fisherman-Simon. All he wanted was a nap and a fish breakfast.

He’s stifling a yawn. Listen closely … Lean in. There! I can hear Simon. “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

There go the nets, over the side of the boat. I wonder how long they’ll have to wait to catch anything. I bet it will be all d….. OH, goodness!! Look! Simon is holding onto the net for dear life. The net is even starting to break from the weight of the fish. Hear him calling for help? Thank God for those other fishermen who are moving in to assist. Have you ever seen anything like this? The first boat is full to overflowing … and they’re scooping the fish into the other boat! Hold on … keep watching. Are you kidding me? Both boats are full to the brim. They are even starting to sink. Gracious. I can’t watch. You look. Are they OK?

Yes. They’re fine. They’re chatting a bit. Looks like Simon is on his knees in front of Jesus. Oh, look. They’re pulling their boats onto the shore .. and leaving them there? Am I seeing what I’m seeing? Maybe I need new glasses. No. I can see it clearly. They are leaving it all, and following Jesus.

Oh, my friend. How often do you and I settle for a little bag of groceries in our hearts and lives when God has a semi load of blessings planned for us? How often do we work ourselves to exhaustion trying to satisfy the emptiness inside of us, coming up with nothing … when Jesus wants us to simply obey Him … as He waits to fill our hearts to the brim? He waits for that moment of surrender … when often with emotional exhaustion and depleted faith … we throw our nets over the side of the boat. And then He goes to work … filling us up to overflowing … in ways that we never imagined. He fills us to the brim with peace … with joy … with contentment … with hope … with His sweet Presence.

Let down the nets. Then let go. He’s got it. Stand back and watch Him work.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…” Ephesians 3:20, 21

“Dear Lord of the Immeasurably More … I’m tired. I’ve nothing left. In my pursuit of life, my pursuit of more, my pursuit of happiness … I’ve failed to just stop and listen to Your voice and then to obey. Today, I let down the net … and wait for You to work. I know that You are the Giver of pure joy, which is found in submission to You. And, Lord … Thank You. To You be the glory… In the priceless Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Cold. So very cold. Sometimes coldness can be experienced by all five senses! You feel it as your fingers turn numb, you see it in the brittle, hanging icicles, you hear it in the crunch under your boots, you smell it in the crystals magically floating in the air and yes … accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate, you taste it!

The night was so very cold … and dark. We left the warmth of the church and piled into our old farm pickup. Our tall son, Jeremy, was crowded into the seat next to me along with one of our daughters. With my keyboard across their laps, out onto the road we rolled! We laughed and reviewed the events of evening, with chattering teeth and our breath seen in the light of the street lights.

And then we heard something. A sputter. We lurched. Another sputter. Then silence. Awful silence.

With a hard yank on the steering wheel I was able to pull the pickup onto the shoulder. There was no need for a mechanic. We all knew the problem. We were out of gas. After several attempts to start ‘er up, she let us know clearly that she was on “E”.

Knowing that there was a gas station several miles down the road and that it was far too frigid outside to hike there, I suggested that we pray. After all, God has no problem starting a truck. So with our breath sending smoke signals to heaven, we prayed, asking God to start the truck and to get us to the gas station.

I turned the key. The old truck sputtered, almost sounding like it was against her will. Then up she started! Off we rolled down the road, rejoicing in answered prayer and our amazing God. “Thank You, Lord.” A few miles down the road, we heard a sputter, we lurched, another sputter … and then silence. Awful silence.

Yanking the wheel again, we inched out way onto the shoulder. After a brief discussion as to how God answered our prayer, we decided to pray again. “Ok, we’re back, Lord. Could you please start the truck again?”

As I turned the key, with a truck load of doubt in my heart, she sputtered and came to life! And we were off … shivering and praising as we went. God had answered our prayers twice and we were grateful. Isn’t He amazing? He knows our needs and just comes to the rescue. Why do we doubt Him? He knows we need gas. He is all-powerful. He can do … sputter … lurch … silence. Awful silence.

Rolling slowly onto the shoulder, even with a chilled thought process, I really was starting to have a problem with this God of mine. I mean … if He had the power to start a truck without gas, then He certainly had the power to keep it going. We needed to get home. We were cold. We were hungry.

“Dear, Lord. Just one more time, please. We’re almost there. Could ya, would ya?” I turned the key … and she reluctantly came to life. “Thanks, again, Lord.” With glances at each other and looks of “I don’t know what’s going on here”, we ventured out onto the road again. After a very few uncertain minutes, we saw the lights of the gas station in the distance. “Please, please, please, Lord..”

Pulling up next to the gas pump, I put it into “Park” and shut the tired engine off. The gas station attendant came out of the building, and I told him about our trip from the church. After inspecting the gas lines, he told us that there was absolutely no way that the truck should have still been running, adding that there was no gas at all in the lines. Thanks, Lord.

But hold on …

Let’s be honest. Have you ever been in the driver’s seat of your life, asking the Lord to give you all that you need for the next ten miles, and all He seems to give you is what you need to get through the next ten minutes? Ever needed ten miles worth of grace … direction … money … endurance … protection … grit … strength … healing … clarity … understanding? You’ve asked. And waited. And then you realized that He gave you what you needed for just the next few minutes … or hours.

Oh, how our loving Heavenly Father loves us to be dependent on Him! He loves for us to feel our need of Him … to be continually coming into His Presence in prayer … and then giving Him the honor and glory for what He’s done. He says to you and I, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor Me.” Psalm 50:15

Go, grab your water bottle, and walk with me … You’re going to be parched. We’ll be heading to Samaria, and there has been a famine there for years. Come on! Pick up the pace a bit. We’ve got a few thousand years to travel.

Over there … see that crowd slowly dispersing? They just watched a show like never has been seen before or since. Elijah and some prophets of Baal had a showdown … with the prophets of Baal calling out to their god to burn up the bull on the altar, and Elijah calling on the One true God to send down fire to burn up the bull. After hours of silence and no response from Baal, Elijah prayed. God in Heaven sent down a mind-blowing fire, that had the people falling on their faces before Him. Now Elijah knew that God would send them rain. He told the King of Israel, Ahab, to go and eat and drink! Off he went.

Now look! Over there in the distance…. See the man climbing slowly up the mountain? That’s Elijah. His heart is heavy, knowing the desperate need for rain. The people have been walking their animals for miles, trying to find just any small patch of grass. That’s his servant standing off to the side. Oh, look … Elijah’s bowing down to the ground.

Shhhh. Listen closely. Elijah is telling his servant to go and look toward the sea. He’s confident in the God who just displayed His power to the people. The servant walks to the sea and reports back that there’s no sign of rain. Elijah told him to go back and check again. Nothing. Go and check again. Zip. Not a drop. Go again, servant. Blue sky. Go back and really look this time. Notta. Go again. Gorgeous sky, as far as the eye could see. Elijah doesn’t give up. Go … look toward the sea. Servant slowly walks back again. At least he’s getting his steps in.

Elijah can see him running towards him this time! He can hardly get the words out… “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

Oh, Elijah knew his God would come through! He knew that His answers could be “more than he asked or imagined”. He told the servant to go tell Ahab to hitch his wagon and to go down before the rain stopped him. The sky grew black with clouds and heavy rains poured down around them.

Could God have sent the rain the first time that Elijah asked? Yes. He could have sent it before Elijah asked. But Elijah stayed in the presence of God, dependent on Him.

Then he saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand.

What about your situation? Have you been watching the sea for a sign that God is moving, and you’re just seeing a cloudless sky? Keep asking … keep watching … keep staying … keep praying. God is at work in ways that you can’t. And one day … you’ll start to see things moving … and the outcome will be in the shape of His hand.

Then … give Him the honor that’s due Him.

“Dear God … On the days that I don’t see you moving, remind my heart that You are at work in ways that I cannot. Thank You that You invite me and draw me into Your Presence … and that You love me to be dependent on You. Lord … sometimes I don’t understand why You seem to be silent. Calm my anxious mind. Keep my eyes on You, watching for answers that are in the shape of Your hand. … In Your Most Worthy Name…”

Everywhere I turned, it seemed … every room … every little available space … had a flourishing cascade of healthy foliage. There were always signs of new growth … as filtered sunlight lit up the green into living color. Large pots … small pots … tiny pots … bronze pots … clay pots … some sitting … some hanging … she had them all. My mother loved her plants!

One day, in chatting with her about her plants, she let me in on one of her secrets of horticulture. Oh, she didn’t really have actual secrets about her green thumb! No, she loved to give tips and advice. Always wanting to learn more about how to have healthy greenery, I asked mom that day about where she got her plants.

Mom responded quickly, “Oh, I just get them at the grocery store. They do much better than if I get them at a flower shop. You see, they aren’t treated very nicely sometimes in a grocery store, so they are much stronger. They don’t look the best but their roots have grown deeper. Then, when I get them home, they flourish.”

Do you ever feel like just a plant, left on a grocery store shelf? As you look back over your life you see the years of neglect or mistreatment or abuse. The days blend into a collage of pain, anger, regret, shame and mistrust. Or perhaps you’ve been told that you’re worthless … that you don’t look as stunning as the other “plants”… leaving you feeling broken, damaged and un-loved.

Dear, sweet friend … If I could, I would take your beautiful face in my hands and look you in the eyes. I want you to listen with your heart.

The God of the universe, the One who formed you, who created you in His image, who calls you His masterpiece, who knows how many hairs on your head, who sees your tears, whose heart breaks for you in all that you’ve been through … sees you.

He sees you.

Many years ago, a young man who cared for sheep and then went on to be a writer, wrote these words, guided by God … “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.” Psalm 139:1,2 This same young man wrote, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit..” Psalm 34:18

Travel with me for a bit. Let’s go back a few thousand years and visit the land of Canaan. Before we have walked too far, we’ll find a home with a husband, a sad wife and a very upset slave named Hagar. This woman had been asked to bare a child for the husband, Abram, as his wife Sarai wasn’t able to conceive. Shockingly, this caused tension between Sarai and Hagar. Sarai mistreated Hagar, so she ran away. She escaped to an area in the desert near a spring. An angel of the Lord found her there … and asked her a timeless question … “… where have you come from and where are you going?” Hagar explained that she was running away from her mistress. The angel then instructed her to return to her mistress, and assured her that her descendants would be too numerous to count. Before leaving her, the angel told her to name her son “Ishmael” which means, “God hears.” Not only would Hagar obey the instructions, but she also gave this name to the Lord … “You are the God who sees me.” Genesis 16:13

He sees you.

Rest assured that during those days and years your roots were growing deeper and He saw you. The fact that you are here today, breathing and reading this story, shows that you have grown roots. God wants to take your life, and by His touch, turn it into a magnificent, cascading display of life.

Come to Him. Bring Him your broken heart, your damaged pot, your tangled plant. Place it at His feet, and surrender. He says to you, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

And then … my sweet friend … in that very moment, He will pour new life into you, He will cleanse your heart, put His Holy Spirit in you, become your Father and Friend … and will never leave your side.

He sees you.

“Dear One who sees me … Heavenly Father … Thank you for seeing me … in all the dark and confusing times … the lonely and lost times … the times when my heart was shattering into a million pieces. I now come to You, bringing the broken pieces. I surrender my will to Yours. Come into my heart and be Lord of my life. Thank you for loving me enough to die for me. Continue to grow my roots … using all my pain to make me stronger in You. I love you, Lord. In the mighty Name of Jesus…”