One of the things I have not liked in most churches is how segmented it can become. It seems there’s a group for everything. Women’s groups, men’s groups, married groups (even young marrieds), singles groups, college groups, young adults, youth groups are also often sub-divided into high school, middle school, upper and lower elementary school, preschool, etc.
I remember being asked, why did I hang out with some of my married friends (with and without children). Once a friend who was married had been told that she shouldn’t spend time with me simply because I was single with no children. I supposedly had nothing in common with them.
Yet what my friends and I had in common were bible studying, outdoor activities, playing games, books we were reading, volunteering at a non-profit, etc.
In years past, all the women in a community would gather together to do an activity or project. Quilting, sewing, canning, cooking, etc.
The older women would pass down practical knowledge, as well as spiritual wisdom and insights. The younger women shared energy, creativity, and a fresh way to look at things. Those who were married shared about married life and those who were single would gain insight. Those who had already raised children offered encouragement and tips to those just starting a family.
Now, I see people of all walks of life trying to get answers to questions from social media, Wikipedia, Google or YouTube.
The key to good gatherings is to have a common task or project to engage in.
And contrary to modern thought, people without children can often offer insights and perspective to those with children. The same holds true when it concerns marriage. If this wasn’t true then much of the wisdom of the saints would have to be eliminated as well as most of the New Testament. Yet God’s wisdom can shine through any individual, no matter if they are married or single, with children or without, young or old, no matter their culture, background, race or gender. And as we have heard before, God uses the foolish and weak to confound the wise and strong.
We are the Body of Christ and each member of the body is important for the health of the whole. We are part of God’s family and each has an important talent to contribute.
What does a Christian read after reading the great classic fantasy books by J. R. R. Tolkien or C. S. Lewis? (Yes, I have indeed read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Hannah Hurnard’s Hinds Feet on High Places, Madeleine L’Engle’s books (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time) and Calvin Miller’s The Singer Trilogy, I did enjoy those as well.
Not too many of my friends like reading Christian fantasy books. Quite frankly many books in the genre are not as well written as the secular fantasy genre. However, there are some really good ones if you search.
So I thought I’d create a list of the ones I have found well worth the read. Feel free to comment or add your own favorites as well, but keep in mind only list Christian authors. I have purposely left off any of J. K. Rowling’s books because I don’t want to engage in the controversy or debate of whether or not she is a Christian, let alone her books. I will not be the one to judge on those, so I’ll leave it at that. I also might add, I don’t like books with too much romantic scenes and definitely not ones that get heated. Neither do I appreciate foul language. The books on this list I can say follow those guidelines. One more thing to note, most of these books can be read by young people and adults just like Tolkien or Lewis.
Here are my all-time favorites first. These books I still have and probably won’t part with.
L. B. Graham’s The Binding of the Blade series (5 Books) 1st Book: Beyond the Summerland
I love L. B. Graham’s books and have enjoyed his latest series, The Wandering, but he has not finished the series and it leaves you hanging after the first 3 books. I do hope he continues this series!
Patrick W. Carr’s Trilogy The Staff and The Sword. 1st Book: A Cast of Stones
Patrick W. Carr’s The Darkwater Saga.
Patrick W. Carr’s Christmas book: The End of the Magi
Jaye L Knight’s Ilyon Chronicles (6 books, plus some smaller additional e-books) 1st Book: Resistance.
I’ve also enjoyed reading books by the following authors:
Wayne Thomas Batson has several series out. His last series, The Myridian Chronicles, by far, is one of his best series. Unfortunately, I gave these books away and the last book in the series left the ending as a cliff hanger and I’ve no idea when he plans on finishing the next book. One could read the first three books and be satisfied. It’s when you read the fourth book that leaves you hanging. 1st book: Sword in the Stars. It was previously called The Dark Sea Annals. I’ve read a number of his other books including The Door Within Trilogy.
Jonathan Rogers’ The Wilderking Trilogy was good too. The first book: The Bark of the Bog Owl
Stephen R. Lawhead’s Dragon King Trilogy. 1st Book: In the Hall of the Dragon King
Although, I’d be cautious of Lawhead’s other books. His writing is good but some of his later books are questionable in content or at least more adult oriented. Lawhead had some clear Christian undertones to his earlier stories that get lost in his later books, so stick with early Lawhead series like this one. I did enjoy the first 3 books in the Pendragon Cycle, books 4-6 got a bit too dark for my taste. I enjoyed his books, Byzantium and The Celtic Crusades Trilogy, (these have elements of secret societies, Templar Knights and sacred relics.) I did not like his book called Patrick (fictional story of St. Patrick). I have not read The Song of Albion Trilogy, The King Raven Trilogy (loosely based on the legends of Robin Hood), The Bright Empires series, nor The Eirlandia series.
Jill Williamson’s The Kinsman Chronicles. First Book: King’s Folly
R. J. Larsen writes in an interesting style. Her books are Christian fantasy but makes you feel as though you’re in an ancient Biblical world and has similarities to the Biblical Old Testament stories. The first series is called Books of the Infinite. The second series is called Realms of the Infinite. I enjoyed all of the books and look forward to reading her most current series, Legends of the Forsaken Empire.
These others listed below I’ve enjoyed and either have passed on to others or will pass on.
Bryan M. Litfin’s Chiveis Trilogy. Book 1: The Sword
D. Barkley Briggs’ Legends of Karac Tor Book 1: The Nameless
R. S. Gullett’s Chronicles of Aletha (3 books although I only have the first two.) Book 1: The Heir Comes Forth
Nathan Keys is a new author, his first book is called: The Epic of Marindel- Chosen. The second one: Redemption is due out November 2023. He does have a short story prequel available from his website or Facebook page called Champions of Dantoneia
I’ve read a few of Morgan L. Busse books. In particular, The Ravenwood Saga that was interesting but not necessarily in my top favorites but still good. I just received the first book in another of her series The Follower of the Word, so I’ll let you know what I think.
The following books are more for younger readers. Yes, I love to read children’s books!
Years ago I read John White’s The Archives of Anthropos (6 book series) and as I recall I did enjoy them, although mainly written for young people.
M. I. McAllister’s The Mistmantle Chronicles were excellent and I still have all 5 books in this series.
S. D. Smith’s The Green Ember series.
Dragon Keepers Chronicles by Donita K. Paul
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
The Songkeeper Chronicles by Gillian Bronte Adams
I’ve read some others over the years and many I didn’t find memorable and others either I didn’t like or had no depth.
Finally, listed below are some decent books that are not necessarily classified as Christian but have good values, the battle between good and evil, and are good wholesome reading.
Redwall series by Brian Jacques I believe there are 22 books in the series.
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman (3 book series) by Brian Jacques
Guardians of Ga’hoole by Kathyrn Lasky
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (although be aware has a bit of eastern mysticism).
Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan
Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
Ranger’s Apprentice: Royal Ranger by John Flanagan
Hope you enjoy this list. If I run across any others, I’ll be sure to add an update.
It’s the anniversary of my mother’s birthday, born August 28, 1942. Funny how I remember one of mom’s quips, “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in 1942 my mother gave birth to me, Susie Q!” It still makes me smile and because of her, I remember a tid bit of history. My mom passed away on September 28, 1999. She was 57 years old. It’s strange for me to think I’ve now surpassed her in years on this earth. Always this time of year, I get a bit melancholy thinking and remembering her and other family members who have passed on. But on this day, when I remember she breathed her first breath of air in this earthly existence, the day of her birth and the beginning of her earthly life, I’m reflecting on her life and the life she breathed into others. This is what I and my sister shared at her funeral service. As I share it again, May it bring a blessing to you, encourage you and challenge you to find joy, hope, strength and life in all things, but most importantly, in Jesus.
“I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
During this time of year, I can’t help but be caught in the memories of my mother, who joined my brother 4 years after his passing to be in the presence of the Lord. When my brother passed, I wrote about the gift of time – how precious it is. I still believe that what we can take with us to heaven is the memories and the jewels we will have in our crown is what things that were of eternal value that we passed on to others.
Reflecting on my mother and her life, I can wholeheartedly express that she left a great legacy of faith & joy!
Momma was diagnosed with lung cancer December 1998 and throughout 1999 as we struggled as a family, I watched my mother increase in faith. Sure, there were times we cried together, but the times of laughter far surpassed all others. She did have struggles with all those “why” questions and even was discouraged… but her faith never wavered. In the last 6 months of her life, she was completely bedridden, yet she never complained about it. When people came to visit, she would always be seen smiling and encouraging those who were supposed to be encouraging her.
Rather than go on with all my thoughts, I thought I would share what my sister, Deborah wrote as a memorial to her great legacy of faith and joy…
“One of Mother’s favorite songs was ‘The Joy of the Lord is My Strength’.
You couldn’t just hear her sing it.
You couldn’t just watch her sing it.
You had to give yourself over to the experience of the song.
The laughter and the fun and the praise were real, palpable, contagious. And that is much like her life in general – you couldn’t observe her from afar, as a disinterested bystander to her life. You had to give yourself over to the experience that was Susan. Her laughter and fun and joy were real, were palpable, were contagious.
Never content to sit by the sidelines and watch life go by, she jumped in with limbs flying and bells ringing. She was quick to forgive, quick to embrace, and quick to hurt on behalf of others. Her empathy was such that she spent her Christmas spending money on a homeless family when she came to visit me in San Francisco. Her hugs were like balm to the soul. She didn’t give those hugs where you stand just close enough to bend at the waist and give an obligatory kind of shoulder hug and pat on the back. She embraced you – and when she embraced you, you felt embraced by her life, her light, her energy. She could laugh like no one else – and although always conscious of the volume of her voice, she just couldn’t tone it down – it was beyond her. Her exuberance and enthusiasm could not be contained.
As a mother she was beyond comparison.
She was always a little “more” than other mothers – a little more involved,
A little more emotional,
A little more loud,
A little more herself.
I recently told her I was proud of her, and she said, “what for?” with some degree of amazement. And although I could not begin to list all of the reasons for you here today, let me start with this and give you the freedom to add your own reasons:
Without much formal education, she ran a couple of businesses, organized a mentally gifted minor program, taught junior high school, and became a very successful Avon lady and regional officer for Girl Scouts. She organized neighborhoods to get playground equipment for children, swimming lessons, and safer play areas. She organized parents and participated in the Feingold program for hyperactive children. She taught Sunday school for many years and was looked up to by younger people in the Church. She brought desperate and lonely people into her home, cared for them, and sent them back out into the world. She organized a program to feed the homeless in a Redding park and every Saturday they set up a barbecue to feed the poor. She cared for many elderly people both through her church and through “adopt-a-grandparent” programs. She won numerous awards at various county fairs for floral arrangement, crafts, and photography.
She taught us to stand firm in our beliefs, to love camping and roasting marshmallows and singing campfire songs. She taught us how to make May Day baskets for the shut-ins in our neighborhood, to visit the elderly in nursing homes whose own grandchildren would not be spending the holidays with them, and she taught us how to go without Thanksgiving dinner one year so that we could feed another family. To our amazement, we returned home to find all of the fixings for own holiday meal on our front porch. To this day we don’t know where it came from – but she knew it came from God and so we were doubly blessed that holiday season.
She taught us how to sing, “do your ears hang low”, “waddly atcha” and “under the spreading chestnut tree”. She taught us to treasure our gifts and the gifts of others. She taught us to give when it seemed you had nothing to give – such as when she gave balloon animals to the cancer patients and staff in the cancer care center in her clown wig and horn – she, who was dying of cancer, still thought to bring joy to others.
But most importantly she taught us how to love, how to laugh, how to smile, even in the hardest times. She taught me, toward the end, what it means to have faith, true faith, and what it means to be content. She told me that God had really blessed her – and she was content those final months”. – by Deborah Dunn Yeager
Momma has left all that knew her a great legacy of faith and joy. My thoughts are best expressed in the following words to a song I wrote for her and for all of us who will carry on her legacy of faith & joy.
Some watching said you were a fanatic.
Still others thought that you were odd.
But in the watching and the waiting,
We could see the reflection of God.
Handing out food, balloons, or your hugs,
Traveling dusty roads even as a clown,
You hugged the dirty, the lonely, the outcast
And encouraged us all to sing along…
That the joy of the Lord will be my strength.
I will run and not grow weary, I’ll not faint.
And I can do all things, all things,
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
We were watching when you lost your son, my brother.
The gusty blows came sudden and hard.
But through it all you showed God’s forgiveness
In the midst of all your pain and your doubt
You sang and smiled your way through all the sorrow.
Altho’ you wept your faith stayed so strong
You shared your laughter and your joy.
We couldn’t help but laugh and sing along.
That the joy of the Lord will be my strength.
I will run and not grow weary, I’ll not faint.
And I can do all things, all things,
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
Then watching your struggle with cancer
Full of pain every breath a miracle
Still you smiled, you blessed, you gave
You laughed and sang to us still.
The promises, and the scripture verses
The Bible passages all marked and worn
Still speak to me and those you love
Of a joy, a peace, and of a world beyond.
When it was time for you to pass over
And the night was growing dark
Your song of joy joined with the angels
And your laughter and your song still carries on!
And the joy of the Lord will be my strength.
I will run and not grow weary, I’ll not faint.
And I can do all things, all things,
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
For this season and in the months and years to come… no matter what trials, woes, or tribulations come… focus on the eternal things, the things that will not pass away… fix your gaze on the Author and the Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross… He will be your strength, your hope, your joy, your life.
“Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
I’ve been overwhelmed with grief this week & especially yesterday. Now that decisions were made & death is “done”… a sense of relief has come. But… the depths and cycles and seasons of grief continue. My dearest friend lost her father on Wednesday, September 19th. Then we put to sleep our dear sweet cat, Misty Rose on Saturday, September 22nd.
I remember after losing my brother (he was 26yrs. old) suddenly from a drunk driver in August 1995 and going to church between his death and funeral, a friend not knowing what occurred made an innocent comment, “why do you look so down, it’s not as if someone has died.” I was cut to the core by the insensitive statement. Later, she apologized profusely.
I once went to a conference just a few weeks after the death of my mother after a prolonged time in hospice care from cancer in September 1999. I attended one of the many workshops offered between the main sessions. It was entitled something along the lines of “Dealing with Death, Grief & Loss”. Granted, my emotions were raw, and why I chose this over others were mixed. However, I was completely unprepared for the opening remarks of the speaker, “I don’t know which is worse, the sudden death of a loved one or the gradual dying and death of a loved one. Having not experienced either one, I can only imagine what that might be like.” I remember promptly standing up in the middle of approximately 50-100 people and saying something like, “then what qualifies you to speak at all.” Then not waiting for an answer I walked out, sat down in an isolated corner and wept. Some friends came and silently comforted me.
I had experienced both kinds of deaths. Sudden unexpected ones, prolonged ones, and ones of elderly family members.
I had before and after that time lost others close to me, friends, family and my dear pets.
Recently, during this week of “death”, a friend mentioned “they would call and nothing would get in the way short of someone dying”. Unknown to them my dear friend’s dad was on death’s door and our cat was very ill.
I only bring these three examples to our attention because we often say things jokingly, sarcastically, or as “just a phrase or manner of speaking”. But often are “innocent” comments hurt deeply.
We should choose our words wisely and only speak truth in love. In the case of deep sorrow, even the words, “I understand” or “I know how you feel ” followed by “because I’ve been there.” Can cause intense pain and/or anger.
To be truthfully honest we truly do NOT understand nor do we know how another feels. Each death is uniquely different from every other one or other person’s perception of it.
Each person is uniquely different and each relationship with the loss of the loved one was uniquely different – this is true within families, this is true with each pet. The loss of a person or pet is felt differently and because we all process death in our own way, no two deaths will ever be the same.
Having said this, there are behavioral and psychological studies that show similarities about death – mainly that there are cycles of grief and loss that we can identify: Shock, Anger, Relief, Depression, Denial, Acceptance, etc. AND it’s not like it goes through “steps”, rather each phase can jump from one to another and then back again and then on to another.
Because grief is a process we need to be patient, kind, caring and compassionate providing comfort, a listening ear, even if memories or details are repeated. The same can be said of ourselves going through the grief: be kind, caring, compassionate and patient with ourself.
So as I grieve, I am doing one thing, giving myself permission to grieve and not “have it all together”.
I do grieve as one who has hope… my hope is in the Lord! He is the One, who truly understands ALL things, sees things so entirely clear, and can give comfort, healing and catch every tear in a bottle of remembrance. I look forward to that day, where there will be no more sorrow, death is destroyed, and every tear will be wiped away.
God is trustworthy. But in this strange time of confusion and uncertainty will I surrender my concerns and trust Him? Yes, Lord, may it be so!
— Read on www.juliesunne.com/strange-time/
A good deed done in silence is more valuable – St. Nicolai Velimirovich
We have spent decades trying to deal with this immigration issue. Whether or not you like Trump or his administration this problem has been around since the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and the Obama administration and has been exacerbated by numerous elected officials on both sides of the aisle.
It was Obama (who also said all he could do was enforce the law & never signed an executive order to fix this), who militarized the border and opened the way for kids to come from the south. He created secret detention centers that housed around 4,000 kids until they age out at 18. Where was the outrage and protests then?
Here’s an investigative report by the Washington Post from BEFORE Trump took office: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/obama-administration-placed-children-with-human-traffickers-report-says/2016/01/28/39465050-c542-11e5-9693-933a4d31bcc8_story.html
I am thankful we are finally seeing the injustice and the failure of our immigration system.
We process asylum seekers from Middle Eastern, European or Asian areas of the world much differently than how we treat our neighbors south of the border.
Or do we simply leave it to the Christian Missionary to carry on the often thankless work (but rewarded by God) in these places where they’ve even endangered their own lives and families for the sake of others. But after all, Christian Missionaries are horrible with their ideas of right & wrong and morality. Never mind that they build homes, drinking wells, schools, teach literacy, help with clothes, food, farming & medical care — all through donations and volunteers.
Wouldn’t our millionaires & billionaires, politicians, sports heroes, music stars & acting artists of Hollywood consider putting their money where there mouth is? Shouldn’t these “talking media heads”, go to these countries and try to implement creative solutions to help these people be able to stay in their home country instead of just taking pictures and interviewing these people in their pain? How can someone film this stuff and NOT give, do, act… give up even 1/4 of their salary and contribute to a solution. It’s so easy to gripe, so hard to labor in the fields.
Now that Trump signed an executive order, people are still griping because the situation still exists. Do these people really expect a massive re-unification of families to happen over night? Many are critical that Trump changed his mind… who cares? At least he saw the problem, the protests and the outrage and he changed his mind and DID at least something. It takes guts to change a position to attempt to make things better.
People are just letting their feelings run wild without knowing the facts and the complexities, pointing fingers and pontificating, including religious leaders and politicians spouting Bible verses to justify their various positions.
Unfortunately we have officials trying to follow the law and congress has yet to fix our broken immigration system.
Did you know that thousands of children have been sent to the US borders by themselves, with no parent? What are we to do with these children, just release them into the packs of ravenous sex slave traffickers & work slave traffickers just waiting to snatch them up. It’s going to take time to pair up parents with children. Yes, it shouldn’t have happened but it did, and it will not be an overnight solution.
This recent video from ABC News talks about how big the complexities of this problem have become. https://youtu.be/nmKhrd1GYS8
I hope we will look at ALL the facts before we begin to protest and judge others so harshly and publically shaming them. You may not agree with what you read but it all comes down to enforcing our laws. There is no justification here at all for what’s going on. So our elected officials continue to kick the can down the road or play dodge ball, or catch me if you can, or “oh no, not me, it’s not my fault.”.
As in politics and religion everyone has an opinion and everyone feels theirs is the “right” of it. I do agree that the system is broken. I do believe in enforcing our laws. I however also believe in COMPASSION. I personally don’t see anything wrong with children staying with parents until they are deported. Many refugee camps allow families to stay together. Must our detention centers look like prison?
I am not looking at it from a political stand point, I am looking at it as a compassionate, Christian, human being. I want us as a country to do the right thing but still have heart. Is that so hard? Why can’t there still be compassion? Remove politics & religious rhetoric and imagine the trauma of children missing their parents. Imagine the trauma of you not knowing where your child is and barely getting any answers? Yes, it’s risky & terrifying traveling from a war torn, or crime riddled, or leave your home because of persecution for whatever reason. As a parent it is a huge undertaking to uproot one’s family from a home often from roots that go back generations, to SAVE your family from starvation, kidnapping, rape, drug lords, murder, & other atrocities. To entrust your family & pay a smuggler who promises help & freedom. Some come in cargo boxes or trucks. If they make it here alive, they hope they’re not left to die, crammed, suffocating in 100 degree weather, packed like human sardines.
Then to finally arrive to America, land of the free, home of the brave, land of endless opportunities, and then they face what we now know as a horrifying situation… separation of families, parents deported without their children, and the children left in squalor conditions that resemble cages.
I don’t care which party is to blame. Let us truly treat others as we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes. Once again, let’s remove politics out of this situation and let’s have a heart. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Blessings on you.
Today is the birthday of my brother, Michael Claude Dunn. He lived a short life, but it was full of adventure & trials, joys & struggles, many cherished memories. RIP 1969-1995
Here’s a poem in remembrance of him today:
Mike’s Song
(c) copyright August 9, 1995
Beat the drums slowly,
Float the beat on the breeze.
Play the pipes loudly,
Mike’s easy to please.
Violins for the Gypsy
Deep down in his soul,
And a rockin’ guitar…
With a bass thunder roll.
He was young, in his prime
When he slipped from our sight,
But his song will go on…
Well into the night.
The presence will fade
As time marches on
But will ever return…
On the wings of his song.
A song that is gentle…
And caring, yet strong.
A song that will render
The right from the wrong.
A song that will laugh,
A song that will cry,
A song of his life…
As our lives pass by.
For twenty six years,
Through laughter and pain,
He wrote his own song
Up to the final refrain.
The rhythm was different
The tempo was strange
The coda… returning…
Again… and again.
Then a warm summer night,
In a place that he loved,
He reached for his Lord,
For help from above.
“They” supplied him with words
That forever ring true
“God loves you, My son.
Your troubles are through.”
“Come look at your room
In the mansion above,
Look down, let our spirit…
Console those you love.”
“Let us dry up their tears,
And send them along…
‘Till one day they return…
Singing… Mike’s song.”
Written by: C.L. Dunn, Mike’s Dad
Music by: K.V. Dunn, Mike’s Sister
“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God – the rest will be given.” – Mother Theresa
Too often I find myself caught up in the worries, concerns, and stresses of every day life. I found myself even more so throughout this past holiday season. Struggling with health concerns and as a result not able to work as often as I would have liked or needed to which then resulted in not enough finances to meet bills and basic necessities.
Sometimes God gives us strength and health to take care of things. Other times He allows us to be weak in order for us to rely on His strength and the strength of others. I too often find myself leaning on my own strength, trying to pull myself up by my own “bootstraps” so to speak. Yet when I lean on Jesus, trusting Him in ALL things, the strength of the Lord is often revealed in the strength of His body, the Church.
So I am humbled by not being the giver, but being the one given to. I am blessed by not being the one to lean on, but the one who needs others to lean on.
God is faithful even when I am weak, doubting, struggling, falling and getting up again & again. Because of the Lord’s mercies all my needs are met.
My family and friends are blessed not by what I give them in the way of material gifts, but they are blessed by my prayers, by my love, by just being me. So I will continue to raise my funds of love, understanding, care and by God’s grace His peace.
Thank you for allowing me to be honest, to be real, to be me.
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, the end of the summer and the beginning of another school year… time flies. Time… the one gift we all have in common… the one thing we all have equal amounts given to us. Time… we have all that we are going to ever get but something we never seem to have enough of. The Word of God exhorts us to redeem the time. We should be good stewards of all our resources especially our time. Once we spend our time, it is gone forever. We can not count on tomorrow. It may never come. We are to look to each day and make wise use of the time that God has now given us.
As these thoughts come to mind, I am fully aware of how much time I waste every day, every hour, every moment. How much time do I spend in prayer? How much time do I spend in the Word? How much time do I spend with those I love? How much time do I spend in front of the television, play computer games, read the newspaper, or waste away.
I have been extremely discouraged lately, it seems I never have “enough time” to get all the things done that I want to do. People just do not have “enough time” to give anymore. The truth is, we do have “enough time”. God has given us plenty of time. He has given us all the time that we will ever need. It comes down to priorities… do we use our time as God would have us? Ouch! Truth hurts! Bottom line… we all have “enough time”. It is how we choose to spend our time that shows us our hearts.
Mike in 1969 7 mos
The issue of time was brought very close to my heart. My brother, Michael, was 26 years old and died in an accident in the mountains near Weaverville. My brother, Michael and I were very, very close. He had always struggled in his walk with the Lord. The week before his death, he came through Redding from Sacramento to visit. He was struggling again (here we go again, it seemed he was always struggling). He was very confused about the direction he should take in his life. He shared many personal, heart issues that, to my knowledge he had not shared with others. We played games and talked. Later, we listened to some of his favorite songs and then somehow the conversation turned to his reason for leaving Sacramento and why he was headed to Weaverville. He told me he did not know what he was going to do, but he knew one thing, he was going to get away from everything and everyone that was hounding him and seek God in prayer for answers.
The day before he died, he confessed his belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and he planned to go to church the next day. He died less than 24 hours later. Michael’s time on earth ended. Time, he did not know that he had so little time left — neither did I.
