March 2009 – Page 5 – 300 words a day

Birds and flowers

[Matthew 6:25-34] The daffodils are growing in front of our house. In a month they will be bright yellow. Except for the ones that are white. Except for the ones that are pastel yellow. And there will be more than last year. And we didn’t plant the extra ones. And the finches will be back […]

by Jon Swanson

Let’s look outside

[First Friday guest post from Paul Merrill] We all have the tendency to focus on our own problems. After all, they are what scream the loudest. The kids let us know in so many ways that they need more of our attention. (And they do!) When we look at our checkbook, we realize the balance […]

by Jon Swanson

relationship rewards

“Store up treasure in heaven.” That’s what Jesus tells us. Don’t spend your energy on stuff that gets eaten up by financial declines so that you panic about how much less you are worth this week than last week. Because, of course, if your measure of your worth is in your portfolio and your portfolio […]

by Jon Swanson

maybe it is not about me

Okay. Here’s the deal. I want to talk about fasting. I want to talk about what the reward is. I want to talk about this incredibly cool image that God paints in Isaiah about fasting not being about being selfish and simply not eating the food you have, but it’s about sharing a meal with […]

by Jon Swanson

fasting looks like fun

What an odd title. Fasting isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be difficult. It’s supposed to be challenged. Intentionally refraining from something that is important to you, that is essential to your well-being, is a difficult thing. The longer the fast, the harder it is supposed to be. Spending 40 days fasting, as […]