Faith & Living

Maggie the Rose

mheller — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:49:30 -0600

Maggie appeared in the doorway, ready for a trip to the park. She was dressed in the height of four-year-old fashion: fancy velvet dress over an old striped turtleneck, flowered tights and black boots.

“Look, Mom,” she said, gesturing toward the sparkly red headband in her blond curls. Tucked beneath it was a toothpick. “I'm a rose. This,” she said, pointing, “is my thorn.”

The Good Shepherd

mcherkezian — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:56:27 -0600

"I am the Good Shepherd and know my own sheep, and they know me."—John 10:14

Our children's church is always lively. A small group of kids run to the front of the sanctuary and sit on the steps leading to the altar for a short sermon and prayer time.

Recently, Pastor Warren's topic was "The Good Shepherd."

"Sheep obey the shepherd because they know the shepherd will feed them, give them water and keep them safe," he said. "They trust the shepherd and follow him without question, don't they?"

Learning from My Students

tselucky — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:00:36 -0600

My Sunday school class of fifth- and sixth-graders was studying the Last Supper and Christ's betrayal.

I wanted them to think about the disciple Judas and what his motives might have been. It was a way to look more closely at what had happened those last few days of Christ's life. Maybe a bit of role-playing would help.

Sunday Work

mcherkezian — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:42:06 -0600

And [Jesus] saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days...?—Mark 3:4

I was feeling anything but peaceful as I inched forward for communion. That morning, my husband Gary had left early to go work on someone's septic system. And on a Sunday!

His dump truck, with bulldozer in tow, had rumbled down the road just after sunrise. Why did he have to take this job? It wasn't even for one of the contractors he regularly works for, just a friend of a friend of our son Brett.

True Transformation

mcherkezian — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:37:40 -0600

To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning... —Isaiah 61:3

I was 12 the winter Mother decided to make soap.

We'd just visited a mountain homestead where the farmer's wife was leaching wood ashes, which she would boil with rendered lard to produce her family's soap. Mother was inspired.

Soon, back home, a package arrived at our door: a soap-making kit. Proudly, Mother showed us the hopper that would hold the ashes over which water would be poured and the crock for holding the resulting lye.

A Sunday School Lesson

jbloustein — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:44:28 -0600

Of course, I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but I felt very proud and important that morning as I taught our adult Sunday school class, eagerly outlining some of my new and profound thoughts on prayer.

Just as I reached the conclusion of the lesson, my husband Gordon quietly slipped out of a chair in the back of the classroom to go out in the drizzling rain to help direct traffic in the parking lot.

The Mark of a Healer

mcherkezian — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:18:29 -0600

With his stripes we are healed. —Isaiah 53:5

“Good morning, Erin,” I said first thing that February day. She was working at the reception desk and I was rushing to my office. “How are you?” I asked rather automatically. I had a thousand things on my mind.

“Fine,” she replied. Something in her voice made me stop.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was in a car accident last night.” Her lip quivered, and I noticed the bump on her forehead.

“Are you all right?”

Back to High School

msteiger — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:39:50 -0600

My two oldest daughters, Faith and Hope, are in high school, so I get to drive them and their friends to football games and the mall and wherever.

I have great kids and they have wonderful friends. But spend some time in a minivan with teenagers and your ears will bleed with gossip.

Did you know that Kim said that Jordan told her that Abby heard that Brian asked Rachel to the dance even though Brian knows that Rachel is still getting over Steve? He is such a jerk.

On My Journey

tselucky — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:36:23 -0600

My husband John thought we’d seen the whales off the coast of California; I was sure we’d seen them from Maui.

He said we’d gone to Canada before the year we spent in Bolivia; I thought it was after we got back.

And that shoebox full of photos! Was this slate-roofed house in Austria or Switzerland? And what were the names of this couple who’d been so kind to us when our car broke down?

A Sense of Direction

msteiger — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:21:39 -0600

I am not very good at directions.

Okay, the truth is I'm terrible at directions. I get lost in airport terminals and mall parking lots. I shudder every time I stop to ask directions and someone says, “Oh, it's easy. You can't miss it.” Because that's exactly what I almost always do: miss it.