Have you ever felt like you’ve been put out to pasture for a season? Well, I have. My user name, Susan in the Boonies, wasn’t chosen as lightly as you might think. For 14 years of my life, I attended a class called Bible Study Fellowship. It is a wonderful organization that served as a …
There is an old commercial, for shampoo, perhaps, where the gorgeous model looks at the camera and says in a sultry voice, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”. An obnoxious commercial, but remarkable in its staying power in my mind. Sadly for the advertisers, I DON’T remember what product they were advertising. I sure remember …
Whatever is going on in my life always causes a song to pop into my brain. If you’ve hung around me in real life, you know I will spontaneously burst into song all day long. There’s a song for every situation, and as I was pondering what I wanted to write about today, the song …
Have you ever felt like your own body had it in for you? I am not going to turn this into a whine about my list of afflictions, but let’s just say that my latest issue is just about to eat my mental, emotional and spiritual lunch. And I’ve just about had it with my …
You know “they” say that you can’t go home again. And perhaps there’s some truth to that statement. But in my experience, I haven’t found that to be totally the case. When I first moved to Nashville, part of the reason was to attend a church that seemed to me to be dynamic and vibrant, …
Willie Nelson’s catchy little ditty is on my mind this morning, as I’ve been meditating on Psalm 121. All of life’s a journey, isn’t it? And this Beth Moore study has reminded me that for the Christian, all of life’s a pilgrimage. We’re on the road to the heavenly Jerusalem, every bit as much as …
At present, I am beginning as a member of a wonderful Bible study with some dear ladies from my church. It’s a Beth Moore study of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120 – 135) and the study itself is entitled “Stepping Up: a Journey through the Psalms of Ascent”. Today I read and meditated on …
In the eighth chapter of the book of Nehemiah, following the completion of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, all the people of Israel (men, women and children who are old enough to understand) assemble in Jerusalem in the square before the Water Gate. Ezra the scribe brings out the Book of the Law of Moses, …
Wow. I’m just so overwhelmed by all the good stuff in Proverbs 3 that it’s really hard to know where to begin. A verse or two at a time would be sufficient. I could start with Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heartand lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways …
Back in the 5th century, Augustine asked, “Why does truth inspire such hatred?” Opposition is a real thing, and don’t think it ain’t. When Nehemiah organized the Israelites to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Nehemiah, they faced real opposition from their enemies. This opposition included verbal …
This week, the Lord has been using scripture from Nehemiah to feed my spirit. I have been using our church’s scripture reading plan for my quiet time, since I myself am not attending Bible Study Fellowship, (like the Big Bison and the kids are). Nehemiah was the cup bearer to the King of Persia, in …
We’ve got a lot of good stories in our family made up by my daughter (she of George, the Rabid Chicken fame.) And one relates to the Grim Reaper. One fall, probably near Halloween, she came across the image of the Grim Reaper. A ghastly, grim image he is. She was about 6 at the …
Proverbs 1: 7 is the verse I’m going to focus on today, in this post. I’m going to take you down a little scriptural detour or two, but if you hang with me, I promise, I’ll circle back around to the wisdom found in this passage. I’m from West (by gosh) Virginia, and the West …
Oh, my goodness! I think I have fallen in love and have found a new favorite psalm! My favorites tend to change on a daily basis, but still! This is a psalm FULL of thoughts that I just totally relate to! Different psalms relate to different seasons in our lives, I suppose, but this one …
Verse 1 of Psalm 9 says: “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.” Isn’t God good? I’ll tell you one of His wonders right now, That He still cares for me. That’s a wonder. I suppose it’s not just me. I’m probably not the only …