Where is home? Is it where your family lives? Where your work’s located? How do you find the comfort of home? Do you sometimes feel out of place? Living in two cultures brings a sense of not belonging anywhere. I not only live in a foreign country but also in a Quechua village in Bolivia where three cultures and three languages collide—making the mix even more interesting. Feeling out of place is an understatement. Yet, somehow I am at home. When I arrive in the States for furlough, I feel at home. I can speak English, my mother tongue. Yay!…
Category: Devotional
This is our archive pageSpiritual Needs
Spiritual Needs By Susan G Mathis It’s always good to revisit your spiritual needs—individually and as a couple—and discuss how each of you can help meet those needs. As we grow and mature, our needs often change, so it’s good to adjust to them accordingly. First, if you haven’t already, find a church and commit to attend regularly. Next, be sure to pray together. For some, this isn’t easy, but start by saying a prayer before meals. Then you can learn to pray at other times and for other things—for safety on a trip, for God’s will, and for His…
Sunday Reflection: The Kiss
One the wall of our bedroom is a beautiful portrait taken by a well known photographer. The photo is black and white then recolorized to highlight certain aspects of the portrait. The picture is of Bill and me. In the photo you can’t see our faces because I am wearing a hat, but you can tell, it was a kiss of love. How? In the photo, I am standing on my tippie toes reaching up to give Bill a kiss. That peck was apparently was so amazing that it caused Bill to rock back on his heels. (I think this…
Sunday Reflection: Humility: The Missing Virtue
In our society, it is easy to conclude that humility is a missing virtue. People elbow others to scramble up the ladder of sucess. Others proclaim themselves to be the god or godess of their own lives– while others would never say it out loud– but their actions show a disreguard for their Creator. But humility isn’t just missing in our times, we can look back to the Old Testement and see there were seasons that even the nation of Israel failed to honor God as their Lord and Leader. Whenever they sought to humbly follow God’s lead, things went…
Sunday Reflection: Be a Turtle
Today, we live in a society where everyone seems to think they should be in charge. The easy access to technology makes everyone feel like their unresearched opinion is as important as any expert who might have spent his or her life studying and preparing to serve and help society. We have a selfie society and a rising rate of narcissism. The vast population have crowned themselves king. In 7 Simple Skills for Every Woman: Success in Keeping It All Together, I suggest that: Before we can be a great leader, we must first learn to be a great follower….
Sunday Reflection: Humble Choices
“. . . those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11) He sat in my office, his marriage in ruins, yet he was pridefully proclaiming all the things his wife needed to do, his kids needed to do and even what God needed to do. Nothing seemed to be his fault. Is arrogance was the biggest roadblock to healing his own family. We can all drift into conceit and smugness unless we are willing to be humble. To humble means “to depress and in Hebrew, the word humbly implies a stance of bowing, stooping or crouching as in…
Lessons from Little Ones
Lessons from Little Ones By Susan G Mathis Children have so much to teach us. Last week I spent time with four young families. One had a newborn who slept peacefully in my arms while I gooed and giggled over every infant face she made. She was content. I want to be content too. Another family had four busy little ones ages 3-7. The twin three year olds presented me with “gifts” of scribbled drawings that I just can’t throw away. I want to give others more gifts—gifts of myself—even if they are a bit scribbly. The third family has…
Sunday Reflection: Pass the Baton of Faith
We think that your marriage is a wonderful forum for instilling values, beliefs, principles and morals. Society sometimes just doesn’t know what to do with great men, great women, great dads, great moms, and people are often baffled by the wise, well spoken, and well centered children focused parents produce. We were very proactive in our parenting. We share the details of how we raised our kids is in 10 Best Decisions a Parent Can Make. The main point is that all along the way we prayed specifically and planned intentionally. We developed a Learner and Leader Plan with a…
Sunday Reflection: Spiritual Intimacy
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving . . . (Colossians 4:2 NASB) We travel, and we really appreciate the hotels that have the small peak holes so that when someone knocks you can look out and see who’s there. That is what prayer is like. People usually aren’t phony when praying because it is a time of vulnerability before God. Couples that pray together get a window into each other’s hearts. You might feel irritated at your spouse all day, you might not understand why she did or said something, but during prayer,…
Just Being
Just Being By Susan G Mathis Just being. Just being together. What a sweet gift it is to just be together! What a sweet gift we can give to others in this busy world. Sometimes just being means sitting alone, quietly praying or thinking or dreaming. At other times, just being together means holding the hand of the one you love, resting in the knowledge that you are loved. Sometimes just being together means enjoying a rowdy Skype visit filled with little girl laughter and love and joy. Sometimes it means taking time to call your elderly mother to hear…
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