Here's my Sunday column from today's (June 7) Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette:In the middle of my 4th grade year, my dad got transferred. We moved in mid-January to a new town I had never seen. Suddenly, I got introduced to the experience of grief and loss.  I just didn’t know what it was that I was experiencing. Continue reading "Here’s how to become one of God’s favorites…"

My friend John Piippo says you are what God thinks of you, not what you think of you.  And what does God think you?  "You are my daughter with whom I am well pleased."  ... "You are my son with whom I am well pleased."To truly understand that we are a daughter or a son weContinue reading "What does God think of you?"

Galatians 6:7-97 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.-----One of my friends who has gone through a hard time lately and I were talkingContinue reading "You don’t just reap what you sow…"

Living in a spirit of harmony, gratitude, and forgiveness takes practice.  Why not practice saying what Pope Francis more than once has suggested to help strengthen the family:  “May I?”, “Thank you,” and “Pardon me.”  ... Not rocket science, friends.  So, which attitude do you need to focus on today? And what steps can youContinue reading "As far as it depends on you, live at peace with all people"

Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus, church planting, training and doing a lot of lecturing at the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus... Here's how Luke records some of what happened on Paul's third missionary journey around 52 A.D.Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the KingdomContinue reading "The Apostle Paul’s graduation speech"

Yes indeed, both my daughter and I made the Sunday Comics in one of my favorite cartoons ... "Dilbert."My tech-savvy daughter Maddie is "Dilbert" in the glasses;  And sigh, I am the pointy-haired boss!  (Maddie, thanks in advance for more patience and help when I need it ... ah, probably later today! Pleeaase, I'll beContinue reading "I don’t think I’m this bad, but some people who know me well may beg to differ!"

Some thoughts on finding our calling for graduates, moms, well, all of us, in my New-Gazette May 10 column...

The shepherd of the sheep . . . calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. . . . He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. . . . I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. . . . My sheepContinue reading "Only one way ultimately to recognize God’s voice…"