Tales from a Mid-Lifer

Tag: Christianity

  • I Didn’t Want to Leave Church on Sunday

    I especially didn’t want worship to end. As is often true for believers, sometimes the hardest weeks end in the most intimate worship.  It is something inexplicable to those who don’t know Christ. Praising an invisible God despite disturbing news and years of seemingly unanswered prayers. Those kinds of hard…

  • The Berenstain Bears Keep the Faith

    What’s not to love about The Berenstain Bears series? The book, Keep the Faith, will not disappoint either avid Berenstain followers or those brand new to these books. Author Mike Berenstain (son of the original Berenstain Bears authors: Stan and Jan Berenstain) does a terrific job of creating an age-appropriate…

  • Is It Really All “Small” Stuff?

    In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when the “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: And It’s All Small Stuff” books were at the height of their popularity, I would read the title and wonder, “What about the Mom of twins who just found out that she has stage 4 cancer?…

  • The Jesus Bible (for kids): Discover Jesus in Every Book of the Bible

    Book Review (I’ve included photos below): I have viewed countless children’s bibles over the years, and The Jesus Bible (NIV), Discover Jesus in Every Book of the Bible is terrific! Although the stated age group is 9-12, this bible could also be shared with children a couple of years older…

  • I’m Going to Read the Entire Bible – This Week!

    I have days when I’m disappointed with the amount of time I’m spending on worldly routine vs. the time I’m spending connecting with God. About six times a year, I resolve to “get better” with my spiritual disciplines. These (often unrealistic) resolutions usually go something like this:  Get out of…

  • The Ducks Will Follow

    Walking through my favorite local park, I stopped to watch a Mama duck cross my path with her four offspring. The waddling brood weren’t babies and they weren’t fully grown, so I immediately identified them as “teenage” ducks. Three of them followed the Mama in a perfectly straight line, stopping…

  • 31 Days to Happiness

    After several years of listening to Dr. David Jeremiah on the radio, I was excited to read his new book, 31 Days to Happiness, How to Find What Really Matters in Life. What will give us the peace that nothing else can? The answer of course, is a relationship with…

  • Prayer at the Pole and Courageous Teens

    Today is national See You at the Pole Day, where students, faculty, staff, and parents are welcome to meet and pray around their school flag pole.  Our family attended at 7am EST this morning and I’m confident that praying out loud in our small circle will be the most important…

  • The TV Show The Middle is Funny. Everything Else “Middle”… Not So Much.

    Sure we all like the show The Middle.    But I like little else involving “The Middle”. How about you? Middle Age is surprisingly everything everyone older than me said it was. There really are aches and pains when you wake up in the morning. You really do notice that…

  • Downside Up

    The essential theme of Downside Up by Tracey Mitchell is to deeply believe in our personal value despite varying forms of rejection.  Although we all experience rejection at some point, Mitchell determines for her readers to “not revisit the pain of rejection”.  Instead, she reminds us that “you are worthy…

  • Billy Graham in Quotes

    Collected from his astounding 7 decades of boldly proclaiming the Gospel message, Billy Graham in Quotes, is a treasure.  Compiled by Franklin Graham with Donna Lee Toney, this 400+ page book is a wonderful reference that anyone would want on their desk for wisdom and encouragement. An “anchor verse” is…

  • Annul a 20-year marriage?

    I ran into an old friend of my Mom’s a few weeks ago at the grocery store.  This woman’s husband left her 15+ years ago with 7 young children.  He left her for a younger woman and his relationship with the kids is estranged at best. Embracing her in the…