We can meet God in the unexpected. Sometimes we need a child to remind us of what’s hiding in plain sight. Five-year-old Katlin climbed into Granny Rice’s lap to listen to the Genesis story of creation. As Granny brought the written words to life with her expressive reading, the child became still and quiet.
Granny asked, “What do you think of it, dear?”
Little Katlin answered, “Oh, I love it. You never know what God will do next!”
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Posted: June 27, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Believe in God? What Do You Mean?
I assumed all the members of the church would say, “I believe in God.” But one afternoon, a member of the church I served stomped into the pastor’s office to unload her anger on me. Before she arrived, I knew nothing of the issue igniting her explosion. She was erupting over something neither I nor any of the church staff had done. Yet in her mind, it was the church’s fault. I apologized and offered a solution to rectify the problem. Before she departed, I asked if I could pray with her. She said, “I don’t pray to the same God you do.” I said, “Well, I will pray to the God to whom I pray.” And I prayed. She stood at my side with head bowed. When I finished, she stormed down the hall.
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Posted: May 28, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
A Pity Party on the Way to Better
The Pity Party occurred in the kitchen. The little brown-eyed blonde sat in disappointment corner. With crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks, she looked into the eyes of her doll. The sad, one-sided conversation slid off her lips, “Poor me.”
The temptation to bury ourselves in our pity party knocks at our heart’s door when life doesn’t go our way. At times, problems suffocate us. None of us can change yesterday. We cannot remedy every situation. But we have a choice; we can make life work despite personal pain. Let me suggest some steps to insert change into your perspective.
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Posted: May 19, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
The Unexpected Is Knocking on Our Door
We can meet God in the unexpected. Sometimes we need a child to remind us of what’s hiding in plain sight. Five-year-old Katlin climbed into Granny Rice’s lap to listen to the Genesis story of creation. As Granny brought the written words to life with her expressive reading, the child became still and quiet.
Granny asked, “What do you think of it, dear?”
Little Katlin answered, “Oh, I love it. You never know what God will do next!”
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Posted: May 14, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Little Things Vary in Importance
Little things amplify their size with the disturbances they cause. In the middle of the 19th century, an English explorer walked the red dirt of Central Africa. He investigated waterways, hoping to find the headwaters of the Nile. He hoped the discovery of the great river’s source would help him address the evils of the slave trade. But the sight of smoke from a thousand villages drove David Livingston where no missionary had ever set foot. He was a big-picture person who refused to allow minor distractions to steer him off course.
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Posted: May 1, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Understanding Each Other’s Language
“Do you speak the same language?” I have asked this simple question of engaged couples who grew up in the same neighborhood. And I’ve posed the same query to those from different ethnicities or nationalities. English was the language of our conversation. Although, several couples were fluent in a variety of dialects, understanding one another was sometimes difficult.