Life by Grace Alone

Recently I was asked to give the devotional for a wedding shower. After 39 years of marriage I find the best advice I can give are the simple reminders of simple and yet glorious truths. I hope this rings true for you no matter where you are in life. Who are you? That’s a question people have asked often. How many people in the past have left home and current relationships in order to “find themselves”? The whole concept might make you laugh because you know who you are. You can look at your driver’s license if you’re a very forgetful person. Perhaps what defines you more than a quick snapshot at the DMV is the relationships you have with the people that are closest to you. Your parents and then your siblings are the people God first uses to bring out all those good and bad characteristics within you; some of these may still be apparent in your life. Then you who have been primarily just daughter and sister go off to school. You make friends and you relate to adults in authority, te...

Recently I read something I wrote when my daughters who are now almost 29 and 33, were little girls. The truth of what I wrote applies to any age "Laura, Laura!" I yelled again for my seven year old daughter while I tied the shoes of her three year old sister. "We're going to be late for the movie." Laura yelled back"Where's my red purse? I can't go without it." "Forget it and come now or we won't go at all." My voice rose with each word. I looked down in time to see my younger daughter throw off her coat and run to the bathroom. Finally Laura and Jessica were in the car strapped into their seats. Finally I flopped into my seat beside my usually patient husband, Steve. Baby Josh had been crying and Chris our eldest had been making noises appropriate for his intergalactic imagination. Through gritted teeth I snarled the words " We're going to have a good time if it kills us." Sounds familiar? Many times we plan act...