I read the following address by Abraham Lincoln every year before Thanksgiving; this year I wanted to share it with all of you. May the Lord bless your time with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day. May our country remember the One from whom all blessings flow. “It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are…

If you are the owner of a preschooler, you may also be the owner of a Beginner’s Bible. My 5 year-old, Daniel has always been drawn to stories with battles and unlikely hero’s; his favorite being David and Goliath. My 4 year-old, Levi has always claimed the “no-no fruit” as his favorite. He has always found it hard to believe that Adam and Eve made such a “bad choice”. It wasn’t too long ago that we were reading this story together and he said to me, “Mommy, if God told me not to eat the no-no fruit, I would never ever eat it. I wouldn’t even go near it.” “Oh,…

Do you ever feel invisible? I do. I’ve felt invisible in a crowded room and I’ve felt invisible in an intimate small group. When I feel invisible, I often think of Hagar from the Bible. (You can read her story in Genesis 16) What I think of specifically is her sitting by a spring, all alone and when she is visited by the angel of the Lord she says, “You are the God who sees me, I have now seen the One who sees me.” The Bible says that Hagar gave God the name, El Roi, which means, the God who sees. I absolutely love that. I love knowing that…

I recently heard a young gal talking in a giggly, flirty tone about Chris Tomlin. I’ve heard teen girls describe Toby Mac as being “hot”. In case you didn’t know, Chris Tomlin and Toby Mac are both married men. When I hear things like this, I’m reminded of a Jars of Clay concert I attended many years ago. Dan Haseltine was singing, “I want to fall in love with you.” If you’re familiar with that song, you know Dan is singing to Jesus. But, that night at the concert, I found myself surrounded by young girls covering their hearts with their hands, tilting their heads and singing “I want to…