Devotionals

“Give us this day our daily bread.”~Matthew 6:11~ Just as we can play beautiful music only when the strings on the violin are in proper tension,so we can grow only when we are stretched from what we are to what we can be.There is no growth without tension.”~J. Grant Howard~ Like many, I suppose, I… Continue reading Benediction

https://youtu.be/kSVYsqhBdPc?si=uxc_QiWkO3Pbhs-n “To write you must learn quiet.This is hard, because the world we live in is loud.”~Suzanne Rhodes, The Roar on the Other Side~ Standing on the precipice, I looked over the cliff twenty feet below. I froze with fear, my feet rooting themselves to the rock edge and my body shaking. I could vaguely… Continue reading Jump

https://youtu.be/L0csB3us2gA?feature=shared https://youtu.be/bYrcrP1ysjw?si=ARutqV7uS-saqLlo “I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death…You have overwhelmed me with all your waves…You rule over the surging sea;when its waves mount up, you still them.”~Psalm 88:3, 7; 89:9~ “The name of the Lord is a strong tower;the righteous run to it and are safe.”~Proverbs 18:8~ Are you… Continue reading Safe

Everything We Need, https://youtu.be/C8fTEyGe0M8?si=yMplHZb_bcJuIDg0 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly lifethrough our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”~2 Peter 1:3~ “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.And… Continue reading The Other Side

https://youtu.be/TfiYWaeAcRw?si=7tgXax0KJv0T-MbL “They were to carry on their shoulders the holy things,For which they were responsible.”~Numbers 7:9~ “They shall bring your sons in their arms,And thy daughters shall be carried upon thy shoulders.”~Isaiah 49:22~  There is the well-known poem, “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson, the setting in which the author dreamed of walking on… Continue reading Carried

https://youtu.be/JeHYZ5Bd5gs?si=ueuI7ulTvabYOq0o He who dwells in the secret place of the Most HighShall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;My God, in Him I will trust.”~Psalm 91:1-2~ Healing is the moving-forward of forgiveness,embracing the promise that our hearts will be bound up;that is, stitched,… Continue reading The Secret Place

“Now we see things imperfectly,like puzzling reflections in a mirror,but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.” ~1 Corinthians 13:12~ “Speak not, whisper notHere bloweth thyme and bergamotSoftly on thee every hourSecret herbs their spices shower.”~Walter de la Mare, “The Sunken Garden”~ Under other monikers such as wild bergamot and horsemint, the Oswego Indians used… Continue reading Bee Balm

https://youtu.be/84YASWe3_2Q?si=yeBLy8IbvyuA5ecP “Abide with me:fast falls the eventide;The darkness deepens;Lord, with me abide:When other helpersFail and comforts flee,Help of the helpless,O abide with me…”~Henry Francis Lyte~ In a dark time, the eye begins to see,I meet my shadow in the deepening shade…~Theodore Roethke, “In a Dark Time”~ Stunned out of our early morning sleep, we watched… Continue reading Abide

https://youtu.be/tl3GrkRHsvk?si=_10kf6typBkSXJm7 “After all:  when our Lord sought refuge, when his heart was troubled, it was not to the temple that he went to pray. It was to the garden.”~Fred Bahnson, Soil and Sacrament, p.6~ “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me… Continue reading Refuge for the Lonely

https://youtu.be/xrAdbH28gIg?si=Hx1FJy2iDnYffbVM I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,that thou mayest know that I, the Lord,which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.~Isaiah 45:3~ “Whatever my circumstances inward or outward may be,however thick the darkness which encompasses me,I yet can trust…that all will be well,that He… Continue reading Dark