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I want to conclude my series based on my book, Walking with the Creator, with thoughts from the final lesson, The Creator's Victory. The beguiling serpent offered Eve some intriguing lies. He told her that the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would taste good and make her wise-and that contrary to what God told her, she really would not die. God had given her every good tree in the Garden except for the one that involved evil. I wondered why such a tree...
I grew up in Wyoming so I treasured my panoramic view of the stars as seen through the dry mountain air. But, apparently, I had always viewed them with some sort of anchor in the scene such as a house or a tree. One night I decided to position myself with no earthly objects to clutter the view; I saw only stars. In one terrifying second I experienced my body plummeting into space. I grabbed the grass to keep from falling and steadied myself by looking at our house. I felt...
I cannot believe it is a fourth of the way through 2020! To me, reaching 2020 is like hitting one of those life-changing numbers like 20, 40 or 70. Each one carries a different emotion and expectation. I felt a bit uncertain when I turned 70, but no matter what our age, we can be certain that God has a plan. Here is part of the last lesson from my book, Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road. The third chapter of Genesis is a drama about a broken relationship between...
God had a wonderful plan when He created humanity. "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). God gave us amazing bodies. Our hearts beat faithfully year after year; our lungs breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide without our supervision. Our blood flows, unseen, supplying nutrition to trillions of cells and carries away waste products to predetermined disposal sites. Blood cells vigilantly...
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. -Psalm 19:1-3 God speaks to every human on earth every day and every night. He begins our days with soft dawns and closes them with colorful sunsets. He paints His sky with varying shades of blues and lavender; then He splashes vibrant oranges and reds onto...
I have recently thought a lot about light, water and seeds that God created. But I've also begun to see another pattern. It took me years to see the pattern. Even as I studied God's Word and linked it together with scientific facts, I failed to see the big picture until God focused the truth for me. Here is what He showed me: Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth. John 1:3 reveals that Jesus is the Creator. The One who perfumed the flowers, flavored...
One of my favorite memories is of going to 4-H camp. Meals at camp seemed extra special. We began meals with this song: The Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me. That little song holds great wisdom. God commanded light to shine in the darkness, and He divided the waters into ground water and atmosphere before He brought forth the seed-bearing plants. Jesus is the light of...
This past year, I focused my articles on chapters from my book, Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road. The book grew out of my own search for direction and healing. I had asked God how I could go on with life, and He gave me a beautiful answer; He said, "Look at who I am." I began looking at His creation because Romans 1:20 tells us that we can see His character and nature by looking at what He made. As I enjoyed the creation around me, researched some science books,...
I think about the miracle of water's cleansing ability every time I wash the dishes, do the laundry or take a shower. Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we couldn't get clean? Thankfully, Jesus made water work like it does for our physical health. It also serves as an example of how we get spiritually healthy when we wash in God's Word. Ephesians 5:25 tells us, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy cleansing her by the washing with...
When I was a child, I worried about all the water running out of the rivers and into the oceans. First, I worried that the rivers would run out of water. Then, I worried that the oceans would fill up and flood over the land. If you think about it, my worries were logical. How do the rivers keep running so long? (The Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East are even mentioned in the Garden of Eden). And, since all rivers flow into the oceans, why don't the oceans fill up...
There is no place quite like the mountains to enjoy the first rays of morning light. Shimmering rays glint across lakes and streams, inviting wildlife to leave their shadowy shelters for a cool morning drink. Through the stillness I hear the familiar plinks of fish jumping to snatch insects. Insistent jays and chattering chipmunks urge me to pay attention to the glory around me. Indian paintbrush, yellow buttercups, and purple columbine paint brilliant hues on grassy slopes...
I cried out to God for help when everything I knew about serving Him fell out from under me. I discovered that the spiritual leader I had trusted for over 20 years lived a lie. He preached one thing but lived another. He raped young women; he lied to all of us and about each of us to each other in order to keep control and he soaked up as much money as he could while many of us lived in poverty. God answered my cry by telling me to look at who He was. Romans 1:20 tells us...
Do you ever regret choices you've made? Do you wonder if God exists, and, if so, why you are in such a mess? Has a self-proclaimed Christian ever seriously wounded you or led you astray? I don't know a single person who has experienced a perfect life without heartaches of one sort or another-painful physical or environmental circumstances, hurtful actions from other people or regrets over their own choices-but my life crashed in 1990 when I discovered my husband and I had...
Brightly-lit trees, merry songs and glitzy packages seem like noisy intruders into a world whipped apart by hurricanes, crumbled by earthquakes, scorched by wildfires and wounded by mad shooters. How can we possibly celebrate a festive holiday amidst such loss? There is only one answer: Christ. I go back to the basics when my faith feels challenged. Genesis 1 and John 1 reveal the reason why all those hurting can celebrate Christmas. Jesus not only created the world, He died...
Our close friend, Glenn, died in a car accident a few weeks ago. We met him when we were older and wiser 20-year-olds and he was only 18. We would have celebrated a 50-year friendship this coming December. We reared our children together, and we also went through the same abusive church leadership situation for over 20 years. I didn’t talk much about our church situation in my book, Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road, published by Indian Life Books, because I didn...
I wonder what the world would be like if each of us could see the spiritual realm as clearly as we see the physical one. What does the spirit world look like when an airliner crashes? While newscasters and safety experts examine details and determine causes, which they should, I tend to ponder what the spiritual scene would have looked like. Were there angels there to help? What does the spiritual realm look like when a suicide bomber kills people in the Manchester arena or...
I surveyed the land around me as I sat on a flat rock halfway up the grassy hill. The forest across the river below gave way to snowcapped peaks. Bluebirds added vibrant accents to the colorful carpet of wild flowers, and their song mingled with the trill of the meadowlark and harmonized with the whispering breeze as it sang among the pines. The scene was so perfect I cried. I sobbed actually. I didn't know why; we had been in that area many times before for weekend picnics an...
I often find it difficult to match my space travel with my daily life. I don’t travel as fast as people living on the equator; they ride the earth’s rotation at 1,000 miles an hour, but I still feel the spin sometimes. We orbit the sun every year at 67,000 miles an hour, covering 92,960,000 miles. Our Solar System is part of the Milky Way galaxy, a 100-billion-star city that rotates with other galaxies. Astronomers thought we traveled with 3,000 other galaxies in the Vir...
Miriam wearily brushed the hair away from her face as she scrubbed the last of the pots in the hot, humid kitchen. It had not been her idea to become a scullery maid in the house of the arrogant family for whom she worked. They paid her little notice. Her only value to them was in keeping their kitchen clean, the vegetable garden weeded, and the chamber pots emptied. She longed to stroll along the path in her father’s flower garden and sit beside the melodic fountain in the co...
Last night I sat transfixed as I viewed a recent NASA photo of outer space. I’ve seen many space pictures over the years, but the clarity and sparkle of this one caused me to pause and think about life on our planet and about our Creator and His plan for us all. I had been researching a news item about NASA’s Kepler Mission. Since 2009, their goal was to explore our region of the Milky Way and locate other planets. They discovered nearly 5,000 planet contestants and ver...
I’ve liked this Proverb since I was in my twenties, because a motherly friend gave me the book, Apples of Gold, to encourage me through some maturing times in my marriage. I still remember reading these words: “Some women are so busy trying to make good husbands that they forget to make good wives.” I had to refocus a couple of things. Words fascinate me. I like word paintings where “wildflowers” and “meadowlarks” fill a “meadow.” I enjoy imaginative words like “kaleidoscop...
Life is a puzzle. How many of your puzzle pieces are not quite fitting into the pattern you envisioned? Like with a jigsaw puzzle, I have often looked through my life's puzzle pieces, trying to find the straight edge that completed the frame or that oddly shaped piece that filled in a scene, only to determine that I must have lost it. I rejoice the most over that piece when I find it! I recently went through a medical ordeal that consumed my life for three months. I am...
I kept repeating it in my head: Mississippi mud pies, Mississippi mud pies. I encouraged my brain: you know these words; you know how to say them; you can do it. I whispered them to myself: mmmm iissss iissss iipppii mmmud ppiess. A tear rolled down my cheek, and the doctor admitted me. I heard a nurse tell another nurse that they had room for me in the closet. It was a little nicer than that. There were no windows in the little V-shaped room; it had no TV or wall light like a...
Isn’t it amazing that leaves turn brilliant yellows, oranges and reds before leaving (or as my funny husband would say, “leafing”) to prepare branches for heavy winter snows? Our Creator even paints dark northern skies with colorful light. I remember nights in northern Alberta when I shivered outside in sub-zero temperatures to watch what looked like red and purple waterfalls plunging to the ground. One night I stood beneath a herringbone-patterned dome pulsating outwa...
As autumn chills the air, my thoughts turn to food, not just the light salads and cold fruits of summer, but something more substantial. I bring out the slow cooker for hearty beef stews and savory chicken noodle soups. Flavorful ham hocks bring beans, lentils and split peas to life. I like to have a pot of chili and a loaf of hot bread ready at the first sign of snow. Spicy ginger cookies make a perfect companion to a hot cup of tea. One of my fondest memories of going to sch...
